Terms
As new technologies are released into the world, it's tempting to dive in headfirst into the latest innovation and incorporate it into every aspects of your business.
With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) it is possible to consider incorporating chatbots as well as large language models (LLMs) throughout your customer service offerings. But here at we've observed that a compromise needs to be found, says Lauren Gilbert, Eyal Avital and Mau Fournier, from our Customer Happiness team.
Particularly when it comes to customer service, AI can be beneficial but should be used only in conjunction with an actual human expert in customer service. "Many individuals want to assign the entirety of their customer support tasks to these new AI instruments, but there will always be cases that require actual human interaction. Transferring everything to AI could leave some of your customers more frustrated than they were before they submitted their feedback," starts Mau.
Let's take a look at the ways and times you can mindfully include AI to improve your service to customers.
Essential qualities for a customer service team
What does the ideal customer service look as? What can best be done to aid a company's clients?
"We try to embody the five qualities of the PREACH model in order to keep a customer-centric approach," starts Eyal Avital. "We aim to be Proud, Responsible, Empathetic, articulate, concise and human.
Everyone agrees that empathy might be one of the most crucial aspects. "Put yourself in the customer's position and demonstrate empathy for their situation. Tell them that their business matters to those who run the organization who work to run it," begins Lauren.
"Empathy is often overlooked," adds Mau. "You must show empathy in order to understand the client's problem And you must show empathy when you respond so that the client feels heard, which can help reduce their defensiveness if they're upset."
Additionally, clients require assistance from someone knowledgeable enough about the platform to be able offer all the needed information - as well as the language to convey the product. "When you're dealing with an application that you can count upon to manage your business, getting help promptly from a person who understands the software inside and out, and can explain how to solve a problem in a way that's easy to grasp and take action on, is beyond important," thinks Lauren.
Customer service isn't just the exercise of ticking boxes: genuine kindness is vital. "Don't only answer their flims question -- try to find out what's behind the question; what are they trying to accomplish," thinks Mau. "Help them address the root problem, then follow-up later to make sure they got what they wanted. It is likely that people will leave content if they can sense the person in the other room truly wants to find solutions to assist," he adds.
Also, do not forget timeliness and clarity when you interact. "You need to provide prompt assistance, communicating in a concise and clear manner," starts Lauren. Eyal adds: "You must be timely when you respond to your customers. You may offer an A+ rating, but if the response isn't timely in the member's mind the member will feel disregarded and negatively view the interaction."
When AI fails
There's no doubt that AI can be helpful particularly for people who are busy with their business and entrepreneurs however, it's not always the best option. There are few aspects of excellent customer service which AI cannot replicate.
Personalisation
Based on our experiences thus far, AI is missing the point of finding solutions that actually meet a specific customer's needs. We've seen numerous examples of assist desk software that asks customers to respond to a lengthy list of questions to get an answer from an algorithm. And, by definition the automated response is unable to resolve an unlimited amount of problems because there isn't a 'one size fits all' situation.
"AI can certainly demonstrate proficiency and offer solutions to your questions. And it will often be more adept than human beings but its skills may not be as current and in tune with your area of expertise as humans is," says Mau. "It is able to be useful in short and simple interactions however it will not take ownership of being helpful and won't be able to follow-up as a human would but, at the least not right now."
Longevity
While LLM (AI) applications have improved their voice when talking to customers, there's a way to go. "LLM apps are able to maintain the tone of conversation that is respectful however it's far from genuine compassion from a human. The capacity of human compassion and the ability to connect an experience to its specific event isn't possible to replicate," says Mau.
In the same way, AI is all about the short-term. "LLMs tend to have a shorter attention span that's part of the AI technology," he adds. "They will not remember that chat you had just six months ago concerning the challenges your customers face, or how your content serves them in the future, or perhaps even that they love going on fishing excursions with their family. Reintroducing these things to new discussions will make members feel like they are actually valued."
How AI can assist you
This is not to say that AI cannot be beneficial for customer support. There are certainly clear-cut opportunities for automation, like with any other new technological innovation However, it is crucial that you know when to make changes and when to do it.
"We should put AI to work on mundane tasks that could be automated while keeping a human voice as an alternative for people who have special requests" Mau begins. Mau. " LLMs offer a fantastic initial draft of replies however, the most effective result comes from the editing you make to this draft. Incorporate your personal voice into conversations."
"What used to be the FAQ on a website is now handled by robots or AI that can solve simple questions quickly and 24/7. Any questions that aren't answered by single-click solutions or ones-click options should then be routed to human support," Eyal adds. "Otherwise, customers might become frustrated. It's similar to the old times of being stuck on a jumble of numbers in order to reach the appropriate department on the phone."
The integration with AI is a slow process. "There's an evolving process (crawl-walk-run) for integrating bots, or LLMs," starts Eyal. "New firms should be able to devote greater time and effort to the community by providing hands-on assistance. As they grow more popular they will be able to move away from their frequently asked queries to LLM."
"AI can help you scale in your career because more employees can raise questions," says Mau. "Many of these will be simple queries which AI can take off of your to-do list, so that you can focus on the more nuanced problems."
"You could be able to rely on AI in the beginning however I'd advise against it. I'd suggest greater manual assistance for those who are beginning out. The questions you receive in the early stages of your career are an excellent source of feedback that can be used to understand your intended group and ways to make things better for them."
Conclusion
It looks like the people-first method we're adopting is working, successfully blending an array of knowledge along with the emotion only a human being could bring. Eyal says the way we work helps to humanize Memberul as a brand "a mix of empathy, sharing resources, and including a bit of fun with emoticons and GIFs" keeps things lighthearted and beneficial.
Mau gives some feedback from a customer that said it was nice to talk "to someone who was a human being who had such a genuine approach to helping" as well as someone who could offer personalized guidance for your specific question. "That client said that they received the most excellent assistance they've ever received!" smiles Mau.
Lauren is able to recall a client who wrote in to express concern over the retention of members. Using knowledge of her specific business, as well as the unique patterns that she has in her own company, we were able to give suggestions on pricing strategies which ultimately improved her customers their lifetime worth.
"You could certainly use AI for help with these kinds of questions however when it comes to making decisions which could have a significant impact on your company, I'd venture to say that the majority of people aren't prepared to rely on AI alone with that and they shouldn't according to my view".