August 30, 2024
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is widely reckoned to have the potential to transform customer service initiatives. Forbes Advisor reports that ''64% of business owners believe AI has the potential to improve customer relationships, indicating a positive outlook on the role of AI in enhancing client interactions.''
In contrast, IDC found that despite increasing pressure to adopt GenAI in CX operations, merely 30% of businesses are ready to actually deliver. Gartner’s hype cycle shows GenAI is currently at its Peak of Inflated Expectations, with the reality that we still see significant failures.
Regardless of the current take on AI, there is no denying that it offers an avalanche of opportunities when it comes to elevating CX strategies. According to Harvard Business Review ''leaders who embrace AI now and take action to understand it, experiment with it, and envision how it can solve hard problems are going to run companies that thrive in an AI world.''
So with this in mind, where do you start?
Are you a customer service or technology leader eager to successfully integrate AI capabilities into your CX operations? In this article, we'll highlight the potential challenges and how to transform these into opportunities.
The Role Of Customer Service AI
We strongly believe AI in customer dialogue management should serve as a force multiplier for people, assisting rather than replacing them. Keeping a human in the loop will significantly strengthen outcomes of conversations. We also believe successful AI implementation requires a systematic approach, with all stakeholders involved.
GenAI has the ability to create fresh iterations of content, strategies and designs, based on extensive amounts of original sources. Its compute has the power to automate (simple) human work and transform content creation, such as call summaries or qualitative reporting on historical dialogues; impacting the experiences of both customers and employees. In a previous blog article, I listed 8 ways AI will boost your voice conversations.
Unlock Cost Savings And Set Your Agents Up For Success
Are you excited about the potential cost reduction with the new generation of bots to service customers directly? You should be; approximately 30% of customer issues are routine and can be safely handled by chatbots and voice bots. But what about the other 70%? Anything of real importance still needs to be handled or at least controlled by a person.
This brings us back to why we believe AI within the context of CX is more about empowering agents than about replacing them. Whilst AI can handle routine tasks, humans excel in understanding emotions, resolving complex issues, and making customers feel valued - reinforcing the importance of creating a hybrid experience, fusing AI intellect with a human touch.
A Solution In Search Of A Problem?
Several studies show that the majority of enterprises are still assessing feasibility and risks of generative AI. In fact, 85% of the 900 surveyed senior executives in IDC’s report say GenAI is often treated as a solution in search of a problem.
They expect data complexity and skills gaps to increase in the next few years. The quality of the data feeding into the large language models can cause AI to hallucinate and bias the outcomes. This makes a strong case for the systematic multi-stakeholder approach as well as keeping a human in the loop.
3 Sources That Show The Opportunities For Agent Assist AI
Gartner sees that customer service leaders are often skeptical about the promises of GenAI as a tool to help with agent productivity and customer happiness. However, the evidence strongly suggests that applying Agent Assist AI can be a real game changer in CX.
1. In a recent study, Accenture found that somewhere in all the noise surrounding this landmark tech evolution, consumers feel that all the shiny direct-touch AI bots are happening to them rather than for them, leaving them swamped and disconnected. The same study from Accenture found that they are demanding more human-driven, empathetic interactions with brands.
With Agent Assist AI, interactions can be personalized with real-time data and tailored answers, helping customers to feel seen. The intuitive technology works alongside human agents, ensuring that customers still have access to empathetic, human-driven support whenever they need it. This can reassure customers that they are not being pushed away by AI but are actually receiving more efficient service as a result.
2. Although AI is getting better at empathy, people are still unbeaten in understanding complex emotions. Automation and augmentation allow agents to deliver that human touch at scale. Salesforce found that 64% of agents who use agent assist AI can spend significantly more time solving complex cases.
3. In an interview with McKinsey & Company, Stanford University professor Melissa Valentine stated that real-time AI insights function better with human input. AI can gather and analyze data, but it's the human agent who can understand the nuances of customer sentiment and provide actionable insights.
A Cape For Your Customer Service Heroes
There is no doubt: AI is transforming customer dialogues. Not by replacing human agents, but by empowering them. It offers opportunities for creating happier and more productive agents, who master complex tasks and personalized interactions.
Your agents are more important than ever. They are your customers’ everyday heroes. So, are you giving them their capes – the tools that allow them to drive unparalleled customer experiences?
