Operator Insights: Smart Scaling: Cost-Cutting and CX Automation with Zendesk

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For startup founders, scaling is a crucial part of success and often entails spending money on headcount and software, both of which can be costly. Scaling smart, however, ensures growth and positive customer experiences (CX) while adopting best practices for cost-cutting and integrating automation to prioritize important tasks. Effectively deploying resources, whether it’s capital or human talent, can lead to greater customer satisfaction, creating a win-win scenario for any startup. Read on to discover actionable smart scaling strategies from Zendesk’s SVP SMB & Startups, Kristen Durham.

Summary

Smart Scaling Strategies: Startups can balance investments in hiring and technology by implementing AI, which automates time-consuming tasks and allows for focus on key areas like customer experience and retention, product development, fundraising, and go-to-market.

Customer Segmentation and Tool Utilization: Effective customer segmentation and the strategic use of AI tools streamline costs and enhance customer experience. Monitoring team adherence to tools and processes against performance and customer outcomes ensures efficiency and prevents financial waste.

Automation Benefits: Automation in CX provides valuable data for continuous improvement and measuring success through metrics like customer satisfaction scores, response times, and agent efficiency. Privacy needs should be considered when implementing AI, as companies should prioritize transparency in regards to data collection according to relevant regulations. Customers can feel secure in knowing that their data is protected and build trust with the business. 

Q: How can founders avoid feeling like they have to make a tradeoff between investing in hiring or spending money on software while scaling?

Founders should ask themselves whether a need can be met by people or technology, and build an investment plan that incorporates the best value from both to drive durable growth. Each will cost money, but onboarding new people may come with the additional cost of founders’ equity in the company. 

To keep costs low while hiring, startups can implement AI. Zendesk has found that in just five years, 20% of interactions being automated to 80% with AI, without an agent ever needing to be involved. By implementing AI, however, startups can automate time-consuming parts of CX and mundane tasks or reassign to digital agents (aka bots). Combined with strategic hiring, this allows focus on bigger picture actions that drive towards finding product-market fit, fundraising, and growth. In summary, doing more with less!

Q: How can customer segmentation play a role in cost-cutting? 

Customer segmentation proves to be an effective strategy for cost cutting because it allows a startup to deploy financial resources in the spaces that generate the greatest returns for the business. Your startup can adapt support to match these successful segments and scale your CX efforts with tools like AI. 

For example, creating a VIP segment based on customers’ specific needs or value to the business ensures that skillful agents prioritize top customers with live support, while other customers are directed to an interactive bot or self-service to get started. This targeted approach will ensure that VIPs receive personalized help and a resolution to their inquiry as quickly as possible and has the potential to positively impact customer satisfaction scores and customer loyalty.  

Q: How can startups ensure their team uses implemented tools and software effectively?

Startups can invest in quality assurance software to support the needs of CX teams and monitor usage and performance to track both human and AI agents’ accuracy and productivity. This cost-cutting strategy will reduce the misuse of your team’s time, and, therefore, will minimize the waste of financial resources. Operating tools efficiently will also allow your startup to avoid relying on expensive processes, like hiring more people or “throwing bodies at the problem”, resulting in a more cost-effective and sustainable approach to problem-solving.

Q: What are the benefits of automations in enhancing customer experience (CX) for startups?

Automation allows startups to address three major challenges of CX at the same time — increasing customer interaction volumes and costs and decreasing quality of service. 

Optimizing CX strategies starts with good data, and automating CX allows startups to collect data on customer interactions, response times, and satisfaction scores. Having all this information in one place makes it easier to identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement.

CX leaders can feel confident that changes are based on solid evidence rather than guesswork. Once a change is made, automation also allows for ease of monitoring the impact of these modifications, so you can continue working towards your desired goals. 

Q: How does integrating ChatGPT and generative AI with customer support platforms enhance CX? 

Automation-enhanced CX can look different from startup-to-startup depending on needs and goals, but integrating generative AI with a support platform like Zendesk has the power to make your agents work more efficiently. For example, it can help them edit and translate help center articles and ticket responses, recap customer calls with transcripts and item summaries, and our new Zendesk Agent copilot can even anticipate next steps, make proactive suggestions, and take action on behalf of agents. 

While deploying AI is exciting, it’s important to remember that privacy concerns should be evaluated before integrating automation technology into any platform where customer data is stored. Considerations should include transparency about data collection, storage and encryption, adherence to ethical standards for AI practices, and compliance with legal regulations regarding data privacy. By addressing these points, AI has the power to enhance and improve CX while building customer trust and loyalty. 

Q: What should startups keep in mind when measuring the success of implemented CX automations?

Seeing a positive increase in customer satisfaction scores, lowered response times via chat, phone, or email, improved agent efficiency, and lower cost per ticket are some of the metrics that can be measured after implementing automations for your startup. By keeping an eye on results, startups will reap the benefits of CX automations while managing costs effectively, an important consideration for scaling startups. 

Main takeaway

Startups can scale strategically by balancing investments in hiring and technology, with AI playing a crucial role in automating mundane tasks. Effective customer segmentation and the efficient use of AI tools can optimize costs and enhance customer experience (CX), ensuring resources are used optimally. Lastly, leveraging automation provides critical data for continuous improvement and success measurement while keeping privacy concerns in mind.

A bit about Partech

Over 40 years, Partech has built a team of independent thinkers to drive forward the technology landscape. Today, the firm looks as unique as its approach, with a range of funds and a portfolio of 220 diverse businesses across sectors in 40 countries across four continents. The Partech team looks to challenge founders, working with them side-by-side to drive digital transformation forward.