8 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Improving Customer Service
Customer service is a crucial aspect of business that usually determines the longevity of a company. Artificial intelligence is one of the initiatives changing business operations and explains why many companies have bought into the idea for improving their client experiences. AI helps in data analysis, preempting buying behaviors, identifying information patterns, modernizing operations, and enhancing business response times. Undoubtedly, AI is a crucial tool in the 21st-century business place. As proof of that, 91.5% of prominent businesses make it a core part of daily operations. Most of these functions are geared towards improving the customer experience and service. Here are some ways this is happening.
1. Workflows are more streamlined
Streamlining workflow is an ongoing discussion in modern businesses due to the need to save time and still take care of pressing tasks. In the last decade, it has become vital for businesses to reduce human intervention in repetitive tasks. This originated from the belief that the human factor increased error margins, a sharp contradiction to AI. Indeed, there are several advantages that artificial intelligence presents in the workplace. It starts with streamlining your customer service responsibilities.
Website chatbots are examples of AI-powered tools often used to support online customer service. They are pre-programmed with answers to common questions people ask about a product or the business. Chatbots interact and provide answers to common website inquiries. Moreover, because these interactions are conducted in real time, the business can take care of other pressing matters. Any inquiries or requests that are more than the chatbot can handle are then forwarded to a real team. This has helped streamline duties at the workplace.
2. Enhanced lead generation
The process of turning consumer interest into an actual purchase is what lead generation is all about. In other explanations, it is described as initiating a product inquiry into sales. A more common description, however, is the process of identifying potential customers for your business. All three explanations highlight a single point – converting customer interest into sales.
Pre-programmed questions that AI uses can help determine who is a potential lead and who isn’t. These carefully crafted questions validate leads by assessing the answers that customers provide to these chatbots. It might sound like a scene from the Hanna-Barbera animation production, The Jetsons. AI chatbots use algorithms to evaluate human answers and, through that, determine who potential leads are. The next process after the determination stage is to put all leads together and sell products or services to them. This is an efficient and, in many cases, more accurate way of generating leads.
3. Reducing employee burnout rates
Employee burnout is believed to be one of the main reasons people leave their jobs. The main drivers of burnout are multiple layers of stress, mental exhaustion, and dissatisfying job roles. Humans get tired, and when there are no stress coping mechanisms, the transition to burnout is quicker. The disadvantages of burnout are extremely detrimental to profits. Additionally, it might take years for employees to recover.
Fortunately, it is not the same with AI technology. It is an inanimate object and, as such, has no limiting human characteristics. They can be put to work 24/7 and still function as they should if there are no technical faults with the software. Even better, the consistent performance and productivity rate is several times higher than a human employee. AI benefits cannot be underestimated, even for businesses with customer service personnel running shifts. You could say that regarding employee burnout, AI is a timely help. Your team can therefore focus on customer service operations that require a human touch.
4. Saves budget reserved for customer service operations
Certain communication tools are common in a typical company with a functional customer service department. Multiple telephones and earphones are the most popular tools in a customer service office. These tools may need to be replaced from time to time to keep communication lines enhanced and sustained. Meanwhile, for companies that outsource their customer service, the average fee ranges from $2,600 to $3,400. Mind you, and these figures are monthly payments per an outsourced agent. That is a lot of money to be paying when AI can easily be incorporated into your website to save costs. Even with outsourced AI chatbot fees, the range is $50 to $500 per month.
Compared to the fees indicated earlier, that is a lot of savings for your business. Moreover, even with a one-time purchase of chatbot software, the cost is significantly lower. There are several live chat software on the market, and it’s best to know the pros and cons before buying. So you may be asking yourself which is best online chat for website? Knowing the right one suitable for your business will also save you from investing in something not cut out for your type of business. Apart from the savings factor, the software helps the customer service department to focus on more important tasks.
5. Improving self-service among customers and eliminating conflict
Self-service is a system that allows customers to attend to themselves using online channels. Once again, this is powered by artificial intelligence. This system is used widely on online selling platforms and food delivery businesses. Customers browse through the list of options provided on the website, make their choices, and proceed to the online checkout. All these stages are steered without the help of a human customer service person. In fact, AI handles all your online purchases until the payment stage.
Self-service is believed to limit real-time conflicts between members of the public and customer service reps. According to surveys, some customers are picky and easily start arguments with service reps. However, with AI technology, online contact is limited, and customers proceed with their orders or inquiries without conflict. Moreover, a user’s navigation of the business website creates an opportunity for people to learn more about the company they’re transacting with.
6. Better customer engagement and satisfaction
Every business establishment makes customer engagement a primary requirement in their service delivery. If you haven’t yet attended to this in your company, now will be the time to do so. Because AI is programmed to answer pertinent and common inquiries, there is little to no room for confusion. This creates the desired platform for better customer engagement, leading to satisfaction.
Remember that your customers want to be served with respect. They want their inquiries answered to the best of the company’s abilities. Therefore, any deviation from what they consider normal creates a breeding ground for conflict and confusion. This is why it is important to put a lot of helpful content on your website. Your customers will use that to navigate your site to determine what they want. Furthermore, AI technology, coupled with adequate content, is the best thing helping to enhance customer experiences. This means it is more likely that existing customers will recommend you to others, increasing your profits.
7. Helping to correctly predict customer needs and behavior patterns
Predictive customer behavior patterns and needs are usually the sole preserve of marketing. The department requires this to predict sales and to make financial projections. However, ever since artificial intelligence technology came onto the scene, customer behavior patterns have become useful to customer service. The tool AI uses for this is predictive personalization. The algorithm used by this technology studies online customer behaviors and categorizes them into different groups. This special technology is what makes a customer experience individualized service even when transacting business without a human representative.
For example, if you are on streaming services, have you wondered why you continually receive a similar movie or music selections based on what you previously watched? That is AI technology at work. It is all around you; all it takes is to connect the dots. By taking cues from your past online activities, this technology tailors future purchases based on a consumer’s previously shown interest. Learning more about behavioral analytics and how it’s helping customer experience and services would be best.
8. Better customer service response times
You may be familiar with delays if you have ever waited for feedback from a company’s customer service representative. According to data, delayed customer service response times are one of the main reasons people avoid certain business establishments. A past negative experience is enough reason customers will go to great lengths to avoid transacting business with a particular company.
When this happens among several customers, you can be sure that it can affect business profits. With AI technology, however, response times are better, and delays are greatly reduced. Customers are assured of better feedback in desirable timeframes that do not escalate conflict or confusion—the shorter the response time, the happier the customer.
To conclude, businesses cannot overlook the benefits of artificial intelligence to their customer service operations. You risk losing customers when you fail to incorporate this technology into your daily tasks. Additionally, it generally makes running your company less stressful. The above ways are a few that AI can help you find and keep clients to maximize profits.
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