The Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Creating A Better Customer Service Experience

Anticipation has been the Holy Grail of marketers and customer service pros. The notion is that better information reduces economic friction, making customer confusion and dispute resolution more successful, thus improving the experience, the brand aura and the likelihood of repeat purchases more likely.

And, as the following article explains, employing artificial intelligence to enhance rather than replace the capabilities of human customer service agents is likely to optimize outcomes. JL

Shep Hyken reports in Forbes:

(AI) will not only answer my question, it will make additional suggestions. It knows when customers call with a particular problem, they will run into related issues. Some think (it) would replace a call center rep. No doubt (AI) can deliver a better solution. But, what if rather than replacing the employee, it supported the employee. This would allow for the company to keep the human touch with its customers, but also provide quick and accurate support.
A year ago I wrote that I had seen the future. I had attended the IBM Insights conference in Las Vegas, an entire conference devoted to the Internet of Things, analytics, cognitive marketing and related topics. And if the concept of Moore’s Law (that technology doubles every year – or every 18 months or two years, depending on what you read) holds true, then a lot has happened since then. While last year’s future is now a history lesson, what is currently happening in the World of Watson is moving at warp speed!
More than 17,000 people attended IBM’s World of Watson, the new name of the conference devoted to cognitive technology. Fifteen “influencers” were invited to attend IBM’s first-ever Cognitive College that included product demonstrations and lectures about how Watson’s cognitive abilities are impacting marketing and commerce. I was honored and privileged to be one of the invited guests/students. It was a great education. Here are a few points from the presentations and discussions that we should all be interested in, especially as they apply to customer service and the customer experience (CX).
First, what is Watson? It’s a computer that thinks. To describe it in simple terms, what Siri and Alexa are to the consumer, Watson is to business. We are now able to interact verbally with machines such as computers, mobile phones and the Amazon Echo. The basic gist of the consumer technology is that we can give commands an ask questions (and get good answers). That’s known as “document search,” taking keywords and returning information. For example, you might ask Siri to help you find an Italian restaurant, or Alexa to play music or change the temperature on the thermostat. Yes, they can do that and much, much more. They make suggestions based on what’s in their database, and the more they “learn” about you from your requests and questions, the better suggestions they can make.
What makes Watson different is that the suggestions it makes are not just from a database. It is cognitive, and can actually comprehend the sentiment and nuances of the request. Watson is considered to be a question answering (QA) computing system that has the ability to process language commands or questions, respond with good information and present that information in human-like fashion, either in text or verbally. Watson is Artificial Intelligence (AI). It understands, reasons, learns and interacts. This is when AI turns into IA, Intelligent Assistance. This level of AI, which can assist in business matters as well as your personal life, opens up a whole new world of never-imagined possibilities.
So, what does this have to do with customer service?
Imagine having a problem. You call the support center. While you may be hoping to talk to a live person, you might be directed to interact with the computer as a first line of problem solving and support. But this is not the virtual response system we’re used to, where the computer repeats whatever you say, or frustrates you by asking you to repeat the question, sometimes multiple times. This computer will understand different dialects and accents. It will not constantly reiterate information back to you. It will talk to you like a person would talk to you. It will ask questions to understand your problem or issue. It will give you answers and make suggestions. And, it will do so quickly and accurately. What’s more, it works with text as well. Imagine you email, text or instant chat with Watson. It even understands messages with misspellings and improper grammar, asking clarifying questions when necessary to make sure it comprehends the customer’s question.
Consider the typical call center or help experience. Just the other day I called a support center to help me with a software problem. The customer service rep was friendly and knew how to search for my problem on his computer. He read me the answer he found in his search and offered to email me the “article.” If Watson were involved, I could either talk directly to the computer, or the rep could do the search for me – and in lightning fast time. Furthermore, Watson will not only answer my question, it will make additional suggestions. It knows that when customers call with a particular problem, they will most likely run into other related issues. So, it handles all issues during the call, rather than having the customer call back at a later time.
Some may think that Watson would eventually be able to replace a call center rep. No doubt that Watson can deliver a better self-service solution. But, what if rather than replacing the employee, it supported the employee. This would allow for the company to keep the human touch with its customers, but also provide quick and accurate support. This, according to Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, is when AI, or artificial intelligence, takes on a new meaning. This is when AI becomes augmented intelligence.
Watson can assist a support center representative, or support the customer directly with self-service solutions. Either way, Watson helps deliver a better customer service experience.
And, in addition to providing support to customers, it also supports the company. Recognizing common complaints and questions, Watson can suggest to the company ways to mitigate or even eliminate problems. Watson isn’t built to be programmed. It’s programmed to learn – about you, your company and your customers.