Generative AI Is Bringing Humanity Back to Customer Support
Service Desk Institute (SDI)
Inspiring service desks and support teams to be brilliant
Providing quality customer service can be challenging. Service Desk Analysts often handle a higher volume of cases, which results in longer wait times for customers when they contact the Service Desk – making the customer feel frustrated.
And that’s potentially not the only issue, as managing multiple customer requests simultaneously can prolong the resolution time, and too often, it leads to duplicated efforts due to incomplete diagnosis, the lack of recorded incident information, or process shortcuts.
Customer expectations are changing, and they are getting harder to please. They expect real-time customer service and consistent cross-channel service experience.
And as service expectations increase, so can the costs. Making it difficult to keep up with those expectations in the realms of Service Desk skills development, training, and knowledge management needed to deliver an excellent (and expected) customer experience.
But according to experts, the tides are turning!?There is a new player in the game - Generative AI!
A technology that is evolving at record speed. ?
So, let’s explore the potential of generative AI in customer service and how businesses can reap the benefits of its ethical implementation.
What is generative AI?
Simply put, generative AI is one of many branches of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating entirely new outputs that resemble human creations.
It’s an exciting field of AI that can process large amounts of data used to train language models that are then used to generate specific outputs based on a user's prompt input.
This technology is pushing boundaries in the creation of images, texts, sounds, and even computer code.
And there are many tools available you can try out today, from popular ChatGPT, Bard, and Perplexity AI for generating text to Midjourney,?DALL-E or Stable Diffusion for generating images.
Generative AI can deliver the proactive, personalised service your customers want!
Generative AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard can assist companies in enhancing their customer service. But being AI-powered doesn't just mean automation alone; it offers much more than that! It can be used to automate, augment, empower and accelerate work.
This technology has the power to enable you to work more efficiently, respond to customer requests with greater empathy, and resolve issues faster. So, you can be more proactive and deliver that personalised service that your customers really want.
By implementing AI-powered customer service, you can boost customer engagement. And that can lead to more chances for cross-selling and upselling. This increases revenue but also helps reduce the cost of providing service.
For example, when a customer calls for assistance, Generative AI can assist the agent in not only answering their immediate question but also providing additional support.
And that can strengthen the relationship and potentially prevent the need for another call in the future.
?? READ MORE: Conversational AI in Employee Experience
What does AI-driven customer service?look like?
The advanced conversational abilities of AI chatbots make them an obvious choice for customer-facing environments. They improve conversations and help agents with suggested responses, providing faster and better support along with, many other benefits.
Here’s a short list of some of them:
?? Super AI-powered chatbots
One of the most impressive benefits of generative AI is its ability to automate responses while still maintaining a personal touch. Just think of receiving a support message that doesn't sound like cold, mechanical jargon but rather like a friendly conversation.
?? Auto-generated knowledge base
Using historical case notes from every agent, AI can be trained to create draft knowledge articles for human review. This speeds up the process of knowledge creation and maintenance, which enhances self-service portals and chatbots.
Additionally, this takes the pressure off agents and allows them to focus on more complex issues, such as building stronger customer relationships.
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??? Empathy-driven Interactions
Can we still say that customer support lacks empathy? Well, we shouldn’t be saying it anymore.
Thanks to generative AI, support can become more understanding of emotional cues and respond with genuine care. This technology can help you to tailor responses that will acknowledge the customer's emotional state.
? Faster Response Times
In our fast-paced world, waiting for hours, let alone days, for a response is akin to watching paint dry. Generative AI ensures lightning-fast response times, ensuring customers don't have to tap their fingers impatiently. Think about it as a reliable companion always at your disposal and never requires breaks or rest.
?
? Proactive Support
Generative AI doesn't just wait for customers to reach out; it takes a step further by offering proactive support. It predicts potential issues, provides pre-emptive solutions, and guides customers through their journey, ensuring a seamless experience.
Challenges of using generative AI for service support
All of this may sound amazing, right? Maybe even a little too good to be true.
And it’s okay to feel unsure. Implementing generative AI in?customer service comes with its own set of challenges. This technology is still relatively new, and most available tools are still in the research phase.
So, we shouldn’t expect perfection, should we?
Companies should be aware of the potential risks of using generative AI from the start. ?According to McKinsey, the main risks include concerns around:
?? READ MORE: Five Ethical Issues of AI in the Modern Workplace
Aside from the possible dangers of infringing on intellectual property, compromising privacy, and being vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, one of the biggest concerns is the risk of perpetuating hidden biases in training data and introducing new ones, such as the potential for hallucinations.
Companies may have different ways to start their generative AI journey. Their approach will depend on their specific needs and how their organisation is set up.
However, companies are advised to proactively address the mentioned risks and comply with regulations and ethical use to safeguard their business and earn consumers’ trust.
And to fully utilise generative AI for business benefits, they must enhance their technical capabilities and provide upskilling opportunities for their current workforce.
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