The world of financial services has experienced a remarkable transformation, reshaping the way businesses function. The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into customer service strategies holds immense potential for revolutionising the way businesses engage with their customers, offering a more personalised and efficient experience.
McKinsey study reveals that around twothirds of millennials expect customer service in real-time, while approximately three-quarters of all customers expect a consistent service experience across different channels. However, due to the increasing cost pressures and the parallel rise in service expectations, the conventional solution of hiring more competent employees to provide excellent customer service is not always feasible.
Companies are therefore turning towards AI to deliver proactive and personalised services — sometimes even before they know they want it.
AI in customer service automation
AI-driven automation plays a pivotal role in assisting customer service personnel with repetitive manual tasks. In some cases, AI can even take over these tasks completely, directly interacting with customers. Instead of handling routine tasks and issues, the customer service team will handle more critical customer interactions, requiring in-depth knowledge about all aspects of the company and product ecosystem. This streamlined approach manages the growing volume of customer interactions across various touchpoints.
However, it is crucial to not overlook the importance of the human element in enhancing the customer journey before rushing into full automation. While AI can enhance scale, speed, and quality, it cannot entirely replace personnel.
AI and self-service
AI holds great promise in empowering customers to resolve issues independently through self-service support. It enables proactive customer self-service through conversational platforms like chatbots, IVRs, and visual bots. It can also empower decision support tools that provide customer service teams with real-time relevant information to assist customers in making the best decisions. These systems enhance customer service centers by offering self-service functions that deliver rapid, personalised, and efficient resolutions to basic inquiries.
Striking the right balance
In this digital era, customers have high expectations for personalised and captivating experiences across various platforms such as online channels, physical stores, and social media. This is where artificial intelligence plays a crucial role. AI assists businesses in developing more precise customer profiles by analysing customer behaviors, preferences, and demographic data.
By examining this information, companies can uncover patterns and valuable insights that facilitate the creation of targeted marketing campaigns and enhanced customer service. This, in turn, fosters customer loyalty and drives sales growth. With the help of refined customer profiles, businesses can establish strong relationships with their customers by providing tailored product recommendations and experiences that align with specific customer personas, delivered at the right time and place.
While data is essential for AI-powered customer service, customer service representatives also need a comprehensive understanding of each customer without resorting to multiple questions. By integrating customers’ histories and past interactions, employees and AI can both enhance conversation intelligence and provide faster resolutions by taking immediate action.
Furthermore, companies are enabling their customer service to better understand customers’ emotional states by utilising natural language processing (NLP) for real-time sentiment analysis. Sentiment analysis assists employees in managing conversations by ensuring they engage customers from the outset with the right choice of words and tone of voice. Continuous monitoring of the conversation ensures a positive customer experience.
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There is a pressing need to adopt these technologies at present. To realise the full potential of AI-driven customer service, businesses should align their revamped approach to customer engagement across all touchpoints with suitable AI-powered tools, fundamental technology, and data.
Views expressed by Kunal Anand, Chief Operations and Customer Services Officer, Aviva India
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