Digitization has completely revolutionized the way companies function. Right from marketing to recruitment, every aspect of a business has been positively affected and transformed by digitization. And one such area that has been revamped because of digitization and IT marvels is customer support.
Customer support is the backbone of any successful organization but we have come past that age where there used to be a dedicated space in the office with thousands of executives sitting behind computers to provide customer support. Now, we are witnessing the age of AI where almost every business function integrates process automation, including customer service to deliver the best results.
The most popular form of Artificial intelligence that has taken the world by storm is conversation AI. But what is all this buzz about conversational AI and is it worth investing in it for your business? Let’s find out
What is Conversational AI?
Conversational AI is a technology that allows machines to have human-like conversations with customers. Simply put, conversational AI is a process that involves an intelligent conversation between humans and machines.
This technology has been specially engineered to recognize human text and speech, understand its meaning and respond in a way that mimics a real person. Conversational AI is driven by advanced dialogue management models like Natural Language Processing, Automatic Speech Recognition, Machine learning, and even Noise cancellation AI.
To make the technology less monotone, conversational AI has been equipped with the ability to study speech fluctuations and this is how it sounds more like a human. According to studies, it has been found that speech fluctuation is the most common method of expressing emotions and understanding intent.
What are its benefits?
Improved accuracy
One of the best things about conversational AI is its level of accuracy. Recent innovations in e-commerce, Conversational commerce makes online retail solutions a cakewalk by precisely understanding customer intent and delivering end-to-end fulfillment. It also has increased CSAT and reduced operational costs by leaps and bounds.
From promotions, product catalogs, and payments, to customer retention – conversational commerce allows businesses to orchestrate customer journeys. This further minimizes the chances of any human error, and also allows customers to have more control over their buying process.
Reduced customer service cost
Customer support is most often viewed as a cost center. Right from training to dealing with a long list of tickets that seem to never end, every module of customer support adds up to the expenses of a business. But they can be wiped out from the list by using conversational AI.
By deploying conversational AI-like chatbots, many parts of the customer support operation can be completely automated, especially the most repetitive and mundane ones. For example, if your customer support team always has to deal with a common question like “How long should I use this product?”, it can be fed into the intent list. The next time any customer asks a common question, it will be answered by the chatbot instantly.
Improve customer satisfaction rate
If you already have a customer support team then you must be aware of the importance of CSAT in the customer support realm. Customer support is the most basic and important element of any business. If the customers are not satisfied with the product, service, or support interaction, even those extravagant ads during a Super Bowl won’t do any good to the company.
If your current customer support team isn’t able to maintain even an average CSAT, you need to switch to conversational AI. You will be surprised to know that conversational AI can improve customer satisfaction rates by almost 3.5X.
Since conversational AI is specially designed to offer a more personalized and seamless experience, there is no doubt about its effectiveness when it comes to keeping customers satisfied
Whether it is to order a product or avail of a service, most customers are now expecting it to be contactless. Conversational AI can fulfill this expectation of customers and offer contactless customer service. Additionally, it improves other kinds of support metrics as well.
When brands understand customer intents and deliver personalized products or services, the customer satisfaction rate automatically improves and works like a magic wand on the employee satisfaction rate simultaneously.
Today, conversational AI might seem like another new business opportunity but soon it will be the new normal for every business. So, if any business wishes to act as an early bird and gain a competitive advantage, should unleash the power of conversational AI and make it an integral part of its operations.
