A positive customer experience (CX) is deemed essential by approximately 80% of American consumers, who value speed, convenience, knowledgeable assistance, and friendly service. With advancements in AI technology, the future of AI in customer service is unfolding before our eyes, providing every company with the chance to enhance their CX swiftly.
While there have been concerns about AI replacing humans in many jobs, the reality is that people will always be needed to get things done and create a memorable customer experience. The best thing about AI is that it helps us do things faster and better, but it can’t replace the unique feeling of connecting with another person in customer service.
The future of AI in customer service focuses on ways to augment and automate many repetitive customer service jobs so your agents can quickly get back to what matters most, the customer. It’s about offering your customers an enhanced experience, not replacing your workforce.
Ultimately. you’re missing opportunities if you’re not leveraging AI as part of your customer experience strategy.
Check out the latest trends and critical questions to ask potential vendors before you buy any AI tools for your CX operations. In reading the following examples, think about where and how they would fit into your business.
The Future of AI in Customer Experience: Current Trends
Many trends for 2024 aren’t new, but they’re picking up momentum as more and more companies adopt AI.
#1. Conversational Chatbots
The global chatbot market continues to grow, thanks partly to continual AI and machine learning innovations. Chatbots have been around for a while, but as tech evolves, so does the functionality of the bots.
Older chatbots relied on a static script, but now conversation chatbots can react more effectively to whatever inputs a customer is giving them. These bots offer a more human-like experience, with the ability to personalize and engage on a deeper level.
#2. AI-Based Customer Service Training
In the contact center space, turnover is high, and job satisfaction is low, which can negatively impact customer interactions. Enhancing your team’s training experience can go a long way toward increasing retention while consistently meeting customer expectations.
Generative AI offers a means to train employees using dynamic scenarios they may encounter on the job. With such a large variety of potential encounters your CX team may have, this enables you to equip employees to deliver outstanding customer experience more effectively.
AI technologies such as Agent Assistance and AI-augmented Quality Analytics allow agents to get the help they need in real-time without having to call for help. They also receive instant feedback on what parts of their call were successful (or maybe not so successful) and how to make the next one that much better.
#3. AI-Led Personalization
It doesn’t matter what industry your company is in —your customers want to feel valued, appreciated and acknowledged. Part of delivering that is understanding what they want regarding their overall customer experience or what products and services might best suit their needs.
AI can assist with gathering data on customer behavior that will allow you to personalize their experiences and answer questions before they’re asked.
For example, Using AI powered Customer Intent routing can help you ensure that customers get to where and who they want even though their request may not initially say it outright.
Additionally, based on similar customer profiles and buying habits, AI can even assist in sending personalized follow-up emails to customers based on not only what they have purchased, but what other customers in their same demographic have purchased — what they liked, specific features and benefits, providing FAQs, and even suggest additional complimentary products based on their profile.
Evaluating Potential AI Solutions for CX
When considering the future of AI in customer service for your company, it’s critical that you carefully assess potential solutions to ensure they’re the right fit for both your team and your customers.
As you are evaluating and assessing solutions, you’ll find that AI tools typically augment your CX practice in three primary areas:
1. Upfront: Where your customer first reaches out and interacts with your IVR, via chat or chatbot, and e-mail.
2. In the Middle: When your customer is speaking to an agent, and they are working on the customer request.
3. At the End/Afterwards: When your customer is done speaking to your customer service team.
Here’s a list of questions to ask when evaluating potential AI solutions for customer experience.
Technology
- How can their AI solutions address your business challenges or objectives?
- What AI technologies and algorithms do they specialize in?
- What customization and integration options are available?
- Can their AI solutions be tailored to your unique requirements?
- How easily can their AI systems integrate with your existing software and systems?
- How long does it typically take to deploy your AI solutions?
- What kind of training and onboarding support do they provide?
Privacy and Security
- What are their data handling and data privacy practices?
- How do they handle sensitive data, and what security measures are in place?
- Are their data handling practices compliant with relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA)?
Service Level and Support
- What support and maintenance services do they offer?
- Do they provide ongoing technical support, updates, and troubleshooting assistance?
- Is there a service level agreement (SLA) for support?
- What is their disaster recovery and business continuity plan?
- How do you ensure the availability and reliability of your AI solutions in case of system failures or disasters?
By asking each of these questions, you’ll better understand the vendor’s capabilities and how they align with your organization’s ongoing needs.
Thank you to Bridgepointe Technologies, a tech advisory firm that helps bridge the gap between tech investments and business goals, for sharing these insights.
