Good communication is crucial in any type of business. Written communication involves conveying messages via the written word, while oral communication involves sending messages via spoken conversations. According to recent reports, voice communication is experiencing a revival as businesses strive to improve the customer experience (www.nojitter.com). In addition to effective brand promotion, effective oral communication encourages positive team relationships. Rich oral communication mediums that businesses use include face-to-face communication, in-person presentations, conference calls, group presentations, telephone calls, video meetings, conferences, and lectures. Digital transcription agencies help businesses convert these oral and video based interactions into well-organized documents.
Voice Interactions and Customer Experience
Organizations need to deliver a positive and exceptional customer experience to stand out from their competition. While social media allows businesses to reach out to their customers, trends suggest that the power of the voice is gaining significance once more when it comes to the customer experience.
There are certain reasons for the revival of voice communications in the field of sales:
- Voice is the most basic, natural, and intuitive form of communication.
- Using computers to communicate means being familiar with keyboards, basic commands, touchscreens, web interfaces and so on, and this can be challenging for older adults and other users.
- Mobile has increased the number of business calls.
- When it comes to selling complex goods and services, communicating via text may not be feasible.
- Written communications such as e-mails, texts, memos, letters, documents, reports, newsletters, spreadsheets, etc., are effective in conveying large messages.
- Speaking on the phone is easier and quicker. According to a Forbes report, the average person can speak 100 words a minute, but only type 40 a minute.
- High-speed Internet on smartphones allows users to make and take video and audio calls from almost anywhere in the world.
- Direct human contact can create a rapport and build trust
- Avoids misunderstandings in communication – written communication can be misread.
Voice communications are critical for success in the field of sales. The fact that the use of voice assistants like Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa are expanding rapidly shows that customers are accepting and welcoming voice technology. Having meaningful voice conversations with their customers can help businesses build closer bonds with them. According to a nojitter.com article, despite new digital channels, a call with a potential customer has once again become the primary goal for most organizations.
Speech Technologies driving growth of Specialized Segments
The resurgence of voice capabilities is fueling the growth of certain industry segments:
- Customer interaction analytics:Speech analytics involves taking unstructured data in customer interactions such as audio of recorded calls, emails, and chat and turning it into structured data that can be searched and evaluated.
- Conversation intelligence software: This software allows organizations to convert their recorded human-to-human interactions into an asset for used in training, onboarding, and enablement. It can help sales personnel optimize and improve their ability to close deals.
- Voicebots: Customer service voice bots are changing the way customers interact with brands and businesses. AI-powered chatbots provide instant answers to common questions and significantly reduce customer wait time. Bots provide services 24/7 can be custom built to deliver a rich customer experience. Asynchronous messaging allows humans and bots to team up in the same conversations.
- Call tracking software: Call tracking software can identify the source of incoming phone calls and also provide call intelligence and conversion tracking. The software includes in-call analytics for call recording, sales guidance and sales training, and call outcome analytics.
- Business transcription services: Audio transcription services for meetings, focus groups, conferences, and more, are increasing in importance. The demand for these services is growing with the rise in voice capabilities. Meeting transcription allows notes, decisions and action points to be accurately documented.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, some experts believe that customer service will largely be dominated by automation and technology, without a role for human agents. However, an expert from Harvard Business School notes that this prediction is unlikely to come true and that what is needed is a balance between technology and the human element (www.mycustomer.com). Personal human connections will continue to remain crucial to building trust with consumers. By using voice contact effectively in their communication strategy, businesses can make a positive impression to impress their customers and prospects.
