The customer service industry will probably be one of the most affected by artificial intelligence. As it relies on text responses and we all know how great AI is, it will be the most affected over the next few years. As many companies are already implementing AI in customer service, the question is: is it worth implementing?
Most companies are using the benefits of AI in customer service for simple live chat questions for their website or just general email replies. It is a great way to improve the efficiency of your customer service team without investing a lot of money.
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Artificial intelligence is having a big impact on customer satisfaction, both positive and negative.
Positive Impacts:
And other positive effects, which I will discuss in more detail later.
Negative Impacts:
The future of customer service AI is both exciting and scary.
Labor Cost Reduction:
One of the most immediate cost savings comes from reducing the number of agents required to handle customer queries. AI chatbots and automated systems can handle routine questions and issues, allowing a smaller team of human agents to focus on more complex tasks. This results in savings on salaries, benefits, and other employee-related costs.
It can also allow your team to stay the same size as your business grows. If your company receives more customer queries, you can redirect the simple ones to AI, allowing customer service agents to handle the more complicated tasks that artificial intelligence is not currently able to handle.
If a company handles a lot of calls every day, unfortunately, AI can’t talk to the customer, but if you allow AI to handle simple emails, your agents will have more time to answer calls.
Minimization of Human Error:
Customer service errors can be costly, resulting in refunds, returns or loss of customers. While AI systems are not infallible, they tend to have lower error rates in routine tasks, leading to cost savings in handling and correcting errors.
Reduced Training Costs:
Training customer service teams can be expensive and time-consuming. AI systems require initial programming and occasional updates, but these costs are often lower than the ongoing training needs of a large workforce. In addition, AI can help train human agents more efficiently by providing data-driven insights and simulations.
Handling Multiple Inquiries Simultaneously:
AI-powered chatbots and systems can interact with multiple customers simultaneously, making the customer service process more efficient, especially during peak times. Unlike human agents, who can only handle one customer at a time, chatbots can handle multiple customers at once.
Reduction in Repetitive Work:
AI automates routine tasks. This includes answering frequently asked questions, checking account details, and updating customer information. Human agents are then free to focus on more complex and nuanced customer service issues.
Integration with Other Systems:
Integrating AI with CRM and ERP systems can streamline the customer service process. Relevant customer information can be automatically retrieved, reducing the time spent searching through records.
Continuous Improvement:
AI systems learn from every interaction, constantly improving and refining their responses and suggestions. This machine-learning capability improves the efficiency of customer service operations over time.
24/7 Availability:
Chatbots, powered by AI, are available 24/7, assisting beyond regular business hours. This constant availability enhances customer satisfaction by ensuring that they can receive support whenever they require it.
Immediate Responses:
AI-powered systems can provide instant responses to customer inquiries. This greatly enhances customer satisfaction, especially for simple queries or issues. The use of accessible language ensures that a broad, general audience, including those with cognitive disabilities or low reading literacy, can understand the information provided.
Consistent Quality of Service:
AI systems maintain a consistent level of service without the variances that can occur with human agents. This consistency ensures that every customer receives the same high-quality experience.
Cost-Effective Language Support:
Many businesses find it expensive and logistically difficult to hire multilingual staff. However, AI offers a more cost-effective solution by providing multilingual support without requiring a large, diverse language-speaking workforce.
Broadening Customer Reach:
Businesses can use AI-driven multilingual support to communicate with customers in their native languages, expanding their reach to new markets and demographics beyond their traditional customer base.
Reducing Emotional Fatigue:
Dealing with difficult or irate customers can be emotionally draining for human agents. AI can handle these interactions initially and escalate to humans only when necessary. This reduces the emotional burden on staff.
Error Reduction:
AI can reduce errors and stress for customer service agents by accurately handling routine tasks.
Data-Driven Insights:
AI analyses large amounts of customer data, including past interactions, preferences, and behavior patterns. This analysis helps tailor responses and recommendations specifically to each customer, making the service more relevant and personalized.
Personalized Problem Solving:
AI can offer customized solutions for customer support based on their unique situation or history with the product or service, instead of providing generic solutions.
Context-Aware Interactions:
AI systems can understand and remember context over multiple interactions. This means that customers do not need to repeat their information or problems, as the AI remembers past interactions and preferences.
Efficient Information Retrieval:
AI improves search functionality in knowledge bases, making it easier for both customers and agents to find information quickly. This involves using natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to queries conversationally.
Scalability and Flexibility:
AI allows easy scaling of knowledge base content to accommodate business growth and changes in product or service offerings. Consider hiring a company like Idea Link that specializes in AI automation.
AliExpress is a large online marketplace, similar to eBay, but based in China and owned by the Alibaba Group. It was launched in 2010 and allows small businesses, mainly from China, to sell their products to international customers.
Aliexpress utilizes AI in customer service primarily through chatbots, like their system named EVA. These chatbots can handle a wide range of inquiries, helping with tasks like:
Bank of America is a major financial institution in the United States and the world. It offers a wide range of financial services to individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.
Bank of America utilizes AI in customer service primarily through their virtual assistant, Erica, which offers a variety of features:
Resolving Inquiries: Erica handles a significant portion of customer questions, addressing basic banking needs and troubleshooting issues. This frees up human representatives for more complex concerns.
Proactive Assistance: Erica can anticipate customer requirements based on past data. This allows for proactive alerts on low balances, spending insights, and even credit score updates.
Decathlon is a sporting goods store chain that offers a wide variety of equipment and apparel for over 80 different sports. They are known for their affordable prices and their line of sporting goods under various brands.
Decathlon uses AI in customer service in a couple of ways to improve efficiency and customer experience:
Conversational AI: They have a virtual assistant named DECA that uses chatbots to answer frequently asked questions like order tracking, product returns, store locations and hours, and basic product information.
AI-powered moderation: Decathlon also uses AI to moderate customer reviews.
Yes, more companies will implement artificial intelligence in customer service to answer simple inquiries. However, this will not result in many layoffs for customer support agents. Instead, companies will be able to sustain the same number of employees as the company grows.
It is important to note that AI is not yet able to effectively walk users through troubleshooting consistently and dynamically. Therefore, actual humans are still needed for more complex situations.
If you are a customer service agent, your job is safe for now.
There are many customer service tools available to help track tickets, customer inquiries, and other issues. AI is becoming increasingly invested in this area, leading to the development of more tools to assist with customer service tasks.
People who work in these fields fear that large corporations will lay off employees and replace them with artificial intelligence to save money. However, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon as AI is not yet advanced enough to guide people through complex issues.
You may want to read one of our recent posts, such as Real-world AI Examples in Business or How to Use Chat GPT for Business.
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Domantas Alosevičius
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