Today’s customers have higher expectations of service than ever before. Salesforce research finds that 77% of customers expect to instantly interact with someone upon contacting a company; 53% expect companies to anticipate their needs; and 71% prefer to engage on different channels – be it email, phone, or online chat.
How can service organisations cater to these different requirements while keeping costs low and agent productivity high?
AI could hold the answers. It combines the automation and efficiency that service centres need with the personalised experiences that customers expect.
Although AI isn’t new to service – traditional chatbots have been used for years to resolve routine issues – new advancements in conversational AI, predictive AI, and of course, generative AI are taking service to a whole new level. For the first time, we have machines that can generate original content, comprehend complex queries, understand context and intent, and deliver accurate responses.
Here’s how you can use these capabilities to transform service:
Bring a human touch to self-service with intelligent chatbots
Gone are the days when chatbots could only handle straightforward customer queries, and deliver mechanised, pre-programmed responses. With breakthroughs in natural language processing, chatbots can communicate in a much more natural, dynamic, and engaging manner. They can learn the syntax and semantics of human language, and mould their responses in real time based on the customer’s inputs. They can even track the flow of dialogue, remember previous messages, and generate coherent replies. So, customers feel like they’re talking to another human, not a machine.
Strengthen customer loyalty with personalised support
Personalised service isn’t just about greeting your customers by name. It’s about anticipating what they need, and tailoring service experiences to their unique preferences. AI can help you do this at scale. It can swiftly analyse the customer’s purchase history and shopping behaviours to predict their needs, wants, and future actions. So, the next time a customer visits your website, you can instantly recommend a product that they might like, or tell them about an event that they might be interested in, or offer a customised discount that triggers a purchase. This kind of personalised service makes customers feel valued and special.
Increase service productivity with smart automation and knowledge management
Imagine having your own personal assistant who responds to customer emails, finds you the knowledge articles you need, and summarises your cases – all at the click of a button. That’s what an AI-enabled virtual assistant like Einstein for Service can do. It automates repetitive and time-consuming service tasks, so that your agents are freed up to focus on situations that require creative problem-solving and complex critical thinking. Not just that, the AI can also empower your agents with next-best action recommendations – so, they can resolve customer issues faster.
RVP,
Sales,
Salesforce
Elevate service quality with predictive analysis and smart insights
Salesforce research finds that the share of service decision-makers using AI has increased by 88% since 2020. There’s a good reason for that. AI doesn’t just benefit customers or agents – it also helps service leaders make smarter decisions. Using large language models, AI can swiftly transform volumes of customer feedback, reviews, and social media posts into concise, actionable business intelligence. Earlier, this kind of data crunching would have required significant technical expertise. But now, with a few simple prompts, any business user can leverage AI to summarise complex data sets, predict customer needs, and uncover insights that can help improve service performance.
Gone are the days when AI was primarily used to deflect cases from agents to chatbots. Today, it’s helping service become faster, more humane, intuitive, and empathetic. That’s a win for everyone.
