Virtual Assistants
January 27, 2022 • 4 minute read

5 Ways a Virtual Assistant Supports a VIP Experience Every Time

In this day and age, I rarely need to physically go somewhere to take care of a task. Technology has afforded busy people like myself the ability to multitask and get things done during a short work break or after normal business hours.

However, some things still need to be taken care of in-person. For me, this was getting a document notarized to be a leader for my daughter’s girl scout troop. This should be a quick and easy process, I thought to myself. Organized with my form and driver’s license, I headed to the local branch of my bank

Forty-five minutes later, you know how this story ends. I was back home and frustrated, with an unnotarized document in hand. And because of this experience, I made the decision to sever ties with my bank and take my business elsewhere. I had been a loyal customer for almost 15 years.

And just like that, I joined the 33% of people who have left a brand just after one bad service interaction (PwC)

While in-person service interactions are a slightly different animal than contacting customer service via phone or chat, one principle always holds true.

Great customer interactions can drive fierce allegiance. But, a bad one can cause even the most loyal customer to turn on a dime.
This can affect your bottom line and tarnish a brand’s reputation, since many disgruntled customers lean into social media and review sites to share their experiences.

Therefore, it’s important that brands look at every interaction as an opportunity to treat their customers like VIPs. While it might be natural to assume that VIP treatment can only be delivered by a human, the right technology can also support this type of experience. 

Not every technology is created equal. Conversational AI solutions, like virtual assistants, are being utilized as many brands look to upgrade their CX because they offer the most human-like experience aside from humans themselves. Implementing a virtual assistant can help support a VIP experience by:

Getting to the front of the line

Being a VIP means you get to skip the line. A virtual assistant can automate your brand’s most popular tasks so customers can take care of their tasks via self-service and not have to wait to speak to an agent. By providing customers with the ability to self-serve, agents are freed up to help those customers who need their expertise or special training to navigate their issue.

Offering personalized interactions

When you are a VIP, people know everything about you. They can use that information to tailor your experience to make you feel special. A virtual assistant that is well-integrated into back-end systems can offer a personalized interaction everytime.

Knowing data like the previous transaction history can help make the interactions more efficient by knowing why the customer is calling. Virtual assistants can also use data such as preferences and previous purchases to make recommendations, remind customers that it looks like it’s time to reorder their favorite product, provide relevant promotions, and more.

Being conversational

A VIP doesn’t like to be told what to do, so having to speak or type using certain words or phrases won’t fly. A Conversational AI solution like a virtual assistant lets people talk or type in their own words and be understood. A VIP should not be asked to conform to technology that is robotic and unnatural.

Showing respect

VIPs must be treated with respect and when it comes to customer service. This looks like being mindful of people’s time and also their communication preferences. 

Virtual assistants can scale from one channel to another providing the same consistent experience on the customer’s channel of choice. And because it can handle an unlimited amount of transactions at once, wait times are eliminated even during unexpected or seasonal volumes. 

Keeping the focus on the customer

When you are a VIP, you should be the center of attention. There should be no other distractions. That means not being put on hold while an agent has to access data across multiple sources to help with the transaction.

Virtual assistants can work in conjunction with back office technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) to help automate many simple behind-the-scenes tasks to increase efficiency and reduce error rates, average handle, and call holding times. This lets the virtual assistant keep the focus on the customer in front of them.

 

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