How AI is Empowering Agents and Revamping Service

Applications in artificial intelligence (AI) started to gain traction in contact centres in the noughties in an effort to boost operational efficiency and slash costs, however, it is only in the last year that contact centres have moved beyond the AI hype and into practical implementation. This is due to the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the digitalisation of customer interactions by three to four years and increasing demands from both customers and agents for more personalised experiences in real-time, as well as frictionless and faster service.

McKinsey research shows that organisations across industries are capturing the value from AI at an enterprise level, and many are generating revenue and cost reductions at least at the functional level. For example, companies with high-performing AI applications were 2.3 times more likely than others to consider their C-Suite leaders effective and twice as likely to see better year-over-year growth.

AI is proving to be a great enabler in contact centres for building systemic empathy and proactive customer service journeys in addition to supporting the workflow optimisation of chatbots and customer analytics – aspects that CCW Europe Digital, in collaboration with Salesforce, explore in more detail in this article.

Becoming Data-First to be AI First

One of the biggest roadblocks in AI deployment is businesses often do not have a well-defined data strategy in place before its rollout – no agent can make good decisions or offer exceptional service without all the relevant information, and neither can AI. Much of the value in AI rests in the model, training data, and configuration information that guides how the AI model is applied.

Markus Ring, Senior Account Executive Service Cloud at Salesforce, says: “If you want to be AI-first, you need to have a data-first perspective. AI is trained through historical interactions, conversations, and transactions, so you need to start with good data.

“Too often, expectations of AI are mandated without the consideration of how mature an organisation’s data pool is. Being automated means having the right information to augment the agent’s desktop, so the contact centre can deliver on its promise that AI will improve agent efficiency and productivity, customer satisfaction, offer personalised support, and all while dealing with fluctuations in service volume.” 

A survey of European cross-industry respondents cited, 90% agree AI will help them make better choices, but a third raised a lack of reliable data needed to make faster, data-driven decisions as a concern. So, how are customer leaders solving this? 

Ring explains: “Ensuring your AI processes are not too complex is key. It is about transferring the right approach to the right technology. Use AI to solve your most basic recurring customer queries first and then learn from those interactions to ensure you are obtaining good data. Meeting the fundamental needs of your customers will mean your agents can work to build stronger rapports, empathy, and emotional connections with customers – all of which will enhance your quality of service.”

Why AI Matters 

AI is an efficient way to fast-track change and expedite time-to-value, solving problems where customers, employees, and processes could not scale to meet increasing demands. For example, AI can reduce call volumes, resolve queries at first point of contact, and decrease agents’ average handling time. AI can also improve agent productivity, morale, and retention, deliver personalised solutions through automation, and boost customer lifetime value.

Sonos, an American audio company that develops and manufactures smart speakers, is a prime example of digitalisation in service. The company used Salesforce’s AI solution, Einstein, to deliver a connected and personalised end-to-end digital customer journey. Challenged with many physical storefronts closing during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sonos was tasked with selling directly to customers through their e-commerce platform, increasing their uptake of digital service channels, and managing spikes in customer queries and agent workloads.

With Einstein’s Service Cloud functionality, customers could instantly communicate with Sonos through their self-service help centre and by using interactive 24/7 chatbots. As a result, 24% of their customer enquiries were solved instantaneously and agent productivity significantly improved. With Sonos’s customer journey powered by automation, agents could also receive a single view of each customer’s case and order history, so they could deliver personalised and efficient service and yield better customer experience (CX) results.

Ring says: “The digital investments Sonos made paid off – in February 2021, Sonos delivered its sixteenth consecutive year of revenue growth. Their biggest driver of new customers continues to be existing customers telling their friends and family members about their amazing experiences with Sonos.”

Companies increasingly recognise customers have more product and service options than ever, so the quality of service is the competitive aspect that will set them apart. As part of the Einstein solution, companies can also use the Case Classification and Case Routing functionalities to revamp the customer service journey and improve service quality.

Case Classification uses predictive intelligence to recommend or populate checkbox fields based on past customer data. When the customer wants to speak directly with an agent the query is routed to an agent with the right skill set, reducing wait times and human error and leading to faster resolutions.

“Any technology that increases the amount of quality service time agents can spend with customers will likely be used by brands as a competitive advantage,” Ring says. “Consider a future where you do not dread contacting customer service because you know your issue will get resolved quickly and you will receive a personalised service.”

Empowering Everyone with AI-Automation

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the evolution of AI in contact centres and was used to empower service teams, boost return on investment and enhance the capabilities of the existing de facto response tool, interactive voice response, to solve issues faster.

While AI and automation save time and money for businesses, the potential rewards for improving CX are even greater and more impactful. AI-driven tools can instantly assess the sentiment of customer interactions, giving contact centres the visibility to optimise and personalise customer experiences. 

Learn how to integrate the right digital channels for you, automate processes with AI and chatbots, and build a 360-degree view of your customer experience with Salesforce. 

For the German translation of this article, click here.