If you have reached here, chances are that you own a startup in the USA and already know the importance of inclusive customer support.
Within the USA, inclusivity is very important, mainly because the overall population is quite diverse. Most people actively seek companies that truly represent them and offer a solution for their issues. However, for small companies, especially startups with limited budgets, catering to individual needs is quite challenging.
So, if you are a startup owner on a limited budget, and want to create more inclusive customer support for your business, keep reading. This write-up will offer a step-by-step guide to help you create customer support with the help of AI, with no extra budget or recruiting an extra resource.
Set a Goal
Before starting customer support for your startup, it is very important to know your audience and set a goal based on their expectations. Doing this will help you not just measure the progress, but also set a benchmark that you can consult later.
For instance, if you are planning to offer customer support, list down all the services that you will be including. Most businesses use customer support just to address complaints, while others use it for technical assistance and online bill payment as well.
Moreover, you also need to know about your audience and their needs. In my case, I target two main languages: English and Spanish.
Apart from setting individual goals, you can also pick a brand offering the best customer service that you can replicate. For my business, I selected Spectrum, as it is an ISP that offers a dedicated Spectrum en español support channel for Spanish speakers.
Create an Omnichannel Experience
Now that you have set a goal for your brand, it’s time to check out the online channels that you will be using for communication. A few years ago, most brands would stick to phone calls and messages, but in the digital age, social media plays a very important role.
List down at least 4-5 platforms where you want to create a strong impact. These can consist of social media as well as offline channels. For my business, I generally stick to social media because it’s cheaper, yet very effective.
Now, after you have the platforms ready, it’s time to set a tone for your brand. Your brand tone can be formal, informal, funny, engaging, or simple. Make sure you set a tone and then use it uniformly across all the platforms.
Use AI for Translation
Now that you have the tone set for your brand, try to replicate it across all platforms. For instance, let’s say you’re targeting Gen Z, and want to keep your replies crisp, fun to read, and funny. This means you need to translate everything into a different language.
For my business, I translate everything into English and Spanish because my target audience also includes Hispanics.
Moreover, translating with AI helps ensure that the message is not distorted even after translation. A pro tip while translating is to use more than one AI tool and stay away from basic translation tools like the one by Google.
Automate Responses
Now that you have your message ready, it is time to use it as a template that will help in answering the customers. For automation, there are two main methods, i.e. using a third-party automation dashboard or sticking to the in-build automated reply.
Social media sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and X have automated FAQs, but the options are limited. In most platforms, you can set only 4-5 FAQs. However, if you opt for third-party apps or simply pick a chatbot, the communication is more seamless.
Redirect To Call For Details
There is no doubt that automation is simple, fun, and easy. However, there are a few limitations when you automate messages. For instance, most brands only address frequently asked questions or general queries.
So, when a customer has a unique concern or needs assistance for an exceptional case, special attention is required. In this case, you need live call assistance as well.
Most brands also leave their number across all social media platforms and websites, so the customer can simply call the support anytime. If you have a similar process in place, make sure to set a feedback loop as well.
A solid feedback loop helps in recording the commonly addressed questions as well as the details about customer demographics and their exceptions. This feedback will help the brand update and upskill to match the customers’ interests and requirements.
Adjust As Per Feedback
Finally, you have made it to the last part where you get to adjust your brand, based on the expectations of the customers.
This is a very crucial stage, but it can be very rewarding. Most brands gather feedback by scraping customer data across online platforms. The process can be quite expensive, but it helps in targeting the right audience and getting the best product.
For small startups on a budget, data scraping might not be ideal, so feedback is a perfect solution. Making customer support inclusive is a rewarding yet challenging process. If you are a small startup struggling with inclusivity, this guide should help you set up the perfect roadmap for the future.
