Sales Talk: How Conversational AI Can Win Over Customers

The concept of using conversational AI for customer service is not an alien one. Whether it’s AI streamlining service operations or AI improving customer experience, the field of customer service has greatly benefitted from this emerging technology.

In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about using conversational AI for customer support—from what it is to how you can use it to supercharge your customer engagement. Let’s get to it.

What Is Conversational AI for Customer Service?

At the heart of conversational AI lies the fact that you use artificial intelligence technology to enable machines to communicate with humans. The machine is trained in such a way that it can ‘communicate’ and engage in a meaningful dialogue with humans via written words.

Generally speaking, there are different kinds of conversational AI for customer engagement that you can use, such as:

• Chatbots: These refer to the customer support bots that you typically find on websites and apps.
• Smart assistants: These include the likes of Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and so on.
• Voicebots: These refer to bots that are responsible for handling customer queries over the phone.

Here’s a quick tabular comparison of these AI-driven technologies:

4 Benefits of AI for Customer Engagement

Conversational AI is a godsend for customer support teams. By automating the process of customer transactions and query resolution, AI tools can:

• Free up valuable time for customer reps who can focus on converting leads, drive creative problem-solving, and basically cater to issues that require a ‘human touch’
• Accelerate the speed at which queries are resolved and scale the support operations without compromising on the quality of support extended
• Gather granular insights into what your customers like, prefer, and want in addition to how they behave
• Deliver hyper-personalized experiences that can boost customer loyalty

In fact, as per Deloitte, organizations are planning to invest in the following emerging technologies:

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How AI Can Improve Customer Experience? 8 Real-Life Use-Cases

Conversational AI for customer service is not simply restricted to answering FAQ-type questions. It can take many shapes and forms:

1. It can make customer service more inclusive, equitable, and global in reach

Benefits:

• Reduced reliance on traditional customer service channels, such as phone calls, which may not be accessible for some individuals
• Improved accessibility, inclusivity, and independence for customers with disabilities

Conversational AI can assist customers with disabilities or impairments and help them to access customer service more easily. For instance, you can offer text-based support for customers with a hearing impairment.

Companies can leverage alternative communication channels, such as voice assistants or chatbots with speech recognition capabilities, to interact with customers with special needs.

One brand that is integrating accessibility best practices in its offerings is Airbnb:

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The brand offers accessibility-friendly features such as enhanced search filters, verified with 3D scan accessibility features within homes, and accessibility reviews.

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2. It can handle various account-related inquiries

Benefits:

• Improved customer satisfaction due to self-service account management
• Reduced waiting times and enhanced data security as customers no longer need to share sensitive information with human reps

From balance inquiries and transaction history to updating personal information, conversational AI can do much of the grunt work and provide customers with quick as well as accurate information about their accounts.

If you’ve got a customer base that wants to manage their accounts or get account-specific information independently, conversational AI is the right fit for your brand.

For example, Capital One’s Eno is a conversational AI assistant that helps customers to manage their Capital One accounts:

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This 24×7 bot can provide account information, track spending, chat with customers, and even assist in paying bills using natural language commands via texts.

3. It can answer routine FAQs

Benefits:

• Improved customer experience, thanks to instant responses
• Reduced support costs as repetitive queries get automated
• Consistent delivery of customer data across different channels

Conversational AI–such as Indigo’s chatbot, ‘Dottie’–can handle frequently asked questions (FAQs) from customers and provide instant and, more importantly, accurate responses:

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If you have a list of common queries and repetitive questions that you notice on social media platforms, your website, etc., train your chatbot to answer these questions and free up human agents to focus on more complex customer issues.

4. It can verify and authenticate customers

Benefits:

• Enhanced security
• Reduced risk of fraudulent activities
• Streamlined authentication processes for customers

Conversational AI can authenticate customers by verifying their identities securely and safeguarding the customer’s interests and information.

One such example is HSBC’s chatbot service which asks routine account-related questions to customers and also makes it a point to ensure that customers don’t divulge sensitive information:

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Conversational AI uses a cocktail of trending technologies such as voice recognition, biometrics, and knowledge-based authentication to ensure that the customers’ personal information remains secure.

5. It can offer assistance in making bookings and reservations

Benefits:

• Improved customer convenience with 365x24x7 assistance
• Faster booking processes
• Personalized recommendations based on customer preferences

Companies in the service business understand the importance of delivering quick and friction-free customer service. One great example of a chatbot that can double up as a 24×7 digital concierge for guests is Rose, by The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. Customers can book tickets to a show or make a restaurant recommendation with just one text:

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That’s not all. The conversational AI can also handle inquiries about availability and pricing and facilitate the booking process. So, if you are looking for a way to guide customers at every step of the customer journey, using a chatbot can make your customer experience simpler.

6. It can detect customer intent

Benefits:

• Enhanced customer experience as customers don’t need to explain their issues multiple times
• Improved efficiency in routing inquiries to the right resources

Contrary to popular opinion, conversational AI can accurately understand the customer’s intent. And in the off chance that it cannot, the tool can route the conversation to the appropriate agent or department. This means no customer queries go unanswered. One such example of a conversational chatbot is Nordstrom:

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This chatbot can determine the customer’s underlying needs and direct them to the right human agents or self-service options. Notice how the bot also offers styling and beauty tips.

Another interesting conversational AI example is Google’s Duplex technology which can detect the intent of a customer’s phone call and perform tasks such as making restaurant reservations or scheduling appointments accordingly:

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This feature comes in handy for customers with specific inquiries or ones who have issues that require specialized assistance.

7. It can offer multilingual support

Benefits:

• Improved customer satisfaction as customers can communicate in their preferred language
• Expanded customer reach and reduced language-related support costs

Conversational AI can also provide support in multiple languages and effectively assist customers without language barriers, as Shiseido’s chatbot demonstrates below:

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Customers can leverage the brand’s comprehensive beauty consultation service and engage in video consultation, chat services, and more.

8. It can track orders and provide order-related updates

Benefits:

• Increased transparency and customer satisfaction as customers get timely updates
• Reduced customer inquiries regarding order status
• Improved post-purchase experience

Another area where conversational AI excels is in providing customers with real-time updates on their orders, shipment tracking, or delivery status. The tool can also fetch and present information from various systems to keep customers informed about their purchases.

Domino’s Pizza’s chatbot, Dom, allows customers to track their pizza orders, receive delivery updates, and even reorder their favorite pizzas using a conversational interface:

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The brand has also partnered with Google Assistant, where customers can link their Google account to their Domino’s account. This makes ordering food from multiple devices easy:

The learning: Conversational AI is transforming a multitude of industries and sectors while empowering the customer support team to focus on empathy-centric skills and tasks.

6 Strategies on How to Use AI to Improve the Customer Experience

1. Personalize, personalize, personalize:

To make the most of your AI investment, utilize conversational AI to gather and analyze customer data. You can ask for customer feedback once the conversation is over, as HSBC’s bot demonstrates below:

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By gathering customer data, you can understand what’s working and what’s not and tailor conversations to your customer’s preferences. The chatbot can address customers by their names, remember their previous interactions, and understand their specific needs.

2. Instant assistance is key

Incorporate conversational AI into your customer support channels, such as chatbots or virtual assistants. Pick channels that you feel your customers frequent. Remember that the idea is to offer immediate responses to customer inquiries, or else you risk facing bad word-of-mouth publicity on digital platforms.

3. Go proactive, not reactive

With conversational AI, you can go proactive in your approach when ironing out customer issues. For instance, leverage conversational AI to analyze customer behavior and make personalized product recommendations.

By understanding the customer’s preferences and purchase history, you can preemptively present options that match their needs. Plus, you can also cross-sell and upsell like a pro!

4. Seamless multichannel support is the need of the hour

Customers today are spoilt for choice when it comes to communication channels such as websites, social media platforms, and messaging apps.

This ensures consistent and unified customer experiences, regardless of the channel they choose. Customers can effortlessly switch between platforms while receiving the same level of service and support across channels.

5. Self-service options can be your CX team’s best friend

Empower customers to find answers to their queries by themselves by deploying conversational AI-driven self-service portals. These portals can guide customers through frequently asked questions, troubleshooting steps, or even product demonstrations.

6. Implement AI the right way:

Before you invest in robust AI technology, follow these steps:

• Think about your AI goals and use cases. You need to determine how conversational AI will support your customer service efforts. Whether it’s reducing response times, improving satisfaction scores, or increasing efficiency, having well-defined goals will guide your implementation and measurement of success. List the primary pain points your brand faces and understand how AI can solve the issue.
• Focus on getting stakeholder buy-in by aligning your AI tool with key stakeholder objectives. Do not forget to factor in your agent’s needs when building on your pitching ideas.
• Discuss the budget and resources that will be needed to set up AI within the organization. You must incorporate the current state of your existing infrastructure (CRM tool, sales tool, etc.), workflow processes, and more.

Conversational AI for Customer Service: 6 Best Practices to Keep in Mind

When using conversational AI for customer service, it’s important to keep the following best practices in mind:

Train your AI model effectively: Invest time and effort in training your conversational AI model to understand and respond accurately to customer inquiries. For this, you must:

• Provide extensive training data
• Continuously refine the learning model
• Ensure the model comprehends a wide range of customer queries and provides relevant, helpful responses

Design intuitive user experiences: Focus on creating conversational interfaces that are user-friendly and easy to navigate. Make sure to integrate natural language processing (NLP) capabilities to understand customer intent and provide intuitive suggestions. As a thumb rule, ensure that your conversational AI system is designed to handle variations in customer input effectively.

Incorporate human fallback options: While conversational AI is powerful, it’s essential to include human fallback options when the AI cannot provide satisfactory assistance. So, make the best of both worlds and enable seamless transitions to live agents when things get out of hand. This will prevent customer frustration and help the brand maintain a positive customer experience.

Monitor and optimize performance: Continuously monitor the performance of your conversational AI system by analyzing metrics such as response accuracy, resolution rates, customer feedback, and sentiment analysis. The idea is to use this data to identify areas for improvement and optimize the system accordingly.

Maintain a consistent brand voice: Ensure that the conversational AI system aligns with your brand’s tone, values, and voice. For starters, use language and communication styles that reflect your brand identity. Your end goal should be to create a cohesive experience across all customer touchpoints, as this can build trust and strengthen customer relationships.

Seek customer feedback: Actively gather feedback from customers about their experiences with the conversational AI system. You can roll out surveys, monitor social media mentions, or enable feedback channels within the system itself.

Wrapping Up: AI for Customer Engagement is Always a Good Idea

Customer service agents have always been the first point of contact for resolving customer issues—a responsibility that is now being taken over by AI-powered tools to a great extent.

Business leaders and the teams at large must think of these AI tools as gatekeepers of service quality, scalability, and flexibility. In fact, organizations that are quick to respond to technological advancement will lead the CX race. However, do not forget about the empathetic skills human agents bring to the table.

To augment your CX services, you need to follow a hybrid and balanced approach–one where automation scales your support services and human agents add a personalized, positive touch to it.