Gamification is a strategy of applying core game-design elements, activities, and principles to a non-game context, such as marketing or customer experience. Gamification techniques can include things like point scoring, digital scavenger hunts, and competition among “players.” Using gaming techniques motivates customer engagement, because people are incentivized to participate when there is competition and the potential of reward involved.
Gamification is not a new idea. Any credit card company that awards points to users for spending is already gamifying the customer experience. But Gartner says, “The sweet spot for gamification today is customer loyalty and marketing applications with consumer brands” and that companies should “evaluate opportunities to leverage gamification to change behaviors.”
According to the Gamification Market 2020 Global research report, the global gamification market was valued at USD 5.5 billion in 2018 and is still growing quickly. One of the reasons gamification is growing so swiftly is that smartphones have so thoroughly penetrated the global market, giving most people the device they need to participate. The breadth of social media in the world also makes it easy for game players to share their experiences and triumphs with their social circles at the touch of a button.
Why Does Gamification Matter to Customer Service?
Gamification intersects with customer service in a few ways. Within a customer service organization, gamifying efforts can make work fun for customer service professionals. Using gamification techniques, some companies incentivize their employees to provide faster, better, more personal, and more engaging service to customers. Making the job more personal and engaging for workers translates to better, warmer service for customers.
Customer support can also be gamified for the customer. For instance, an organization can reward customers for unavoidable on-hold times, honoring their time with points or rewards for every minute spent on hold. There could also be rewards given to customers who solve their own problems using automated channels.
How Helpshift Supports Gamification
Because Helpshift is a sophisticated customer service platform that enables a range of support methods, it’s possible to use the technology in conjunction with gamification techniques. For instance, Helpshift supports customer self-service in the form of an AI-powered QuickSearch Bot that can deflect customers to your knowledge base so they can solve their own problems.
