Editorial
The Gist
- AI advantage. Embracing AI in CX not only automates tasks but elevates customer experience by freeing human agents for complex issues.
- Falling short. Despite AI's potential, some brands misuse it as a cost-cutting tool, missing out on improving customer satisfaction.
- Balanced approach. Successful CX integrates AI for routine tasks and human support for emotional or complex interactions.
In our emerging world of artificial intelligence (AI), the customer experience journey is evolving by leaps and bounds. With rapid advancements in AI in CX, businesses are adopting new strategies to enhance the customer journey and foster brand loyalty.
Yet despite the immense benefits AI offers to enhance customer experience, some brands are still falling short and are blaming technology. This belief is not only shortsighted, but it also stems from a greater failure to recognize the true purpose — and role — of AI in the customer experience journey. If anything, AI-driven approaches are freeing up customer relations personnel to infuse more humanity into the experience by allowing them to focus on customer interactions that require it, especially in complex or sensitive situations. Organizations looking to gain quicker insights to improve the customer experience should waste no time leveraging and embracing this new technology.
AI in CX: The Transformation
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing customer experience by automating interactions, personalizing experiences and providing real-time support. AI-powered tools such as chatbots, virtual assistants and recommendation engines, combined with customer meta-data and behavioral analytics, are changing the way customers interact with businesses. These tools allow for personalized, efficient, and seamless customer service, which in turn increases customer satisfaction and retention. In many cases, they reduce customer touchpoints and friction, which certainly makes transacting business quicker and easier for consumers.
While all this technology should mean that customer satisfaction is up, it’s not. While 2023 NPS reports are still being tallied, popular customer experience indexes such as Forrester’s CX Index and Qualtrics XM Institute showed average customer satisfaction scores dipping across nearly every industry last year. These studies may indicate companies are employing more AI technology to cut costs, instead of using it to create more frictionless and powerful customer experience journeys. One of AI’s greatest strengths is in gaining near instant learning into the voice of the customer and synthesizing large amounts of customer interaction data into actionable insights. But are companies using it to this effect?
Related Article: Should You Add These Customer Service AI Roles to Your Team?
Balancing Human Support and Computer Support
Many companies make the mistake of looking at the application of AI in CX in a vacuum. Making sure they are solving the customer issue the first time and continuing to measure it are critical. One PWC Study found that in the U.S. 59% will walk away from a product after several bad experiences and 17% after just one bad experience.
Companies should consider factors such as the complexity and level of emotion inherent to the type of business they’re attempting to transact, the availability and cost-effectiveness of AI technology, and the level of personalization desired by their customers. A good approach is to use AI in CX to handle routine, repetitive and straightforward inquiries, and tasks, while human support can be deployed for more complex or emotion-laden issues that require empathy and critical thinking. Continual monitoring and analysis of customer feedback can also help companies fine-tune the balance between AI and human support.
Related Article: How AI and Data Analytics Drive Personalization Strategies
5 Ways to Employ AI in CX
1. Low complexity/low emotion – repetitive tasks: AI-powered chatbots can handle customer inquiries and provide personalized responses 24/7. Automating the “no brainers” creates a more frictionless experience that allows humans to focus on more complex issues.
2. Intelligent routing: AI has been proven very effective in routing customer inquiries to the most appropriate support agent. While there are always exceptions, streamlining and directing this first step is a critical part of the customer journey.
3. Predictive analytics: As customers build records with a brand, AI has been shown to analyze customer data very accurately and then provide personalized recommendations that can anticipate future customer needs.
4. Sentiment analysis: AI can quickly and holistically analyze customer feedback, including social media posts and customer reviews, to identify and flag common issues and areas for improvement for human agents. The speed at which AI can perform these analyses also helps brands head off problems through quality monitoring with much more actionable data than having humans sift through small subsets of the same data.
5. Self-service portals: Customers are being empowered to “self-serve” using an array of AI-informed portals, bots and search bars that can quickly elevate issues that are more complex and higher emotion to human employees. These human exception paths that start with AI are the backbone of white glove service and reducing cost. These tools not only reduce costs and allow brands to focus on providing direct customer support more quickly, but then free up company resources for investing in new growth and innovation.
5 AI Pitfalls to Avoid
1. Lack of empathy: AI is not designed to be empathetic. However, when correctly utilized, it helps humans to connect with consumers on a deeper level.
2. Limited understanding of context and exceptions: While AI is a great tool that can handle common and routine queries, human complexities mean there are always exceptions.
3. Inaccurate data/unintentional bias: At the end of the day, AI is a tool that is only as good as the data that it is being fed and how it has been trained to respond. Relying more on AI means that CX professionals need to pay even closer attention to ensure the data they collect and modeled responses do not create unintended biases or discrimination.
4. Over-reliance on technology: Over-reliance can result in a loss of human touch, which may leave customers feeling disconnected, frustrated and ultimately having a long resolution time or no resolution at all.
5. Data privacy concerns: To be successful and unbiased, AI requires vast amounts of data, which naturally leads to privacy and security concerns. Brands can help head off these concerns by being transparent with their customers and outlining the security steps that are being taken.
Related Article: 3 Ways Sentiment Analysis Can Improve the Customer Experience
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Working Together: AI & Humans
The debate between AI and human customer support is a false choice. Customer experience professionals need to let go of such simplistic, binary thinking. Machines excel at prediction and, when used correctly, connect customers with human customer agents faster and more effectively. But to achieve the right balance, brands need to first learn how to properly leverage AI in CX. That starts by treating AI as an additive tool in the customer experience journey, not simply as a cost-cutting device.
By implementing the right approach with AI in CX and fostering collaboration between human and AI teams, businesses can harness the power of new technology and amplify the frictionless experience. It can also allow a touch of human empathy when customers have a complex moment of truth with the brand.
This connection, which enhances the speed of resolution for the customer experience journey, then leads to greater cost savings. Not to mention, significant increases in customer loyalty.
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