B2C customer service: bot or not?

Dialing up the options: chatbot-while-you-wait for human interaction

In the ultimate quest for efficiency, many companies have turned to self-service options like chatbots, WhatsApp, and email to help solve their B2C customers’ problems. Most do so in an attempt to reduce the volume of calls to their service centers. But while these tools do offer convenience, it might not be the best idea to rely on them as primary customer support channels. Customers are individual people, and they all know best which channel they prefer for their questions or concerns. And here’s a thought: they all prefer different ones.

So instead of trying to push customers toward specific channels, companies are better off offering a journey that supports choice and flexibility, giving customers the option to select the best fit for their personal needs. If they really want to speak directly with a service agent, the company should facilitate that. And if a customer is comfortable starting with a chatbot, then great, but only as long as they still have the option to escalate to a human.

Customers know what they want (well, usually)

Imagine you’re calling for support on a complex issue with a product you’ve recently purchased. Although a chatbot is a great tool to answer easy questions, it often simply won’t deliver the nuanced answers you need. The problem is, many B2C companies now attempt to draw customers to alternative, less effective channels such as a chatbot. And when this is the case, it is easy to get frustrated as a customer, especially when the bot fails to provide the help you need.

The problem is that many B2C companies now push customers towards less effective channels. Chatbots often frustrate users when they can't handle complex issues. Emails drag on with slow back-and-forth exchanges. Even WhatsApp support frequently fails to provide the quick responses customers expect. It's no surprise that traditional phone calls remain popular: they offer direct communication, immediate clarification, and allow customers to explain their issues without the limitations of text-based interactions.

Instead of controlling the customer journey, companies should acknowledge that customers are perfectly capable of selecting the best channel for their unique needs. Offering different options shows respect for your customer’s time and intelligence, while ultimately improving the overall experience.

Implementing a flexible call journey

Just to be clear: I am not arguing to eliminate or de-prioritize these newer channels. What I am suggesting, is that companies could and should create a more flexible contact journey. For example, they can allow a customer to initiate a call to customer support and, while they wait, be offered the option to interact with a chatbot without losing their place in the call queue.

This ‘best of both worlds’ option does two things:

1. It allows customers with simple questions to potentially resolve issues without waiting for an available agent.
2. It gives the company an opportunity to build a valuable dataset for evaluating the effectiveness of their AI solutions, tracking which issues were successfully handled by the chatbot and which required escalation to a human agent.

This approach doesn’t just improve customer experience; it also provides valuable data to inform the evolution of AI support capabilities. And as we all know, data is key: companies can analyze which questions the chatbot answers successfully and identify areas where it needs improvement. This feedback loop helps refine the AI, expanding the range of issues it can effectively resolve while building a more seamless experience for customers.

Best of both worlds

By creating a flexible call journey, companies can achieve meaningful diversion rates and reduce the workload on their service centers. Without alienating their customers in the process. They can still offload some interactions to the chatbot, which is helpful for the simple issues it’s designed to handle, yet it also gives customers the freedom to decide which channel they prefer.

In doing so, companies not only show that they respect their customers' preferences, but they also decrease friction and make smarter use of AI. The aim should be to enhance customer experience, not replace it with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution (that might not be a solution at all in some cases). AI is a great support tool, but it’s not a substitute for an attentive, empathetic human when things get complex. This setup offers a win-win: customers receive support through their chosen method, and businesses offload simpler inquiries to self-service options while still being ready to help directly when needed.

By implementing a call journey that includes optional chatbot interaction without compromising wait times, B2C companies can offer flexibility and respect customer preferences, while also creating meaningful AI use cases that inform future improvements.

Conclusion

It's time to accept chatbots for what they currently are: convenient tools to answer low-level customer questions and a smart way to enhance —but not replace—personalized support. And great support for writing articles like this.