Top 7 Call reduction strategies to elevate the customer experience

In the end, prolonged wait times and unresolved queries can damage brand reputation, as frustrated customers are more likely to leave negative reviews.

To counter this, companies are turning to call reduction solutions, with McKinsey noting that leaders are investing in self-service options to ease demand on support teams.

No one likes waiting longer for help. Providing customers with quick, reliable support solutions can enhance their experience and prevent revenue losses from poor service interactions.

Knowledge bases are broader, with articles and guides that walk customers through troubleshooting processes or explain how to use specific features.

HubSpot offers in-depth documentation for all its products on its knowledge base. There are plenty of articles, tutorials, and troubleshooting guides — many of which use images and diagrams to illustrate complex concepts.

Forums allow customers to discuss issues and share solutions. Many are led by company advocates or power users, so customers can get near-instant insights from people who know their products well.

ClickUp’s community is a great example of an engaged forum that reduces the need for direct calls. Customers can search for answers, read product announcements, and even submit feature requests.

This saves time — for both customers and your business — to create a better overall experience.

You can build on this community idea by integrating feedback loops where customers can rate self-service interactions and provide feedback. Then you’ll know what works and what to improve.

As stand-alone systems, chatbots can effectively understand customer queries using keywords, tags or phrases to resolve queries.

However, they can also pass on conversations to suitable agents when complex issues arise, ensuring services maintain their personalized, human touch when necessary.

Here’s Calendly’s chatbot in action:

It lets users type questions or select a common topic. After some automated interactions, the tool can determine whether human help is necessary to solve the customer’s issue. Users can also bypass the automation by directly asking for an agent.

To implement a chatbot, look for software that integrates with your CRM or support system and allows for customization. Many tools offer pre-built templates.

For the best results, you may need to train it with common customer questions and tailored responses.

You could take things a step further with AI agents.

Through models like machine learning, NLP, and even sentiment analysis, AI agents can understand more complex tasks than a chatbot and provide personalized support, resolving more complicated queries from start to finish.

There are also many ways to implement AI to ease the load for customer service agents. For example, ServiceNow AI Agents are embedded in the Now Platform, our powerful system of action for the enterprise. The Now Platform lets AI agents collaborate with your entire business to solve problems across every department. Kommunicate offers AI assistants for human customer service agents that surface generative answers during the call.

Over time, advanced AI solutions can learn from customer interactions to offer even better customer service with predictive models and forecasting.

It doesn’t have to be a case of AI agents and chatbots vs human customer service. AI can deal with repetitive queries, leaving your customer service team free to deal with more complex questions and interactions that require a human touch, like difficult customers.

By providing agents with centralized data and efficient communication channels, businesses can deliver proactive, personalized support that leaves customers feeling valued.

As customer expectations continue to rise, those who invest in these solutions will not only reduce call volumes and operational costs but also enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction.

In an increasingly competitive market, the ability to provide seamless, efficient support isn’t just an advantage; it’s a game-changer.

The tool allowed their agents to troubleshoot error messages, scan documents for faster processing, and eliminate 2,340 hours of travel time.

This led to increased customer satisfaction and a 25% first-call resolution rate.

Plus, Kiloutou says their customers request video support more and more:

"We are really fans of this solution! Our customers are asking for it and are starting to have the reflex to ask for a video."

Remote video support technologies like this help companies build stronger customer relationships and teach users how to get the most out of their products.

By providing fast, face-to-face help without the need for field staff, agents humanize the support experience cost-efficiently. It fosters trust, loyalty, and advocacy, meaning fewer customer acquisition costs and a more profitable business.

If you’re selling big-ticket items, even on a smaller scale, you can send more personalized support videos to strengthen your relationships.

Proactively reaching out with personalized texts, emails, or video messages about upcoming changes can also help reduce call volume.

For instance, an early text about a firmware update can prevent customers from calling about common update issues as they’d know a fix is imminent.

Of course, most of Tesla’s customers have owned cars before. But its vehicles boast unique features they’re unlikely to have seen before.

By ensuring customers know how to use them, Tesla minimizes friction, creates a smooth brand experience and, ultimately, reduces call volumes.

Technology is another sector where smooth onboarding is critical to lasting relationships (i.e., high retention rates and profitability).

If you sell software to businesses or individuals, guide them subtly with native tooltips. They’re less disruptive and pop up when users interact with new features.

For example, Airtable uses tooltips to introduce features and tell users what to do next.

Give customers all the necessary information via a comprehensive knowledge base, FAQs, and step-by-step guides.

Provide content on an easily accessible and intuitive platform to minimize friction and set the right tone for your relationship — one of simplicity and convenience.

Guided screencasts and video walkthroughs help customers understand products faster.

You can use Apizee to create video tutorials and provide live, interactive demos through its video tools.

For example, financial planning software could have video walkthroughs to guide users through setup and budgeting features. This trains them on the basics as they familiarize themselves with the software.

For even more effective and personalized interactions, Apizee provides advanced features to schedule follow-up calls or video check-ins. This gives customers extra reassurance while allowing agents to confirm their solution is effective.