How many movies have you watched over the years where it looks like the robots are going to take over the world but in the end they’re no match for Arnold Schwarzengger or Will Smith. And while Terminator and iRobot showed us a world where robots and humans have a hard time co-existing, we at Dedication Agents like to think of the world much more like the one that Joaquin Phoenix lived in in Her, where artificial intelligence and human intelligence co-exists, supporting each other. That said, we’re here to talk to you about customer support, not falling in love with an AI that sounds like Scarlett Johansson. *tries hard to remain focused*
Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm, whether it’s creating lifelike pictures at the snap of a finger or coming up with a grammy-nominated hot AI produced song that sounds like Drake featuring the Weeknd, we have a good sense for what AI can do for us and the customer support world is no exception. AI-powered chatbots, virtual assistants, and automated systems have become common features in ecommerce businesses, streamlining processes and improving efficiency.
AI brings a host of benefits to customer support, including:
1. **24/7 Availability:** AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants can provide support round the clock, ensuring customers always have someone to turn to.
2. **Quick Response Times:** AI can instantly respond to common customer inquiries, reducing wait times and frustration.
3. **Consistency:** AI systems provide consistent and accurate responses, minimizing the risk of human error.
4. **Cost-Efficiency:** Automating routine tasks allows businesses to save on support staffing costs.
5. **Data Analysis:** AI can analyze customer interactions to provide valuable insights and identify trends for improvement.
However, there's a significant caveat to relying solely on AI: the lack of human touch.
While AI excels at handling routine inquiries and basic problem-solving, it often falls short in understanding and responding to the complex emotional needs of customers. I mean, look at T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, do you think that guy had any empathy for anyone? The human element of customer support brings empathy, emotional intelligence, and the ability to adapt to unique situations.
Customers appreciate the feeling of being heard and understood - I’m sure you’ve heard this from your significant other so you get it - and this is where human agents shine. They can:
1. Build Rapport: Humans tend to connect with customers on a personal level, which is crucial for building trust and loyalty.
2. Handle Complex Issues: When faced with intricate problems or emotional customers, human agents can adapt and offer customized solutions. You ever ask an AI to speak to the manager? It can be frustrating to say the least.
3. Empathize: Humans have the ability to understand and empathize with customer emotions, turning a negative experience into a positive one.
4. Think Creatively: Human agents have the ability to think creatively and find unique solutions to problems that AI may not recognize. As we’ve seen in the past at Dedication Agents, customers can get very creative with their requests and the agent needs to be on their toes ready to think outside of the box.
The future of customer support lies in achieving the perfect blend of AI-driven automation and the human touch. Here's how this balanced approach can benefit your ecommerce business and your customers:
1. Efficiency: AI handles routine tasks and frequently asked questions, allowing human agents to focus on complex issues, making the support process faster and more efficient.
2. Personalization: Humans can provide personalized responses, recommendations, and solutions tailored to each customer's unique situation, enhancing the customer experience. This way you have the ability to switch between automated responses and much more personalized communication on the fly - the best of both worlds.
3. Scalability: As your business grows, AI can handle the increased volume of routine inquiries, while human agents can be strategically deployed to tackle the most pressing matters.
4. Emotional Intelligence: When customers are upset, frustrated, or confused, human agents can connect on an emotional level, calming their concerns and providing reassurance. Dedication Agents believes all escalations should be bumped up to a human agent to handle - if the customer needs help beyond the norm then they should be given resources that are capable of handling situations beyond the norm.
5. Data-Driven Improvements: The AI can provide valuable data and insights, which can be used to train human agents and optimize the customer support process continuously. We love the idea of having the AI provide suggestions to the agents as it starts to see patterns in customer inquiries.
It’s all fine and dandy to agree that AI and human intelligence is a good combination for business but where exactly should you start? Here are a few initial thoughts:
1. Initial Triage: AI-powered chatbots handle initial inquiries, categorize issues, and direct them to the most suitable human agent. This saves time and ensures customers get to the right place, while also optimizing your workflows between the AI and human agents. This also allows you to optimize your resourcing knowing an AI could take on a good chunk of initial requests by customers, leaving just the key requests that you know a human agent should follow up on.
2. Order Tracking: Customers can use AI chatbots to check their order status, delivery dates, and other routine order-related queries. However, if there's a problem with the order, a human agent steps in to assist. We’ve seen this time and time again where order fulfillment is not a straightforward process. And although an AI chatbot is a great place to start to handle the straightforward “Where’s my order?” requests, we know a human agent should be there to ensure the request is completed, should there be issues on the backend with fulfillment.
3. Product Recommendations: AI can suggest products based on a customer's browsing, purchase history, or just off of whatever you have in your help center or FAQ’s. But when customers have specific requirements or need in-depth advice, human agents offer a more personalized shopping experience, again having the AI take on the initial inquiry and if it falls outside of what you deem “standard”, a human agent can step in to take it from there.
As AI continues to advance, the lines between human and AI interaction are blurring. Natural language processing and sentiment analysis capabilities are improving, enabling AI systems to better understand and respond to customer emotions and needs. However, while AI will get better and better at handling the basic tasks for your business while sounding like one of the human agents on staff, there’s still something to be said about having the option to talk to a human when it’s been two weeks and your Feastible’s chocolate has still not arrived!
