Kathy Sobus

Have you noticed that more and more automation is finding its way into our daily lives? Think of all the new (or near-new) conveniences we have available to us. Home appliances, self-checkout, consumer electronics, entertainment, medical devices and smart buildings help us every day. In a recent blog post, I talked about IVAs (Intelligent Virtual Agents), which are deployed widely to enhance the customer experience by streamlining and handling the customer need immediately, with little to no human intervention.

It all started a couple of years ago with the term “The Great Resignation.” So much has been written on this topic, and an entire cottage industry has been created around it. There are books and blogs (among other things) sharing tips and techniques for addressing it… while also questioning whether or not it is real. For all those of you who’ve left or switched jobs, I think we know the answer to that one!

Products, goods, and services: Do you have anything in those categories that can be connected to the internet? That send signals? That provide information? If so, read on. If not… well, you should still read on, because this will likely impact you soon. There’s no sigh of relief here.

Preparing and creating as much data as you can will help you build for the future and support more self-service efforts.

Virtual assistants can offer an incredible amount of help to your customer care organization. Before we jump into that, let’s start by focusing on what a Virtual Assistant is—or better yet, an Intelligent Virtual Assistant.

In my last blog post, I advocated for beginning your customer experience modernization journey by consulting with IT. My next piece of advice centers around what the end goal of your modernization efforts should be: allowing your customers more access to self-service—and I mean good self-service.

Do you feel like you’re working on antiquated equipment? Are your customers demanding that you do something different to improve their experiences? If so, it’s time for your customer care organization to modernize—but what does that mean, exactly, and how can you best position yourself and your organization for success?

Modernization: The concept isn’t new, but the form factor may be. This is due in most part to the consumption models of cloud, SaaS, and hybrid offers that are now available. Modernization has taken many shapes over the past 20 years because of the technologies that are available at any given time.

Healthcare: If any industry or vertical landed on the map more than ever this past year, it was healthcare. We’ve talked to more healthcare customers than any other vertical during this time, and it makes sense why: healthcare has touched all of us in some way or another this past year. Whether someone has been ill, needed checkups, or is now getting vaccinated, it has or will touch all of us.

Harvard Business Review published an article on “Reinventing Customer Service,” and I believe they—and one of our customers—are onto something.