In our last blog we looked at AI and its role in market research. We discussed the benefits it will bring, as well as the risks that businesses need to be aware of when using it for insight purposes. Having dealt with the topic at a broad level, in this latest blog, we focus on AI and its impact on customer experience. We will look at the tracking of customer experience, an area Greenfields has been involved in from a consulting as well as measurement perspective. Given the highly competitive and challenging world we are in, we see customer experience requiring more attention than ever before.
Customer service is evolving quickly thanks to the power of artificial intelligence. AI is not just a trend; it’s redefining how businesses connect with customers.
Many businesses use AI to understand, shape, customize, and optimize the customer journey. AI can identify trends and patterns by analysing vast amounts of customer data more so than ever. This deep understanding can help businesses anticipate customer needs, tailor their services and create highly targeted marketing campaigns. Companies can also use AI to transform raw data into actionable insights, which can help them better understand and serve their customers.
Chatbots and virtual assistants are among the most common AI tools helping businesses reimagine customer service. However, while AI offers significant advantages, its use is not without challenges.
This article explores how AI is satisfying customer expectations as well as taking into consideration the limitations of solely relying on AI for customer support. We too delve into the measurement and tracking of customer experience.
The Benefits of AI in Customer Experience
Instant Responses
AI-powered tools like chatbots and virtual assistants enable businesses to provide around-the-clock support. These tools handle a wide range of customer inquiries, from basic information requests to transactional support, without the need for human intervention.
This reduces long hold times and ensures customers receive consistent service at any time of day — an essential feature for global companies or digital platforms operating across time zones.
Better understand customers
AI can identify trends and patterns by analysing vast amounts of customer data. This deep understanding, can help businesses anticipate customer needs, tailor their services and create highly targeted marketing campaigns. Companies can also use AI to transform raw data into actionable insights, which can help them better understand and serve their customers. For example, e-commerce platforms can suggest products based on browser history and personal interests.
Proactive Customer Support
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the customer service landscape by enabling businesses to move from reactive to proactive customer care.
This transformation is driven by AI’s ability to predict customer needs, automate routine tasks, and deliver personalized service in real time. The result is not just more efficient service but also an entirely new approach that pre-empts problems before customers even have to ask for help.
Electricity providers such as Eskom, for instance, may identify service disruptions and proactively alert customers. This proactive approach not only reduces high demands for helplines but also builds customer trust and satisfaction.
Increased Efficiency for Human Teams
It is important to note that we at Greenfields, would not use AI to replace but rather support customer service agents. With automation handling repetitive tasks (like data entry or ticket categorization), our human agents will be freed up to focus on more complex, emotionally sensitive interactions.
Considerations of AI
It’s essential to acknowledge the challenges associated with implementing AI. One significant hurdle is ensuring data privacy and security. Customers are increasingly concerned about how their data is used, and businesses must prioritize robust data protection measures.
Additionally, there’s the risk of AI bias which can produce skewed results, impacting everything from recommendations to automated decision-making. Regular audits and oversight are necessary to mitigate this risk.
In early AI experiments, challenges relating to data quality and algorithm accuracy were raised. To overcome these, we invested in data cleaning and enrichment processes and continuously monitored and refined our AI models. A key lesson learned is the importance of human oversight. While AI can automate many tasks, it lacks emotional intelligence. In situations where empathy and complex decision making is required human interaction is irreplaceable.
Measuring and tracking customer Experience
Tracking customer experience is more important than ever now given the evolving AI landscape resulting in new evolving expectations by customers. Have you asked the questions “What are our competitors doing as regards AI interventions in our industry and what impact is this having for competitive advantage?
Customer experience can be measured in two ways:
Past patterns where the experience is measured for each customer as and when it happens. For instance, at the end of a contact centre intervention the customer is asked to rate that experience at that specific time. There are various factors that can be measured. Net Promoter score (NPS) is a typical overall measure which should be supported by AI contributing factors.
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- Present patterns where the experience is based on how the customer sees this based on various factors and their interactions over a few events. This would include things like advertising, publicity etc.
We have seen interesting trends at present with some organizations where the NPS score has decreased significantly over the past few years. This has been supported by similar benchmarks across their respective industries. This supports the view for companies, in order to stay ahead, that they track their customer experience in both types of measures as indicated above. Including the measurement of the impact of AI interventions with customers is imperative at present as it is incorporated into ones service offerings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AI is transforming customer service by making it more efficient, personalized and accessible. While AI is not a one-size-fits-all solution, the benefits of AI in enhancing customer interactions are worth noting. As technology continues to develop, the role of AI in customer service will grow and offer more innovative solutions to meet customers’ evolving needs.
References
hbr.org, February 2007, Harvard Business Review