AI-powered customer service is becoming a staple in today’s competitive marketplace. Businesses are quickly adapting to the new technology, using it for increased revenue and improved customer satisfaction. AI is being introduced and used to increase revenue, improve customer loyalty and brand reputation, as well as enable employees to focus on high-quality tasks that deliver higher returns. Businesses that fail to adopt this emerging technology will be left behind in an increasingly competitive marketplace where customers have come to expect personalised experiences. But you may be thinking – that is fine for big companies but I am a small business.
Did you know that even small businesses can access highly sophisticated AI for use in their business?
Some businesses are hesitant to adopt artificial intelligence for their business. However, businesses that fail to adopt this emerging technology will be left behind in an increasingly competitive marketplace where customers have come to expect personalised experiences that are immediate. AI is able to process high volumes of interactions quickly and provide customers with an instant response. The addition of AI technology can allow customer service representatives to focus on higher-value tasks, which helps improve company profits while providing a better experience for the customer. We cannot all afford to have an army of 24/7 customer services representatives – but with AI we can.
In this article I will be discussing the potential benefits that Artificial Intelligence has to offer small businesses in improving their customer service, loyalty and brand reputation, as well as enabling employees to focus on other more lucrative tasks. I will then discuss how artificial intelligence can be easily leveraged for any size business.
By automating various customer service activities with artificial intelligence tools, companies can respond faster and better to customer requests while providing an exceptional experience. Providing AI-based customer services around the clock can help you to process most requests faster, more efficiently and without the need for live agents.
Chatbots
As the age of artificial intelligence in customer service has arrived, what will be the role of customer service agents? And how can we effectively implement AI-powered tools to create better customer experience and reduce costs? The obvious tool is chatbots. Now you are probably thinking ‘chatbots – really?’ I have not had a good experience with them. However, Chatbots vary. Chatbots which are not powered by artificial intelligence, help, and essentially provide their users with one size fits all experience and it is a scripted experience based on key words. I personally have had numerous frustrating encounters with these low level non-AI powered chatbots. But that is not what I am suggesting to help you. Far from it. Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, are the kind of chatbot that is smarter and has a lot more understanding. They take into account what you want to do, your company’s needs, and how they can help solve these needs. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get these for $10-$30/month or one-time fee. All of these are very affordable to small business. There is a lot of talk about how chatbots will replace human interaction with customers. That is partially true. However, the real game changer now are digital humans.
Digital Humans
Digital humans are all powered by Artificial Intelligence. And they are powerful and can replace humans very effectively. Bank of America has reduced its’ customer service agents by 50% and increased its’ use of digital humans to replace them. Would it surprise you to know that you too can use the same digital human as Bank of America for a very very low fee? There would be a set up fee and then it is charged per interaction. Each case differs but I have seen it at $1.80 per interaction. And these are not even chatbots. These can understand complex sentence, understand if someone switches context in the middle of a sentence, detect emotional state and adapt as needed. In fact, I was speaking with some human colleagues of a digital human and their only complaint was that she did not gossip of banter with them between calls. The company are now working on adding a chit chat/banter module to her brain.
Customer Experience
In customer service, we use AI to improve the customer experience and create more enjoyable interactions with our user base. Building successful artificial intelligence in customer service is an ongoing process and in some ways resembles onboarding new employees. When digital humans are used the best way to think of them is a super intelligent intern. When they start they have to be trained on your business. But once they are trained they do a better job than humans as they have a computer brain. They can remember every discussion they have ever had so when the same person returns, they remember the previous conversation and all about that person. Ensuring far greater customer service than a human who has their CRM system notes but not everything is captured.
As a result, customer experiences with AI-enabled technologies are likely to be more positive, and customers trust AI-enabled services. Understanding your customers is the first step towards an excellent customer experience, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) can help accelerate that understanding. Customer service and front-line customer interactions can benefit from the rationalization, especially by using AI that provides customer service.
Case Study
One of my friends has a skin care clinic and has 2 staff members. Previously the staff had their own jobs to do as well as answer all incoming calls. Now she employs a digital human to do the customer inbound calls to free up her staff to do their main roles. She told me that her customer service feedback is actually higher than when she had humans doing it.
How to Begin
Think about your business. How much time is spent on customer service? If you are spending a lot of time on customer service you should seriously consider adding a digital human to your staff. I have tested many and can guide you to find the best one for your needs. And if you want to know more about general applications of AI in small business, check out our webinar on this.
