Why Chatbots are The Answer to the Telco CX Problem?

The telecom industry’s tryst with improving customer service is not news. Reducing churn rate and improving customer retention has been a perpetual goal across the industry. 2022 is no different, with 56% of telecom companies aiming to enhance their customer experience. To meet this goal, telcos are constantly looking for ways to achieve the following:

• Reduce customer churn rate
• Increase average revenue per user (ARPU)
• Improve CX and CSAT while maintaining cost

But this is easier said than done! With the pandemic, subscribers have increased expectations, especially with the improvement in technology. Though the telecom industry has been at the forefront of successfully implementing new tech to offer better service to subscribers, impactful digitization of customer service has eluded them. However, in the bid to rake in good CSAT scores, telcos are openly embracing AI-based chatbot technology to deliver improved, prompt and omnichannel customer experience while saving on operational costs.

Read to know how AI-based chatbots can help you up your game and offer seamless customer support.

Interesting read: Customer Service: How Can Telcos do Better in the Post-pandemic World?

How are AI chatbots revolutionising customer service?

Every business wants to offer high-quality customer service to retain customers, attract new ones, increase revenue and outshine the competition. However, this isn’t easy when it comes to the telecom industry. A telco has a significantly colossal subscriber base, with its customer support department receiving thousands of queries ranging from network problems to billing issues every day. To respond to this massive volume of requests, operators run large customer service centres with hundreds of service agents, costing a large chunk of money. 

However, with this approach, on average, a subscriber requires 2.2 attempts and 4.1 days to complete one interaction with a telco successfully. This has little effect in meeting the needs of today’s first-paced world, where subscribers demand instant resolution. The slow and tedious nature of customer service can result in a whopping 30% decrease in customer satisfaction, resulting in increased churn rates for telcos.

We know that providing instant resolution to all customer queries is a challenging task. But, with chatbots, telcos can conquer this unsurmountable task. By leveraging chatbots for customer service, telcos can offer a seamless and personalised customer experience without breaking the bank. 

Let’s see how.

Redirect customer queries, facilitating transparent and prompt communication

One of the common subscriber complaints is the frustrating wait time and transfer of calls between departments, making them repeat their queries. Customers expect instant resolution from the get-go. This includes getting valuable inputs from the very first touch point.

As the primary point of contact, chatbots will collect customer information like their name, type of account, billing information, and the type of query and then transfer the call to the appropriate department. With this data, the chatbot can assess the complexity of the issue. For a simple issue, the chatbot can offer a solution or seamlessly connect the subscriber to the appropriate agent for a complex problem by transferring the collected data to the agent. The agent will already know the issue and can access the necessary details, ensuring quick resolution and reduced wait time.

Your customer service chatbot will ensure that customers do not undergo a repetitive loop of reiterating their problem at every touch point, resulting in a satisfying customer experience. Moreover, it helps reduce operational costs as you can direct your workforce to other areas while retaining only a small team of customer service experts to deal with complex queries.

Create an omnichannel customer service presence, ensuring maximum customer accessibility

Subscribers are no longer keen on calling customer care numbers and would rather instantaneously connect with your customer care department via messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Meeting subscribers on their preferred platform seems a mammoth but necessary effort. 

However, with just a few clicks and slight modifications, you can set up customer care chatbots for every platform with no extra effort from your bot development team. The bot can offer a seamless and hassle-free customer experience, tailoring its response to the platform. Also, the bot can store every customer interaction on the same platform, which your agents can access to track past queries and inquiries.

Reduce churn rate and increase conversion by offering a seamless customer experience

The average churn rate of the telecommunication industry ranges between 30% and 35%, with most customers leaving because of poor customer service. To remain financially viable, retaining subscribers is as important as gaining new customers. And leveraging chatbot technology is one effective way to achieve low churn rates.

A well-built chatbot can elevate the entire customer experience, alleviating poor customer service pain points. Chatbots can effectively resolve simple customer queries, reduce wait time, redirect subscribers to the concerned department, gather customer feedback and send automated reminders to customers. 

Moreover, chatbots can help you cross-sell and up-sell your services, products and add-ons, helping increase ARPU. Chatbots can collect data on every customer interaction and analyse customer behaviours and queries. Based on this data, you can offer personalised deals, increasing the chance of a subscriber upgrading their package and subscription. Such personalisation makes subscribers feel valued and nurtures loyalty, boosting your marketing efforts and increasing conversion rates.

Offer comprehensive, personalised customer experience in every interaction

The importance of the human touch in customer service cannot be denied. However, it is impossible to replicate the same degree of personalisation in every agent-subscriber interaction. While some may feel that a customer care agent can help resolve issues quickly, it does not guarantee a uniform degree of personalisation because the subscriber may not get the same agent for every issue. This is where chatbots can bridge the gap.

Chatbots interact one-on-one with every customer, ensuring the customer feels heard and has a personalised experience. Chatbots store and analyse every interaction and have complete access to subscribers’ past inquiries. Based on this data, chatbots can offer personalised suggestions to every subscriber, anticipating possible queries.

Leverage RCS-ready chatbots to offer seamless customer experience via RCS Business Messaging (RBM)

Customers demand a highly interactive, personalized customer experience, and nothing does it better than rich-media-laden communication services. Add chatbots to the mix, and you have a perfect blend of convenience, engagement and customization to elevate your CSAT scores.

With RCS, you can offer a personalised and engaging customer experience in the subscriber’s native messaging app, eliminating the need to call, email and, most importantly, download OTT apps. Customers can search for your chatbot from the directory and start a conversation on the go in an authentic and secure environment. Moreover, leveraging RBM allows you to promote and market your products and offers using rich cards, carousels and videos within the native messaging environment.

With so much potential, RCS chatbots are a must-have for ushering in the new era of digitised customer experience. However, to realise its full potential, you must partner with the right expert like Dotgo. Dotgo, a global leader in RBM, already has award-winning chatbots like RichOTP and Bot Store directory chatbots under its wing. With our help, you can build an interactive RCS chatbot per your requirements reducing cost while offering CSAT-increasing performance.

Also read: Also read: Why Should Network Operators Adopt RCS?

Chatbots technology is undoubtedly a game-changer and essential to a personalised and digitized customer experience. While some consumers want to bypass chatbots and talk directly to an agent, a whopping 71% of consumers are ready to engage with a chatbot if it ensures a positive customer experience. So, Telcos must find a way to ingrain and leverage chatbots to improve their customer experience.