Improving the Customer Experience with Bots & Conversational AI

Various studies from the likes of Gartner, Forrester and other research firms report that personalization is one of the most impactful elements of any customer service interaction, communication or overall experience. However, this same research also indicates that many organizations have yet to adopt these personalization strategies.

Thus, successfully delivering personalized interactions and experiences to your consumers can offer an opportunity to standout against your competition, resulting in more customer growth, loyalty and sales for your organization.

Personalization with Conversational AI

Conversational artificial intelligence, aka conversational AI, is one of the most effective technology solutions for automating customer interactions in a more personalized way. Chatbots, virtual assistants and other conversational AI tools leverage data and machine learning to automate responses to voice or text commands, with the intention of mimicking a more realistic, human interaction. However, if not leveraged appropriately, this technology can present friction points and negatively impact the customer experience, versus amplifying it.

To avoid these missteps, it’s important to understand the various ways conversational AI can be used so your organization can apply these in the most effective and meaningful way for your business and customers.

Chatbots and Conversational AI

Consumers expect to receive answers to their inquiries in real-time, and the use of conversational AI helps businesses meet this demand. Employees only work eight hours a day and cannot always be available when customers need them; conversational AI services like chatbots can step in and support customers’ requests the other 16 hours.

Chatbots also offer an alternative to dialing into a call center, which can improve ease and convenience for customers while also reducing call volume for your staff.

Additionally, Chatbots can simplify responses to customers’ frequently asked questions, by addressing quickly and effectively, without needing to pull in a customer service agent. Customer service agents can then focus more of their time and energy responding to more complex customer needs and inquiries.

The most effective chatbot solutions have a large repository of data to work with, because the more data conversational AI solutions like chatbots have to work with, the more adept it becomes at recognizing information and patterns in human speech. Thus, arming your chatbots with more data can result in more accurate, personalized and well-received interactions with your customers.

Other Uses of Conversational AI

While chatbots are the type of conversational AI people recognize most, they are far from the only type deployed in the consumer marketplace today. Here are some other common uses of conversational AI:

• Assistive technology: Speech-to-text is a form of conversational AI technology that can make website and mobile features more accessible to all users, especially those with mobility or visual impairments. This feature can protect against accessibility-related lawsuits and support brand reputation. Foreign language translation is another popular form of assistive technology that leverages conversational AI.

• Task automation: Conversational AI functions also record and “remember” dictated or typed information to automate repeat actions. Examples include auto-filling forms with previously recorded user information, pre-completing email copy with common phrases or auto-filling online search query results.

• The Internet of Things (IoT): Smart watches, voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home, and smart home devices are all examples of IoT that leverage speech recognition and conversational AI features.

• Healthcare administration: Various conversational AI tools can be leveraged to improve efficiency in a healthcare environment with faster claims processing, patient scheduling and proactive, personalized reminders.

• Human Resources administration: Staff can save time by using AI to address repetitive and time-consuming tasks once handled by employees, including new employee onboarding, training and change management.

Successful Application of Conversational AI

Conversational AI technology continues to be adopted by more and more industries and organizations, as the benefits for organizations and customers become more apparent. As such, this technology continues to evolve every day, offering more options and applications than ever before. More than ever, organizations - no matter the size or industry – have the ability to leverage these solutions in to deliver a more natural and intuitive customer experience, and in a way that makes sense for your unique needs.

Avtex can help your organization determine how and where to best leverage conversational AI and other customer experience solutions to deliver the best possible outcomes for your business and customers. Contact us today to learn more.