Self-service can be found in all areas of life today, even if we often no longer recognise it as such, as many services have simply disappeared and “doing it yourself” has become the norm for consumers. Today, for example, everyone fills their own shopping trolley in the supermarket. However, the patent for this type of food market dates back to 1917 and is thus only a good 100 years old. We take it for granted today, but the modern supermarket is one of the cornerstones of the self-service idea. We also fill our cars with petrol ourselves, assemble our furniture ourselves, pick up our parcels from the packing station ourselves and in many places there are cash registers where you scan and pay for goods yourself.
Self-service is therefore no longer a niche phenomenon, but rather a steady trend that has taken hold of all areas of life. There are many reasons for this development. Cost saving is often a decisive motivation for the introduction of a self-service offer, but this should not be the central motivation. Of course, one cannot deny that costs can be saved. Empowering clients to do simple things themselves is a real service to the client! Who of us still wants to go to the bank to make transfers and thus be a slave to bank opening hours, only to stand in a queue – just to hand in a transfer slip?
There are many ways to use new technologies in customer service. Learn how you can use automated technologies in your company.
In many places, the implementation of such simple processes is already located with clients: the “low hanging fruits” have been harvested. Now it’s time to help customers do complex things themselves – namely, when it suits customers best, even outside opening hours, without queues, whether on the phone or in a branch. Because customers can do complex things themselves with smart guidance: frustration-free, quickly, intuitively and at any time. Especially when these workflows are not carried out regularly or technical know-how is needed, smart, digital helpers are in demand that guide you through complex processes with simple instructions and thus give customers a sense of achievement. It could be the tax return that overwhelms you once a year, or the faulty internet access that always strikes when the hotline has just stopped its service.
Self-service is possible at any time today, because a large part of the population has access to the internet, even mobile, and the smartphone is always with them. This means that smart support is actually just a click away. And the possibilities to support clients are becoming more and more versatile. Text recognition and visual highlighting can be used to explain complex documents and calculations. In addition, QR codes can be generated to grant access to documents or the access point, and augmented reality can also be used to project information into the real world. It is possible to explain technically complex processes step by step and the action steps of the clients can be checked and adjusted with the help of a camera or other methods.
The future belongs to self-service. Do you have ideas on how self-service could help your customers? Write to us!
