Changing customer expectations have led to an exponential increase in the number of companies leveraging innovative technologies to optimize the buyer journey. Artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the most valuable tools business leaders can use to increase satisfaction, streamline contact center processes, and gain valuable insights.
AI technologies enable organizations to provide 24/7 personalized service to consumers across channels through bots and virtual agents. They not only enable agents to automate various tasks, reducing operational costs, but also provide insights into customer preferences and sentiment.
However, AI also comes with risks to consider, especially around ethics and security. Here's our guide on the best ways to use AI to enhance customer support without running into common implementation issues.
3 Key Use Cases for AI Customer Support
Use cases for AI in customer support are evolving as AI solutions evolve and new algorithms and frameworks are explored. Businesses today can use AI for everything from improving conversions through proactive outreach to generating responses to customer inquiries.
However, most of the key use cases for AI customer support fall into three main categories:
1. Increased agent efficiency and productivity
Today's customer service agents face pressure to provide fast, expert support across multiple channels. AI can improve agent efficiency and productivity in a variety of ways. For example, chatbots can handle simple requests and automate processes like scripting and call transcription, freeing up employees to focus on more valuable tasks. In fact, 30% of customer service representatives It is expected that by 2026, AI will be used to automate the process.
AI solutions can also support and guide employees throughout customer support tasks. Sentiment analysis can be used to detect positive and negative sentiment and provide employees with real-time insights on how to mitigate or improve the situation. It can also ensure that conversations are routed to the right employee based on sentiment and intent analysis.
2. Providing services 24/7 through multiple channels
Perhaps one of the biggest use cases of AI in customer support is how it enables businesses to provide 24/7 support to customers through various channels. AI ChatbotsFor example, they are available around the clock to answer questions and provide self-service resources for customers.
Chatbots can handle an unlimited number of conversations simultaneously, leverage advanced analytics tools and data to personalize interactions, and when a conversation escalates, chatbots can hand over important information about the customer to an agent, reducing the need for customers to repeat themselves.
In an evolving world of customer experience, companies AI to build voicebotsSpeech recognition capabilities allow you to interact with users over the phone. They understand natural language, interpret intent, and minimize call queues. These 24/7 solutions improve customer experience, reduce employee strain, and minimize operational costs.
3. Enhanced business insights
AI is a powerful tool for businesses looking to gain more insight into their target audience and growth opportunities. AI solutions process massive amounts of data from thousands of conversations across different channels, providing insights into topic trends and customer preferences.
AI Sentiment Analysis The solution helps businesses understand the factors that influence what their customers think and feel, enabling them to better understand their customers' needs and wants, resulting in better products and services, and ensuring businesses have the insights they need to improve customer retention and reduce churn.
AI solutions can also leverage machine learning to make accurate predictions about call volumes and customer requirements, helping businesses make more intelligent decisions about resource allocation and optimization over the long term.
Ethical Considerations and Best Practices
While the benefits of AI customer support solutions are far-reaching, there are still obstacles that businesses must overcome: Because AI solutions rely on large amounts of data, businesses need to take a proactive approach to using that data and tools ethically and safely.
Here are some best practices businesses should follow when using AI for customer support.
1. Develop an ethical AI policy
Developing a code of ethics to regulate your use of AI is an important way to ensure you're adhering to ethical and compliance standards. The guidelines you implement will depend on how you're using AI, but you should always ensure you're adhering to data privacy regulations, prioritizing transparency, and removing bias from your interactions.
You should also have a plan in place for continually monitoring and optimizing your AI solution: A well-developed AI customer support plan should include a process for continually fine-tuning your chatbots, voicebots, and other AI solutions based on feedback and insights.
2. Use the right AI technology
AI for customer support comes in many forms, from voicebots and chatbots to AI-enhanced analytics tools. The right technology for your business will depend on your specific artificial intelligence use cases and requirements.
Make sure your AI solution meets the following criteria:
- Equipped with cutting-edge technology: Helps optimize customer experiences with natural language processing capabilities and sentiment analysis solutions.
- Customizable: Make sure you can train the chatbot with your own data, implement your own usage policies, and link the technology to your existing tools (e.g. CRM software).
- Secure and Compliant: AI bots and systems that leverage them must have comprehensive solutions for data encryption and protection to ensure ongoing compliance.
3. Make sure your solution is user-friendly
Any AI solution you implement into your customer support strategy needs to be intuitive and user-friendly: Bots used to respond to customer service requests should use simple language and easy-to-follow menus that are easy for customers to understand.
The AI solution you use for data analysis should make it easy to extract valuable insights from different conversations. Real-time monitoring optionsCreate custom reports based on the metrics that matter most to your business.
4. Keep track of people
Finally, while AI can enhance your customer support processes, it shouldn't replace your human support team. Instead of replacing your staff with automated bots, augment your workforce with the AI tools you implement. Always allow your customers to opt out of interacting with the chatbot or escalate the conversation to a human agent.
Make sure the AI tools you use for self-service can also transfer key information from the customer interaction to your agents, preserving context throughout the customer journey and eliminating the need for consumers to repeat themselves.
Unlocking the benefits of AI in customer support
AI solutions offer businesses a powerful opportunity to enhance and optimize their customer support strategy. From bots that provide 24/7 service to solutions that increase employee productivity, reduce operational costs, and provide valuable insights, AI can play a role in every aspect of your CX strategy. However, implementing this technology correctly is key.
Large vendors like XCally We provide businesses with flexible AI systems that can power everything from chat and voice self-service strategies to sentiment and predictive analytics. These tools can help improve efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction without sacrificing ethical standards or compliance.
Diego Gossmer – Chief AI Officer @XCALLY “XCALLY helps businesses transform their customer support strategies by leveraging the power of AI. Cutting-edge technologies such as chatbots, voicebots, sentiment analysis and predictive insights enable businesses to provide personalized 24/7 support while optimizing agent efficiency. XCALLY's secure and customizable AI solutions ensure compliance and data protection, and the user-friendly interface makes it easy to extract valuable insights and create custom reports. By keeping humans in the loop at all times and allowing customers to opt-out or escalate to a human agent, XCALLY ensures a seamless customer experience. Fairness, transparency, security, privacy and governance are key milestones in XCALLY's ethical approach in the artificial intelligence space, combining humans and AI to build CX applications for the common good.”
