Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing every aspect of the economy and how we work. It will take time to become ubiquitous in specific industries, but it has already transformed customer service. Michiel Hulsbergen, CEO of DialogueTrainer, explains.
Still, AI won’t replace humans in customer service soon (there are simply too many open jobs). Most customer service businesses and departments already use AI to improve customer engagement, help customer service agents better access and cover knowledge bases, reduce costs, and streamline operations.
There are many benefits to an AI-assisted customer service department, chief among them vastly improved interactions with customers and the ability to transition your workforce into more challenging jobs where their skills can be better used. Nonetheless, some service departments struggle to transition into a “hybrid” customer service shop where AI and humans work together for the best results.
I have worked closely with AI and AI-based training software for years and have learned some steps to make the transition easier and take advantage of AI’s benefits faster. Here is a simple five-step plan to make AI part of your customer service machine.
1. Identify Your Biggest Challenges: Businesses that adopt AI solutions without a game plan are in for a struggle. You must identify your challenges before you start using or working with AI. Are agents spending too long on calls trying to solve complex problems? Is your help desk overwhelmed with inquiries and taking too much time with routine issues? Do customer service agents struggle to find answers to simple problems, such as resetting a password, opening an account, or tracking an order? Start with low-hanging fruit. If agents spend too long on calls, AI can help by answering basic questions via an app or text. If calls take too long, there are AI solutions that help agents do their jobs faster and better and answer questions quickly. When you start working with AI, know what needs to be fixed.
2. Analyze Data to Clarify Challenges: One of AI’s biggest strengths is that it can analyze data and patterns so humans know their shortcomings. Put AI and big data to work to provide a baseline for customer service. How long are agents spending on calls? Is there a particular question or inquiry that slows down customer service? How many issues or problems are solved quickly and amicably? Data harvested from AI provides a baseline of knowledge for your business. Once you’ve used AI to solve your glaring issues (see above), data can tell you what to improve next.
3. Train Employees to Do a Better Job AI is a fantastic tool (full disclosure: my company, DialogueTrainer, provides AI-based online training for the workforce). Hybrid and remote work is now the norm, and AI offers countless options to train employees — whether a download of company policies or an immersive tutorial on customer service. The best part of AI is that it “learns” the more it trains employees, particularly customer service workers. Each interaction helps AI fine-tune learning modules or programs. AI isn’t just good at the nuts and bolts of training, either. It can make training feel natural with a conversational flow, and it constantly adapts and intensifies training so a motivated employee can learn more and become even more valuable.
4. Use AI to Understand Workers Better: AI excels at “understanding” workers and identifying their strengths and weaknesses. It can examine each customer service interaction closely and see how an agent or employee handles it — and then understand an agent’s preferences and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Employees and their supervisors can then use this information to improve workers’ jobs and make the work more enjoyable.
5. Identify Problems in Advance: AI will never match human intuition. What AI does brilliantly is recognize patterns. As a result, it can find potential problems so customer service managers (and companies) can fix them before they cause future issues. A persistent issue in training or workforce development could affect customer service or even a potential financial problem on the horizon. Access to AI data can help Customer Service Managers do their job better and prepare for problems down the road.
Many discussions have been held on AI in the workplace and customer service. Most of them miss the point. Although AI can provide fast solutions on demand, AI for now can’t build personal relationships and explore needs that lie beyond the contents of its model. This means that professionals need to step up, throw their personality into the mix and move beyond their own canned responses. It’s impossible to replace humans while still providing exceptional customer service and forming an emotional bond and goodwill with a customer. AI helps the human workforce provide better answers faster, train intelligently, and even customize their jobs so they enjoy them more. Customer service managers who use AI wisely will not just get the best of the digital world but the best out of their workforce.
About the Author
Michiel Hulsbergen is CEO of DialogueTrainer.
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