Customer service with an AI smile?
One of the greatest areas of AI promise that businesses report is customer service. Almost three-quarters (72%) of businesses say they see an increase in positive customer feedback as a result of using AI in this area. Consumers are warming to the idea, with 41% saying they’re entirely comfortable with AI handling customer service, outweighing the 35% who still feel uneasy. In fact, our report shows that brands that skillfully special lead integrate AI with personalized touchpoints can boost customer satisfaction fourfold.
But there’s not yet a mandate for a wholesale AI rollout. There’s still considerable reticence on the consumer side – around a third (31%) say they’re more likely to have a negative perception of brands that use AI. One of the starkest disparities is between brands’ and consumers’ views on AI’s role in resolving complex issues. Just 7% of consumers prefer AI to play a part here, while almost four times more businesses (27%) think it’s essential.
Trust is at stake if brands hand over the reins entirely to AI during consumers’ time of need. When consumers want answers to their most complicated how to achieve big sales on shopify with whatsapp questions, they want them to come from a real person. Our report indicates that customer service that balances AI and a human connection is one of brands’ best opportunities to create deep and distinctly personal connections with people.
Prizing the personal touch
Probe consumers’ concerns about AI a little further, and it all comes down to maintaining these personal connections. For customer service specifically, two-thirds (65%) of consumers believe AI involvement can sometimes feel a little impersonal. But united states business directory across brand interactions more widely, 50% of consumers fear a loss of the personal touch, while 49% worry that AI will not be Almost three-quarters (72%) of businesses say able to understand their unique situation.
However, technology doesn’t have to be the enemy of personalization. As our report reveals, brands simply need to understand when AI is appropriate and when a personal touch is irreplaceable. Rather than coming at the cost of personal brand interactions, AI can be used to generate insights into how to deliver the in-person experience consumers expect. And it can do so with greater efficiency, accuracy, and precision than humans alone are capable of.
Take loyalty programs as an example. A brand might develop a broad, rich program of rewards for people to redeem, but AI can pinpoint which of them are likely to resonate most with specific groups, based on their needs and behavior. The same is true of personalizing brand communications with customers. AI can analyze content and determine what’s most likely to engage a customer while at the same Almost three-quarters (72%) of businesses say time conveying that the brand understands them.
As one director of customer marketing at a leading retailer explains: “AI speeds up decision-making, like personalizing promotions for customers. Instead of giving everyone the same discount, we can target the right offers, which improves both customer satisfaction and how we manage profits.”
Leaving a human in the loop
What this all calls for, then, is human-in-the-loop solutions: technology powering the engine but humans at the wheel. The majority (71%) of businesses agree that human representatives will remain a crucial part of their CX strategies. That’s great news for the 78% of consumers who believe some form of human interaction is essential for a good customer service experience.
AI can tailor in-store product recommendations to customers, for example, but these interactions should be fronted by human advisors and product experts. This only becomes more important with high-value purchases, which businesses and consumers align on as their top use of in-person support.
With a hybrid CX approach, brands can truly achieve the best of both worlds. The human face of the brand helps consumers feel connected while using insights from technology that works in the background to enhance interactions.