In the digital age, traditional one-to-one dialogue customer service is no longer just an ancillary function for businesses. It has evolved into a key competitive advantage and business development opportunity. （Chaturvedi & Verma, 2023）As a result, it has become critical for organizations to pursue a higher level of customer service experience. AI customer service is one of the key forces changing this landscape. In this article, we will explore the applications, benefits, customer experience and future trends of AI customer service.
AI Customer Service concept by 2023 CustomerServiceNumbers.org is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
First of all, we need to understand what AI customer service is. Simply put, AI customer service refers to the application of artificial intelligence technology to the process of customer service, through intelligent voice recognition, natural language processing, machine learning and other technical means to achieve automation and intelligence of customer service. (Xu, Shieh, van Esch&Ling, 2020)This new customer service model can help companies improve service quality, reduce operating costs and improve customer satisfaction.
Application of AI customer service
- Retail Industry
- The Financial Sector
- Medical Insurance
- Tourism and Hospitality Industry
In the retail space, AI customer service is used to improve the online shopping experience. It is able to provide personalised product suggestions based on a customer’s browsing and purchase history, thereby increasing sales conversions. Additionally, AI customer service is able to handle issues such as order tracking, returns and refunds, providing instant solutions. (Oosthuizen, Botha, Robertson, &Montecchi, 2021) The financial industry is also actively adopting AI customer service to provide more efficient customer service. Banks and financial institutions use AI customer service to process customers’ banking transactions, check account balances, and even provide investment and financial advice. (Malali & Gopalakrishnan, 2020) This not only improves customer experience but also reduces operational costs. The healthcare sector has also found great potential in AI customer service. Healthcare providers can use AI customer service to assist patients in booking doctor appointments, providing health advice and answering frequently asked questions about diseases and treatments. (Riyanti, 2023) This improves primary care problem solving to a certain extent, which helps reduce the burden on healthcare workers while increasing the speed and efficiency of patient visits. In the travel and hospitality industry, AI customer service is being used to process bookings, provide travel advice and resolve accommodation issues. (Limna, 2022) Customers can access instant information through chatbots or virtual assistants, which improves the convenience of travelling. (Pillai & Sivathanu, 2020) Overall, AI customer service has made its presence felt in various industries, providing businesses with more efficient, personalised and convenient customer service solutions.
Artificial Intelligence Benefits in Customer Service by Bianca Newling is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Advantages of AI customer service
- Sustainability
A notable AI customer service benefit is its 24/7 availability. Unlike traditional human customer service, AI customer service systems don’t need to take breaks and are available to support customers at any time of the day, late at night, or on weekends. This means that customers are no longer restricted by time and can contact the business at any time they need help. This continuity helps to increase customer satisfaction, especially for global businesses that are able to reach customers in different time zones.
- Multi-language support
The multilingual support of AI customer service is a key benefit that enables organisations to provide high-quality customer service on a global scale. Regardless of the language spoken by customers, they can get instant help through AI customer service systems, eliminating language barriers. This not only improves customer accessibility, but also helps to attract international customers, expand market share, as well as enhance the reputation of the business. Multi-language support also allows organisations to provide a more personalised customer experience, which in turn drives business growth.
- Quick response
Another significant advantage is the rapid responsiveness of AI customer service. the AI system is able to respond to customer queries immediately, without waiting time or queuing for a human agent to attend to them. This quick response is crucial for providing real-time support, especially in situations where urgent help is needed. Instead of spending time waiting, customers can immediately resolve issues or get the information they need, which fundamentally improves the efficiency of receiving customers.
- Accuracy
AI customer service is often more accurate in performing tasks as opposed to human service, as it is less susceptible to fatigue, emotions or human error.AI systems can provide information, perform tasks and answer common questions accurately, thus reducing the risk of errors occurring. This is especially important for customer service in finance, healthcare and other critical areas where accuracy is key.
- Cost-effectiveness
AI customer service can have significant cost benefits for businesses in the long run. While implementing an AI customer service system requires a one-time investment, it is often more cost-effective than hiring and training a large number of people to handle customer enquiries.AI systems require no salary, benefits or time off and are able to work around the clock, so they can reduce operational costs. This is particularly important for small businesses, start-ups and organisations with limited budgets.
How AI Changes Customer Service by Anastasia Haiduk is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
How AI could transform the customer service industry by Yahoo Finance is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
When talking about the future trends of AI customer service, we can’t help but marvel at the massive changes that have been brought about by the constant innovation and advancement of technology. In the future, we can expect a series of revolutionary changes in the field of AI customer service that will not only improve the efficiency of customer service, but also provide an even better customer experience. (Hsu& Lin, 2023)
Firstly, AI customer service will be further intelligent. Current AI systems require a lot of data and manual training, but in the future, they will have a stronger ability to learn and adapt themselves. This means they will be able to better understand customer needs and continuously improve their responses to provide more personalised and efficient support. (Chaturvedi, & Verma, 2023). This will be a revolutionary change that will increase customer satisfaction and reduce churn.
Secondly, emotional intelligence and emotion recognition will also be a part of AI customer service. Future systems will be able to recognise customer feelings and emotions and adjust responses accordingly. (Bromuri, Henkel, Iren, & Urovi, 2021) This will allow customers to feel more cared for and understood, especially when customers show frustration or anger, and AI systems can provide more supportive and thoughtful responses.
AI customer service will be more tightly integrated into voice assistants and smart audio. Customers will be able to engage in dialogue with AI systems via voice, making it easy to do everything from shopping suggestions to problem solving with verbal commands. (Kreutzer, Sirrenberg, Kreutzer, & Sirrenberg, 2020) This will make customer service more convenient and will also drive the adoption of smart home technology.
Self-service will be further enhanced, with customers being able to use natural language query systems to get instant answers without having to wait for a human agent to intervene. (Ameen, Tarhini, Reppel, & Anand, 2021 ) This will reduce the burden on human agents, allowing them to focus more on complex and critical questions.
Industry-specific AI customer service systems will also emerge. This means that different sectors and industries will adopt specially tailored AI customer service systems that have industry-specific knowledge and expertise. (Moore, Bulmer, & Elms, 2022) For example, in healthcare, AI customer service will be able to answer health-related questions and provide more accurate and credible support.
However, with these opportunities come some challenges. Ethical and regulatory issues will be of increasing concern. How to ensure the morality and fairness of AI systems and how to deal with data privacy issues will become important topics of discussion. (Song, Xing, Duan, Cohen, & Mou, 2022 ) Regulators may need to set stricter regulations to ensure the fairness and transparency of AI customer service systems.
In conclusion…
To sum up, the future of AI customer service is an exciting trend that will revolutionise the customer service space. From smarter systems to cross-channel interactions and emotional intelligence, AI customer service will continue to increase customer satisfaction and improve the customer experience. However, organisations need to actively adopt these trends to ensure that their AI customer service systems will be able to successfully cope with the demands of customer service in the future.
Reference List:
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Bromuri, S., Henkel, A. P., Iren, D., & Urovi, V. (2021). Using AI to predict service agent stress from emotion patterns in service interactions. Journal of Service Management, 32(4), 581-611.https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-06-2019-0163
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