With the surge in digital transformation and digital customer engagement, the global communications platform as a service (CPaaS) market is skyrocketing. Over the next few years, it is expected to grow from $5.9 billion in 2020 to $21.7 billion in 2025. Businesses are investing more in technologies that enable transformation, and embeddable communications solutions can effectively engage customers across different communications channels in an easy and scalable way.
Yet, some businesses are still hesitant to adopt embeddable communications. According to a Frost and Sullivan study, the top barrier to CPaaS adoption is the perceived lack of skill sets needed to deploy communications solutions. This concern is not uncommon—businesses often have the misconception that in order to leverage CPaaS tools, they have to rely on developer teams who must spend hours writing custom code. Fortunately, the new 8×8 Connect Automation Builder proves how easy it is for anyone to deploy workflows on CPaaS.
Introducing: 8×8 Connect Automation Builder
The Automation Builder is a new feature of 8×8 Connect, our no-code, multi-channel communications platform, and it provides users with a visual and effortless way to build communications workflows. The good news is that you can automate workflows easily by either choosing a pre-built template or dragging and dropping widgets. This means that anyone can orchestrate meaningful interactions in just a few clicks.
With the Automation Builder, the tedious and time-consuming process of iterating complex workflows and custom code becomes effortless. Because it’s highly customizable and flexible, you can make tweaks and create repeatable workflows quickly and easily. Additionally, the Automation Builder integrates seamlessly with your existing CRM and marketing tools, providing you with a consolidated interface for all your conversations, so you can have context-driven, omnichannel communications with your customers.
The 8×8 Connect Automation Builder truly empowers you to build engaging customer experiences for any use case you can think of—without having to write code. Let’s take a look at some common scenarios.
1. After-hours business queries
Businesses want to ensure that their customers always receive a timely response, even when they contact the business after hours. Fast responses are expected, in fact, 80% of customers expect a response within 24 hours and 37% expect one within an hour. Thus, it is crucial to assure your customers that you have received their query, and that you will respond to it as quickly as possible. With the Automation Builder, you can build auto-replies to acknowledge receipt of a customer’s message, answer common questions with automated responses, or share a link to redirect customers to self-help resources.
2. Reminders and notifications
Automated notifications and reminders keep customers informed of upcoming events, such as appointments and deliveries. It’s a win-win situation: by eliminating last-minute no-shows, you can reduce idle time and optimize your work processes. With the Automation Builder, you can even build workflows that allow customers to easily reschedule an appointment by replying to your message with another date. Plus, if you integrate the Automation Builder with your calendar, it can also automatically update the appointment details in your schedule.
Additionally, you can use the Automation Builder to re-engage customers who have abandoned their shopping carts. Build workflows that send SMS or WhatsApp reminders to these interested prospects, or include personalized discounts to draw them back to their cart.
3. Self-service customer support
Interactive menus can play an important role in making the customer experience smoother and more efficient. Using the Automation Builder, you can set up automated workflows that prompt customers to select options from a menu, which will then lead them to their desired destination. For example, you can build menus to route customers to self-help resources, such as tutorials or articles, or to a live customer support agent who is specialized in addressing a particular topic. This creates a smoother customer experience, as well as a more efficient workflow for your customer support team. While providing self-service options can help reduce strain on your support operations, it is important to always include a human agent as an option, as nearly 9 in 10 people prefer speaking to a live customer agent.
4. Automated surveys
It’s important to deliver a good customer experience, but it is equally crucial to reach out to your customers to understand how they feel about your brand. Surveys are one way to efficiently collect customer feedback. With the Automation Builder, you can build two-way communication flows on your preferred channels to gather instant feedback, such as asking customers to rate your service or indicate whether or not they are satisfied. You can then leverage the data to better serve your customers.
Start building better interactions now
With the Automation Builder, you can effortlessly design engaging experiences that your customers will remember. Find out more here, or contact us at cpaas-sales@8×8.com.
