Over the years, customer service has gained incredible importance among businesses and brands. No brand today can dare to minimize the power of customer service. In fact, many businesses have become proactive about customer service and its quality.
Customer service is the support, guidance, or assistance customers receive before, during, or after attaining a service or buying a product. Customers become more satisfied and happy when guided through their buyer journey. They are also more likely to shop with the brand or choose the service provider again.
The latest customer service statistics indicate that 90% of Americans consider customer service a significant determinant in doing business with a company. To substantiate, 58% will opt for a competitor due to poor customer service. With that, customer service can make or break a business; you certainly know what you want!
AI in Customer Service
The customer service sector is a wide field and is the backbone of different industries i.e, eCommerce, hospitality, insurance, banking, technology, and the medical sphere. With technological advancements, the service sector is witnessing a steady shift from being human to technology-dependent. A report by Gartner indicated that at least 85% of customer interactions will be handled by systems shortly.
For that, we see many businesses leveraging chatbots and service portals due to their added advantage. These options are some of the major pillars that any business can rely on to provide a good customer experience at every touchpoint. If you’re a business owner or a brand manager and would like to introduce AI in your customer service, here is how it will surely be of an advantage.
Automation
For decades, customer service was powered by humans on customer service desks or those that had to commute to customer destinations to provide service support. However, with the advent of AI, customer service can be streamlined.
Businesses can leverage chatbots, service portals, and other self-service resources to automate customer service, especially repetitive tasks. Instead of hiring a large workforce to handle high call volumes and respond to every customer query, AI can be utilized to do the job. AI systems can help minimize burnout from handling calls and solving customer problems.
Besides that, AI provides a platform for optimized efficiency in solving complex customer queries. Also, it is helping businesses reduce customer service costs. A report by McKinsey indicated that businesses that utilize technology and other automation techniques save up to 40% on customer service costs.
Predictive Analytics
AI-powered chatbots and customer service portals are excellent sources of data. Data is becoming more leveraged in businesses for decision-making and efficiency. AI relies on customer information and queries fed regularly to draw patterns in customer behavior and poor experiences.
Businesses can then study customers' most prevalent problems while obtaining a service or after purchasing a product. The data can be used to develop preventive measures that help eliminate different customer issues.
On the other hand, AI can also analyze customer behaviors and predict future occurrences. That is supported by the most asked questions or customer queries they may be facing. This can offer insights for business owners who can also use reflection models for situational analysis and proactively act before the predicted occurrences take their course.
Real-Time Customer Support
Customer service is a long journey and is more commonly influenced by the type of assistance customers require. However, modern customers have become more demanding and unwilling to wait for unnecessary hours to attain the help they need. To make customers happy, many businesses are now tapping into the power of AI. AI can give automated customer replies and respond to repetitive questions accurately.
AI can provide 24*7 customer help which eliminates longer response time. The AI systems can also guide customers on how to go about their issues such as downloads, repairs, or installations that initially required them to wait.
With that, AI-powered chatbots eliminate human staff, which may sometimes exacerbate customer experiences. These solutions can also handle customer complaints anytime and anywhere, regardless of the time and day.
Fully Personalized Experiences
Personalization is currently taking the top spot among the many critical success factors in business. Many marketers are realizing the value of personalization and how it can enhance customer experience. Many studies show that customers prefer a personalized experience, meaning that self-service can’t be taken out of the equation.
However, with the advent of AI in customer service, businesses, regardless of size and industry, can leverage artificial intelligence to offer personalized customer experiences. AI can analyze customer habits via machine learning to allow businesses to create tailor-made experiences.
Unlike before, AI is helping many companies assist customers during purchase decision-making, improving sales. On the other hand, AI is helping businesses reduce order cancellations and customer frustrations that service experiences.
Increased Efficiency
Customers are the blood of any business; without them, no business can survive in the marketplace. Whereas companies can use AI-powered chatbots and online service portals to help customers enjoy the best customer service, AI can perform beyond that. AI can help a business achieve optimal efficiency with its customer service.
Any business that embraces technological advancements and automation can perform effectively from every angle. AI in customer service can lay a platform that can optimize the sales force, customer relationship management, brand image, and ROI. With the fact that AI can learn, it can help businesses provide accurate solutions to customers or predict bad customer experiences.
Bottom Line
Happy customers mean assured business with customers, whereas many unhappy customers are the basis for a bad brand image and low ROI. Unlike before, when brands needed to hire a large workforce to provide customer service, AI is a highly effective modern-day solution. AI is revolutionizing the customer service industry, and with the so-far attained results, AI has proven reliable. The technology can streamline customer assistance, allowing customers to attain the needed assistance in real-time.
