Home > Columns > CRM Columns

How Big Data & IoT Are Revamping The Customer Service Industry

Across many different industries, customer service is a vital part of building a business. Interactions and impressions made with customers can make or break your long term success. In fact, great customer service is often a catalyst for building an audience that passionately supports what you’re out to accomplish.  

The customer service industry looks a lot different in today’s increasingly digital world. That said, the need to prioritize customer service still persists. Rather than fall victim to becoming overwhelmed by the 24/7 need to manage customer inquiries and interactions, big data and the Internet of Things are proving to be valuable tools for a successful digital transformation strategy.

Here’s how big data and IoT are revamping the customer service industry for the better.

Machine Learning is Becoming More Personable

Big data and the Internet of Things are all about allowing algorithms to carry out tasks on behalf of a business. Some small instances of this include having data sent to proper channels when a user interacts with a website or app. This can be hugely helpful in the world of customer service. Let’s say someone wants to report an issue they’re having with a product. Thanks to machine learning and IoT, that inquiry can be processed automatically by a program and sent to the right human employee for handling. It sounds small, but machine learning is working to take things one step further. 

One of the largest transformations in customer service is a more personable automated experience. More helpful AI chatbots are becoming commonplace in the expanded world of machine-based customer relations. How might this help a business who hopes to keep a personable touch to its customer interactions? The IoT and Big Data allow for customer service bots to learn how to best interact with customers in a helpful manner. Each interaction teaches the program how to better respond and react to inquiries. 

Thanks to modern expansions in IoT, your chatbots can become very personable and help free up human employees in the customer service area to handle the tougher tasks and issues.

Gain Support from AI-Led IT Help

One crucial aspect of customer service goes beyond simply fielding questions and comments about your products or service. There’s a whole element to customer service that focuses on proactive actions to help customers. What might this look like in terms of action items you can take with programming? Well, one helpful example is utilizing AI-led IT automation to utilize Big Data to see where visitors to your website or app are deciding to exit before making a purchase. 
Thanks to user analytics and programs that analyze these sorts of interactions with users, you can proactively look at the pages or places on your app and website where users seem to decide to leave. Customer service is all about ensuring a great experience, so even if they’re not complaining about these turn-offs, you can see them clearly thanks to Big Data.

Utilizing the Internet of Things to pinpoint these areas for improvement helps you stay proactive about what customers experience when they engage your business. While analytics might not seem as personable as we like to imagine customer service to be, a huge impact on your business is what the customers aren’t telling you. When formal interactions don’t teach us about our audience, user actions and Big Data can help. 

The customer service industry isn’t just all about answering complaints. Your ability to take a proactive approach to improving the customer experience is going to make all the difference. Luckily for us, IoT and Big Data are a huge help. 

Maximize Human Capital with the Help of AI

Big Data and the Internet of Things are not replacements for third-party or in-house customer service support. Rather, AI and automation can help to free up the people working in your customer service department to handle the issues that require human interaction and thinking. Surprisingly, the limitations of IoT are decreasing rapidly as we see more human-like action made possible by Big Data and machine learning. 

Use these tools to your advantage to maximize human capital for customer service interactions. With a well-established strategy for customer service that uses the best humans and programs have to offer, you can build a better customer service experience for your audience.