The Emerging Role of AI for Customer Service

We're currently living in a time of unprecedented digital innovation, transformation, and disruption. Some of it was already happening, but it seems that Covid has accelerated events and made matters more urgent. The message is clear: transform or get left behind in the shift to digital business. However, alongside this revolution, another one is taking place that's not-so-often spoken about: the role of AI for customer service.

Changing trends

When people think about customer service, they think about support and assistance. They don't think about business growth. But AI is helping to drive change. With AI for customer service, companies can help their customers at every stage of their buying journeys in an instant. With it, they can better understand their customers and deliver a better experience, which can lead to higher conversions, fewer abandoned baskets, and personalized service — boosting brand loyalty and the possibility of future purchases.

AI as a helping hand

With AI taking over the low-level, mundane tasks that were until now occupying the time of human CS employees, those people will now be able to concentrate on more complicated tasks that drive engagement and revenue. And, companies will be able to harness the data collected by AI to further drive growth.

Customer experience boost

A positive by-product of these changes is customer satisfaction. A study by Salesforce reported that 82% of customer service operations using AI witnessed an increase in 'first contact resolution' — where the issue is resolved before the customer ends the interaction. This is key to increasing positive customer experience, which enhances the brand and is part of the positive growth equation.

AI for customer service: key takeaway

Bringing digitalization to customer service has been on the cards for some time, but only recently have we seen significant developments actually implemented. With lots of companies reporting a positive impact of transformation also reporting higher net revenue growth, it's clear that automation is a must. And, they need to embrace AI for customer service or remain analog while their customers digitize.