ELEVATE CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH STRATEGIC GENERATIVE AI INTEGRATION
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, customer service stands as the cornerstone of success for organizations across various sectors. As call centers, debt collection agencies, and healthcare providers strive to enhance their customer interactions, a new and innovative approach is emerging: AI and automation. AI and automation are poised to revolutionize customer service, bringing unprecedented efficiency and personalization to every interaction.
Imagine a scenario where your business’ customer interactions are seamlessly personalized via automated conversations that not only resolve issues but also leave your customers with a sense of individualized care. Fortunately, this dream scenario can come to fruition if business leaders choose to utilize AI.
Customer service has traditionally been a dynamic interplay between human agents and customers, often limited by time constraints, resources, and the varying demands of a busy workday. However, AI, and more specifically generative AI, offers a systematic solution to these challenges.
The term generative AI is often used broadly. For background, generative AI refers to deep-learning models that can generate high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained on. One way to leverage generative AI is in customer service processes and tools. Customer service tools (e.g., intelligent virtual agents) enable two-way interactions with customers that brands can personalize and engage in automatically.
Customer service tools like IVAs that leverage generative AI can streamline internal processes, save your workforce valuable time, increase productivity, elevate customer experiences, and foster brand loyalty.
Although business leaders may be excited to embrace generative AI, they may lack a clear understanding of how it can best support their unique needs. Therefore, businesses can benefit from a carefully planned strategy outlining their business objectives and how they will use the technology to maximize its potential.
For example, businesses can start by deploying generative AI to their “internal customers” – their employees. By doing so, businesses can foster a deeper understanding of the technology and build confidence in generative AI within the organization. During this phase, businesses can automate routine tasks such as frequently asked questions and streamline processes for employees.
Businesses can follow a few important steps to ensure they are maximizing the technology’s potential for internal customers:
Carefully design. Design tools to address the specific needs of the team members that will use them. Prioritize user-friendly interfaces and workflows that employees can customize according to their preferences.
Monitor performance. Once the generative AI solution is operational, closely monitor its performance in the initial stages. A best practice is to monitor request volumes, response times, and the accuracy of responses. Be sure to look for a solution provider that has robust monitoring and reporting capabilities.
Gather feedback from users. Gathering insights from users of your generative AI solution is essential. This practice allows you to pinpoint potential areas for enhancement, ensuring a continual refining process.
Be prepared to make changes. As your employees’ feedback accumulates, be ready to implement changes to your customer service tools. This iterative and automatic process is ongoing and contributes to the enhancement of the solution’s effectiveness over time. Be sure to monitor updates to ensure any AI-generated changes adhere to your brand’s voice.
Empowering internal audiences with a strong foundational knowledge of generative AI can lead to a gradual transition to external customers and use cases that have staying power.
A methodical implementation of generative AI for customer service demands a shift in mindset – a recognition that technology is not replacing human expertise, but rather augmenting it. By equipping your teams with tools to effectively utilize generative AI, businesses can redefine the customer experience, empowering their teams to engage with customers on a whole new level.
About the Author
Rebecca Jones is the general manager of Mosaicx, a leading provider of customer service AI and cloud-based technology solutions for enterprise companies and institutions. Rebecca joined the West Technology Group, owner of Mosaicx, in January 2021, after a 25+ year career focused on growing businesses, people and client success. Rebecca also serves as a member of the board of the Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Louisville, KY, is an executive sponsor for Women of West, actively volunteers for The Molly Johnson Foundation that supports children with special needs, and champions causes promoting women in technology, including the IWL Foundation (Integrating Women Leaders Foundation), Tech Up for Women, and CCWomen.
