Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a game-changer for businesses across industries. Its ability to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and personalise interactions has made it an indispensable tool for improving the customer experience. 57 per cent of business leaders plan to increase their AI investment by at least 25 per cent in the next year.
But how exactly can AI be leveraged to enhance the customer experience? In this article, we will explore 10 ways AI can revolutionise the customer experience in 2024, from providing 24/7 customer support to predicting and preventing churn.
1. Offer 24/7 Customer Support with AI-Driven Self-Service
One of the key benefits of AI is its ability to provide round-the-clock support to customers. AI-powered self-service options, such as chatbots, enable businesses to quickly address customer concerns and provide assistance even outside of business hours. These chatbots can empower customers to solve problems independently, offering instant responses and guiding them to relevant resources.
For Example, use AI to answer basic customer queries and suggest relevant help centre articles or instructional guides. By leveraging AI-powered chatbots, businesses can keep their ticket backlog manageable and free up support agents’ time to focus on resolving complex issues, resulting in faster resolutions and a better overall customer experience.
JeffreyAI, an AI business automation software, takes self-service to the next level. JeffreyAI automates not only customer support but also sales, marketing, social media, and various other business processes. By implementing JeffreyAI, businesses can provide 24/7 support and ensure efficient customer interactions throughout the buyer’s journey.
“Unlock Efficiency, Unleash Growth” – Try out JeffreyAI’s 30-day trial to experience the power of AI automation in your business.
2. Provide Quicker Resolutions
Customers today value their time more than ever. According to the CX Trends Report, 65 percent of customers believe that AI should save them time when they contact a business. AI can help businesses meet this expectation by enabling faster first-response times, decreased handle times, and shorter wait times.
AI chatbots and interactive voice response (IVR) systems are particularly effective in providing swift, contactless resolutions. Chatbots can instantly retrieve relevant answers from a company’s help center or self-service portal, resolving customer inquiries without the need for human intervention. They can also filter spam messages, ensuring that support agents focus on genuine tickets.
IVR systems, on the other hand, can address common customer questions over the phone through pre-recorded answers. For more complex issues, they can offer a callback feature, allowing customers to attend to other matters while waiting for an agent to call them back.
By leveraging AI to provide quicker resolutions, businesses can improve customer satisfaction and build stronger relationships with their customers.
3. Reduce Errors
Human error is inevitable, especially when support agents manually handle a large volume of customer inquiries. Typos, missing important details, and incorrect information can negatively impact the customer experience and make a business appear unprofessional.
AI can play a crucial role in minimising errors by automating repetitive tasks and capturing customer details accurately. Chatbots, for instance, can automatically collect customer information and provide agents with all the context they need to handle a problem effectively. This not only reduces the chances of errors but also saves support agents time that would have otherwise been spent on fixing mistakes.
Furthermore, AI’s ability to analyse large sets of customer data helps businesses make more accurate predictions, offer personalised recommendations, and better anticipate customer needs. By leveraging AI to prevent errors and improve decision-making, businesses can provide a seamless and error-free customer experience.
4. Route Incoming Calls or Messages to the Right Agents
Efficiently routing customer inquiries to the most suitable agents is crucial for delivering exceptional customer service. AI can automate this process by using keywords in customer messages to identify the skills required to resolve a problem and automatically notifying the appropriate agent. This is known as skills-based routing.
Skills-based routing allows businesses to match customers with agents who have the necessary expertise and language proficiency. For example, a customer with technical problems can be directed to an agent with technical knowledge and proficiency in the customer’s language. This ensures that customers receive the best possible support and have their issues resolved quickly and efficiently.
5. Deliver Personalised Recommendations
Personalisation is key to providing a superior customer experience. AI can analyse customer behaviour, demographics, and preferences to deliver personalised recommendations for products and resources during the onboarding process.
For instance, streaming service giant Netflix leverages AI to create a personalised home screen for each subscriber. By analysing a customer’s favourite movies and TV shows, Netflix provides recommendations for similar programming, continuously customising suggestions based on viewing habits, duration, and devices used.
Similarly, e-commerce giant Amazon uses AI and machine learning to understand customer queries and provide relevant search results. Based on a customer’s search history, Amazon displays similar items that the customer may like. The company even offers a personal shopping service, where customers complete a survey about their style preferences, and a consultant selects customised clothing items for them.
By harnessing the power of AI, businesses can deliver personalised experiences that cater to individual customer preferences, increasing customer satisfaction and driving repeat purchases.
6. Anticipate Customers’ Needs and Potential Issues
Being proactive in addressing customer needs and resolving potential issues is crucial for building strong customer relationships. AI can help businesses identify common customer questions and problems by analysing support tickets and customer interactions.
For example, a productivity tool software company can use AI-powered features in their CRM to track customer issues. By identifying patterns and common challenges, the company can update their help centre articles or create new resources to address these issues proactively. This ensures that new users have the information they need to overcome potential hurdles and have a smooth onboarding experience.
7. Track Conversation History for Seamless Interactions
Having to repeat information during customer interactions can be frustrating for customers and lead to a poor experience. AI can address this pain point by enabling chatbots to review past customer interactions and retrieve relevant context, ensuring seamless and personalised support.
Imagine a customer reaching out to a company’s chatbot and providing their name, order number, and date of purchase. The next time they contact the company, whether through the same chatbot or another platform, that information is already saved and accessible. This eliminates the need for customers to repeat themselves, saving time and creating a truly omnichannel experience.
Netomi Virtual Agent app, allows AI-powered chatbots to pull details from a customer’s conversation history. This ensures that support agents have all the necessary information to provide efficient and personalised support, resulting in a seamless customer experience.
8. Analyse Customer Data to Predict and Prevent Churn
Churn is a significant concern for businesses, as losing customers can have a detrimental impact on revenue and growth. AI-powered tools, can help businesses track and analyse customer sentiment to identify high-churn-risk customers and take proactive measures to retain them.
AI technology and natural language processing (NLP) analyse customer interactions and signals. By examining thousands of different signals and keywords, AI tools can provide quick recommendations and automatic alerts to help businesses monitor customer sentiments and predict churn or case escalation.
By leveraging sentiment analysis, businesses can gain a better understanding of customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. This allows support teams to take proactive actions, such as reaching out to at-risk customers and addressing their concerns, ultimately reducing churn and improving the customer experience.
9. Boost Sales with Bots
AI-powered bots can be valuable assets in driving sales and increasing revenue. By leveraging customer data and AI algorithms, businesses can use chatbots to alert customers about new products, special discount codes, and other information that encourages them to make additional purchases.
For example, based on a customer’s interaction with a chatbot, the bot can highlight specific promotions, upgraded features, or different pricing tiers that align with the customer’s needs. This personalised approach to upselling and cross-selling feels more like a helpful recommendation rather than a pushy sales pitch, enhancing the overall customer experience.
10. Minimise Employee Burnout
Support agents often face high workloads, which can lead to increased stress levels and, ultimately, burnout. AI can alleviate this burden by automating repetitive tasks and enabling support agents to focus on more complex tickets and meaningful customer interactions.
Chatbots can handle simple customer inquiries, either by resolving them directly or by guiding customers to relevant knowledge base content. IVR systems can address common customer questions over the phone through pre-recorded answers. By leveraging AI to reduce support agents’ workloads, businesses can create a healthier and more productive work environment, resulting in improved employee satisfaction and a better customer experience.
Conclusion: AI can revolutionise customer experience
In conclusion, AI has the power to revolutionise the customer experience in 2024 and beyond. From providing 24/7 support to predicting and preventing churn, AI can enhance efficiency, personalise interactions, and optimise various aspects of the customer journey. By embracing AI technologies like JeffreyAI, businesses can unlock efficiency, unleash growth, and stay ahead in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
“Unlock Efficiency, Unleash Growth” – Try out JeffreyAI’s 30-day trial to experience the power of AI automation in your business.