All of a sudden, the term ”artificial intelligence” is everywhere. From AI-enhanced selfies on social media, to the 2023 launch of ChatGPT (and even a 2-minute, satirically acclaimed text-to-video remake of “The Lord of the Rings”) — generative AI in particular seems to be the internet’s shiny new toy.
In reality, AI has been integrated into our everyday lives for years now, especially for the average customer. Even you, as a business owner or customer service manager, are likely already using generative AI in CS, or you should be. In this blog, we’ll delve into generative AI examples, how it’s used, why AI in customer service is important and how you can optimize these tools that are already at your disposal.
What is Generative AI?
Generative AI is artificial intelligence that can produce text, images or other media in response to prompts. These systems learn the patterns and structure of their input training data, and then generate new data that has similar characteristics.
For example, the AI-enhanced photos mentioned above are “generative AI”. Someone can upload a photo of their face onto an app, then tell the app to transform the photo into an other-wordly version of themself, and it will produce a mystical, celestial being surrounded by stardust that somewhat resembles the selfie that was uploaded.
But how do we use this type of technology to enhance the customer experience? Let’s dig into 4 ways you’re probably already using generative AI in CS.
4 Ways You Already Use AI in Customer Service
With the use of AI continuously on the rise, the technology can’t be ignored by customers or businesses. Although it has already begun to shape the future of customer service, many people are still suspicious or nervous about AI and its implication for their business. But they don’t have to be.
Generative AI can enable customer service teams to work more efficiently and focus on the more fulfilling aspects of their job: deliver quality customer service. Here how.
- 24/7 Automated Customer Support
Not only is it expensive to hire round-the-clock customer support agents, it can also lead to burnout, low morale and unproductive employees. Fortunately, you’re likely already using 24/7 automated customer support to solve this issue.
Everything from an automated knowledge base that feeds FAQs to chatbots that users can interact with anytime are considered self-service tools for customers to access at their convenience — and these tools are being powered by generative AI.
With AI-powered, self-service solutions, you’re empowering customers to help themselves.
- Chatbots
Chatbots, specifically, are the real powerhouse of 24/7 customer service. That persistent pop-up box that eagerly asks your customers if they need any help the moment they open your website is really the unsung hero of your CS team. Through the chatbot, customers can reach out to your business anytime of the day or night to ask questions or get help with an issue.
If you’re not using this tool yet, here are few ways you can through Kustomer’s AI-powered CRM:
- Use custom bots across chat, social and messaging applications to effortlessly handle repetitive service requests.
- Automate routine agent interactions and deliver personalized resolution at scale by connecting real-time CRM data to chatbot workflows.
- Eliminate manual triage by automatically detecting and routing bot conversations based on customer input.
- Build and deploy sophisticated chatbot workflows with an easy-to-use visual interface and pre-built templates.
By integrating conversational self-service, like chatbots, to automatically answer simple and commonly-asked customer questions, you can reduce contact rate and deflect support volume at scale.
- Automated Ticket Routing
It’s essential human agents take the time to connect with clients, so they can do the important work of building brand loyalty. But rising customer expectations lead to incoming requests that pile up quickly, and support agents just can’t do it all.
You’ve likely used automated ticket routing to combat this issue. If you have an automated tagging system in place that takes incoming tickets and assigns them to the team members best equipped to handle those customer inquiries, that’s ticket routing with AI.
If you’re not using this tool, you should be. Manual ticket routing — i.e. a help desk agent reading, categorizing and routing a customer issue — is time-consuming and inefficient. Incorrect or delayed tagging can lead to the customers receiving the wrong information or, worse, no response from your business at all.
- Automated Messaging
Does your support team feel pressure to always be communicating with clients? With Kustomer’s original research showing 81% of consumers report that they appreciate proactive support, the demand to be in constant conversation can be overwhelming. This is where automated messages come in.
Automated communication is an excellent example of proactive communication and generative AI. From abandoned cart emails to product recommendations based on past purchases, it’s likely you have multiple automated messages primed and waiting to be sent to the next customer.
Optimize Generative AI in CS Through Kustomer’s CRM
If generative AI is not in your customer service playbook, it should be. Not only is it possible to leverage AI without losing the human touch, it’s essential. While AI and machine learning may at first appear to threaten the CS industry, they actually have the power to make customer service agents’ jobs less time-consuming and more fulfilling.
Get access to this technology through a robust, modern CRM like Kustomer’s. Our newly introduced AI Labs app offers two new agent assistance features: text enhancement and conversation summaries.
AI Text Enhancement gives agents a toolkit of one-click actions, including the ability to expand short messages to more formal or friendlier responses and tidy up their spelling and grammar.
The Conversation Summaries feature helps with the friction that can occur when customer handoffs are made, whether from chatbot to agent, or agent to another agent. Rather than the receiving party having to comb through long chat threads to catch up, this new feature leverages OpenAI to summarize the essential information.
Request a live, personalized demo of the AI features within the top-rated modern CRM for customer service.
