How is AI Impacting the Customer Service Industry?

Artificial Intelligence is getting a lot of attention, but just how is AI impacting the customer service industry? How can you harness it to drive success in your organization?

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard make creating interactive content faster and easier than ever before. In fact, Zendesk reports up to 30% faster resolution times using AI.

Predictive AI, on the other hand, is used to analyze data, identify patterns, and make predictions about future events and outcomes. Predictive analytics can be used to improve customer service by delivering a highly personalized customer experience (CX) and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Advancements in both generative and predictive AI are allowing companies to better meet customer desires and expectations.

Specifically, expectations around four important pillars of communication are driving CX right now. They are:

• Multi-Tasking Habits – No one wants to do just one thing at a time anymore. Customers want to be able to work getting answers to their questions and solutions to their problems seamlessly into their already busy days.
• Independence – People want to independently take care of anything they can … all by themselves. They don’t want to rely on others for help, preferring self-service options that appeal to their autonomous mentality.
• Pace – Customers expect to get what they want when they want it. The world has become fast-paced in general, and customer service must keep up with the pace to keep customers happy.
• Instant Results – No one wants to wait. They have no patience for delayed gratification or any type of wait time. Customer service resolutions must be as near to instantaneous as they can be to satisfy customers’ desire for immediate gratification.

AI tools can help customer service agents meet these evolving expectations.

To satisfy customers’ growing demand for more responsive CX as a whole, customer service also must be reframed from a raised/resolved transaction modality to that of a relationship.

Customer interactions no longer exist independently. So, customer service must see the bigger picture and focus on the longer term customer lifetime, rather than a single transaction.

This relational focus requires a new set of tools for agents. And AI is driving many of these new tools.

Some keywords to keep in mind while building a successful customer service program using AI in 2023 are these:

• Efficiency – You need to be able to meet your customers where they are, when they need you.
• Personalization – You must show your customers that you know them, while simultaneously respecting their privacy. It’s a whole new world in terms of the data available on customers, and people have different comfort levels regarding the use of that data. You must strike a balance for both those that want to be known, as well as have opt-out options for those who do not.
• Accessibility – You need to be accessible to customers not just through the customer service department, but be able to provide a holistic CX throughout your organization. AI can be used to support this accessibility across all departments.

New AI-driven tools and technology make this an exciting time for the customer service industry. But while there are countless benefits to be gained from using AI, there can be challenges as well.

However, you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. In fact, getting expert help and guidance makes putting AI to work for you faster and easier. It allows you to realize the benefits all that much sooner.

As a customer experience and quality assurances industry leader, ARC has been specializing in the integration of technology towards tailored solutions for over 25 years. Combined with our vast partner network, we are proud to offer the expertise and experience required to tackle any unique needs.

So, we invite you to connect with us to discuss how you can strategically integrate AI into your contact center so that your customer service can efficiently meet these new customer expectations.

Contact us by using this form to book a call or by calling 1-866-513-4825. If you prefer email, you can contact us at info@arcqs.com.