How workplace technology can help you provide a better service to your clients
Isn’t technology amazing? You could pick up your phone right now and talk with someone on the other side of the world. It’s magical. It makes our lives easier both personally and professionally and is responsible for some of mankind’s greatest advancements.
So it inevitably made its way into our workplaces. “Digital transformation” and “automation” are buzzwords thrown around in normal business conversation. And, yes, it’s been an enormous help to us all. But is there a point where it’s too much? Where it sucks the humanity out of your services?
It doesn’t have to be that way. Workplace technology can help us enhance our human presence and provide a better, more connected service to our clients. Here’s how we think technology can make our businesses more human.
Helping your staff
The best way to help your business? Make your staff’s lives easier. If you invest in workplace technology that helps your employees, you are benefiting your business. This can come across in a couple of different ways.
You could automate some of their workload, freeing up their time to concentrate on other, more important aspects of their day. This could be something like software that handles admin duties and information organising – the real snoozefests.
Or you add some gamification to their work. 89% of employees say it makes them more productive. This doesn’t mean everything is about to get all Grand Theft Auto in the office; it’s more giving your staff goals, challenges, scores, and rewards. They have something to work towards and incentivises them to push themselves.
But how does this help your clients? Well, if your staff have more time and are happier in their jobs, they can bring that positivity to the clients. They have time for their enquiries, can help them with their issues, and have a great attitude while doing it. Investing in tech is more than adding something shiny and new – it affects all parts of your operations.
Video conferencing
Can you hear me now? While it’s not always the perfect solution, video conferencing has changed our working lives. Even outside of the lockdown, it’s a more convenient way to hold meetings. Instead of getting bogged down in a string of emails, it’s much easier for your staff to jump on a quick Zoom call with a client and hash things out in 5 minutes instead of 5 days.
Many video conferencing platforms now have tools to increase engagement and collaboration. Screen sharing and file sharing are simple, and people can fit them into their work more easily than an in-person meeting.
That’s not to say face-to-face meetings are going anywhere. They’re still the best way of talking to clients and plenty of people share that opinion. But as a middle ground, it’s a fantastic tool. It makes your staff more accessible to your clients, which adds a layer of authenticity to your business, making you more trustworthy.
Phone calls
Here’s what tech can do for your phone lines: interactive voice response (IVR) systems allow you to funnel calls to specific departments. And some software even lets you customise your hold music. Amazing, right?
That’s a big nope. This is an example of how workplace technology is actually hurting human interaction. IVR systems are great for you, but clients and customers hate them. Have you ever tried to go through one of those things trying to cancel something? We’ve seen mazes that are easier to solve. And choosing your own hold music? So are you torturing your customers for 40 minutes with some smooth jazz or classical music? People hate these things: some stats say it’s 61%, others say it’s 82%. We’d say that’s pretty conclusive.
People want human interaction. They want something real. Real people, real staff, and real service. This is part of the small business mindset; you should always strive to be contactable and approachable. Automated systems send the opposite message – they make you look deceitful.
You might cut costs by introducing an IVR system, but this hurts your customer service. You can still have the best of both worlds by investing in a different way. Consider investing in outsourced services.
They won’t cost as much as hiring a full call centre team but still allow you to provide that human touch. And they will have technology of their own to make their service even greater, such as CLI recognition that allows them to know exactly who they’re talking to. The 24-hour service is a nice cherry on top. A human voice is validation and that’s all your clients want. Treat them right.
At alldayPA, that’s our bread and butter. We provide a professional call answering service that keeps your clients happy and gives you a real service. Our specialists work 24/7, so we’re ready to answer your calls no matter what.
If you want to find out more, get in touch on 0345 056 1234.