The email promotion cost a mere two cents per customer. Certainly, automating the processing of customer inquiries reduces the number of calls made to corporate contact centers. The program then allows the customer to request help either via email, chat or interactive voice response. By Kinikin's reckoning, around 25 percent of the workload normally handled by a customer service representative can be taken care of by software. But digitizing customer care can also backfire.
Experts say computer-generated responses are extremely limited, often forcing humans to step in.
That can negate much of the cost savings. Say, for example, a shopper takes the time to fill out a preference form on a company's website. Studies show that the majority of shoppers expect an email answer to web inquiries within 24 hours. But a recent survey conducted by Giga indicates those expectations are rarely met. According to the study, less than half the companies surveyed even provided a viable link to customer service from their websites.