Customer Experience driven by technology
With the changing ways of the commerce, the concept of Customer Experience is changing.
The channels for the product to reach the end customer have multiplied. From Display to Ordering to Payment and finally the physical Delivery has changed in many ways. Each of these processes are now technology driven. All these put together creates a Customer Experience which is very different. With the data deluge , much of this technology is driven by Artificial Intelligence.
Microsoft has said that as early as 2025 , we will see 95% of the customer interactions will be through channels supported by artificial intelligence and technology.
So the question before us now is - How AI can be used to manage each state of the customer experience- marketing, sales, and support?
Two ways in which AI can aid customer experience are
Improving operational efficiencies
Assisting SR (Service Request) Handling via sentiment analysis, Allowing fast access to information via intelligent search, Reducing effort by enabling test de-duplication
Reducing Mean time to Recovery
Speeding up problem resolution via intelligent chat interactions,
Predictive personalization comes in handy for online shopping as well, where you can analyze the data collected from consumer behavior during online sessions.ent a different home screen to each viewer. The recommendations are based on past viewing behavior and granular audience segmentation.
Chatbots & Virtual Assistants
Customer Engagement through voice, visual, and text
Lets look at a product that we all experience in a significant way – Connected TV. In this industry, AI is being used to help customers discover the most relevant products and streamline the online user experience based on individual choice through personalized search .
Personalized search is typified by Netflix. To help customers more quickly find something they want to watch, Netflix’s AI crunches huge amounts of data to present a different home screen to each viewer. The recommendations are based on past viewing behaviour and granular audience segmentation.
AI uses effective predictive personalization to enhance CX by aligning with customers’ everyday lives. The AI-powered personalization will make customers feel as if every product and brand experience is tailored for them.
Predictive personalization comes in handy for online shopping as well , where you can analyse the data collected from consumer behaviour during online sessions.
You can quickly assess individual shopper records and user behaviors to predict and deliver the right items to their home. Also, AI-infused procedures will make customer experience interaction smoother and streamlined.
Another important technology solution employed widely in the BFSI industry is to empower 24/7 support across every channel.
AI helps companies scale support across email, chat, voice, messaging, SMS and voice platforms. This allows customers to get the support they need on their preferred channels.
While the epicenter of the activity still remains with a physical retail branch , without AI, it would be cost-prohibitive to have a truly omnichannel experience that customers expect i.e., immediate, personalized, meaningful.
AI has helped build proactive customer service as compared to the reactive mode used earlier .
AI for proactive customer service examples include proactive alerts and keeping customer informed.
In B2B, there are companies like HP who let a customer know when their printer ink is about to run low and provides a frictionless way to repurchase compatible ink.
However to create standout experiences, AI must be combined with a key factor: Empathy.
It is important to be realistic about the use of AI, and not to put it in areas that demand a human touch. The way forward is to experiment with a percentage of interactions first, then test, measure and refine.
Decide where you need empathy, identify the specific circumstances tied to emotion, which, when handled by a human agent have the potential to create a long-lasting positive impact. And then build your AI strategy to fit.