From digital transformation to digital first and now artificial intelligence (AI) first, the way companies are approaching both their business strategy and IT strategy continues to evolve. Digital first and AI first are similar, although you could probably think of AI first as a component of digital first. As more enterprise providers embed AI into their product portfolio, having an overall AI strategy is a very important part of a successful business strategy. In customer service this is particularly relevant, with many providers converging on everything customer service from call centers to field service. But what does an AI first customer service strategy look like?

AI Use Cases in Customer Service

AI and generative AI can significantly enhance various aspects of customer service operations. Before exploring how to build an AI first customer service strategy, it’s useful to review the most promising customer service use cases of both traditional and generative AI. 

Call Centers 

AI can play an important role in call center operations, transforming them into more efficient and customer-centric hubs. Imagine a customer calling in with an issue - before they even speak to an agent, AI-powered systems analyze their tone and speech patterns to gauge their emotional state. This sentiment analysis allows the system to prioritize distressed callers, ensuring they receive immediate attention.

As the conversation begins, speech-to-text technology transcribes the call in real-time. This transcription feeds into an AI system that can identify key topics and intents, allowing for more accurate routing to the most qualified agent. Meanwhile, an AI assistant or copilot provides the human agent with relevant information from the customer's history and suggests potential solutions, all in real-time.

For simpler queries, intelligent virtual agents can handle the entire interaction, freeing up human agents for more complex issues. These AI agents use natural language processing (NLP) to understand context and nuance, providing responses that feel natural and personalized.

Chatbots 

Modern AI-powered chatbots are a substantial improvement over the traditional rigid, script-based systems of the past. These advanced chatbots use sophisticated NLP to understand the nuances of human communication, including context, idioms, and even typos. They can maintain context throughout a conversation, remembering previous interactions to provide more relevant and personalized responses.

These chatbots integrate seamlessly with a company's knowledge base and customer relationship management systems. This allows them to access a wealth of information, from product details to individual customer histories, enabling them to provide highly tailored assistance. When a query becomes too complex for the chatbot to handle, it can smoothly transfer the conversation to a human agent, providing a full transcript and summary to ensure a seamless transition.

These AI systems are constantly learning. Every interaction is an opportunity to improve, with the chatbot analyzing successful resolutions and incorporating new information to enhance future interactions.

Virtual Assistants 

AI-powered virtual assistants are becoming increasingly sophisticated, offering voice-activated support across various devices and platforms. These assistants can understand and respond to complex queries, making them valuable tools for customer service agents.

Virtual assistants are increasingly being employed to enhance customer service agent productivity and improve customer interactions. Here's how they're being utilized:

• Real-time information retrieval: Virtual assistants can quickly search and pull relevant information from knowledge bases, FAQs, and previous customer interactions. This allows agents to provide accurate and up-to-date information without lengthy manual searches.

• Suggested responses: By analyzing the customer's query and context, virtual assistants can offer agents a selection of appropriate responses. Agents can then choose the most suitable option or modify it as needed, saving time and ensuring consistency.

• Process guidance: For complex procedures or troubleshooting steps, virtual assistants can provide step-by-step guidance to agents, ensuring they follow the correct protocols.

• Sentiment analysis: AI-powered virtual assistants can analyze customer sentiment in real-time, alerting agents to emotional cues they might miss and suggesting appropriate ways to respond.

• Automated post-interaction tasks: Virtual assistants can handle routine post-call work like updating customer records, scheduling follow-ups, or sending confirmation emails, freeing agents to focus on customer interactions.

• Training and onboarding: New agents can use virtual assistants for on-the-job training, receiving real-time tips and corrections during customer interactions.

• Language translation: For companies serving a global customer base, virtual assistants can provide real-time translation services, enabling agents to communicate effectively with customers who speak different languages.

• Predictive analytics: By analyzing customer data and interaction history, virtual assistants can predict potential issues or needs, allowing agents to proactively address them.

Field Service 

AI is transforming field service operations, making them more proactive and efficient. Predictive maintenance algorithms analyze data from IoT sensors on equipment to forecast potential failures before they occur. This allows companies to schedule maintenance at the most opportune times, reducing downtime and improving customer satisfaction.

When on-site visits are necessary, AI optimizes technician scheduling and routing. It considers factors like technician skills, part availability, traffic conditions, and customer preferences to create the most efficient schedule possible.

Augmented reality (AR) can significantly improve service outcomes. Technicians can use AR glasses to overlay schematics onto the equipment they're working on, or to receive real-time guidance from remote experts. This speeds up repairs and improves first-time fix rates.

AI also enhances inventory management for field service. Predictive algorithms ensure that technicians have the right parts on hand for each job, reducing the need for follow-up visits and improving overall efficiency.

General Improvements

AI is driving improvements across all aspects of customer service including: 

• Data analytics: powered by AI, analytic systems can process vast amounts of customer interaction data to identify trends, pain points, and opportunities for service improvement. This could reveal common issues with a product, or highlight particularly effective problem-solving techniques used by top-performing agents.

• Personalization: AI systems can analyze a customer's history, preferences, and behavior across all touchpoints to create a unified customer profile. This allows for highly personalized interactions, whether the customer is speaking to a chatbot, calling into a contact center, or interacting with a field service technician.

• Quality assurance and compliance: AI is also enhancing quality assurance and compliance monitoring with NLP, which can analyze 100% of customer interactions across all channels, flagging potential compliance issues or opportunities for agent improvement. This is far more comprehensive than traditional random sampling methods.

• Training: AI can significantly improve training for customer service agents. It can generate realistic scenarios based on actual customer interactions, allowing agents to practice handling a wide range of situations. AI can also provide real-time feedback during these training sessions, helping agents improve their skills more quickly and effectively.

AI and generative AI are not just enhancing individual aspects of customer service - they're enabling a holistic transformation of the entire customer service ecosystem, leading to more efficient operations and significantly improved customer experiences.

Building an AI First Customer Service Strategy

Building an AI-first strategy for customer service functions involves several steps and considerations to effectively integrate technology such as intelligent chatbots, hybrid interactions, call centers, and virtual assistants. Here’s a comprehensive approach:

Define Objectives and Scope:

• Identify the specific customer service areas where AI can have the most impact, such as reducing response times, improving customer satisfaction, or handling common inquiries more efficiently.

• Set clear, measurable objectives for each AI initiative to track progress and impact.

Understand Customer Needs and Expectations:

• Conduct surveys, focus groups, and analyze customer feedback (including review sites) to understand what customers expect from your customer service.

• Use these insights to determine how AI can best meet these needs and enhance the customer experience.

Select the Right Technologies:

• Evaluate different AI technologies and platforms considering factors like scalability, integration capabilities, ease of use, and support.

• Choose solutions that can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems (CRM, ERP, etc.) and can be easily adapted as needs evolve.

Develop and Train AI Models:

• Build or integrate AI models tailored to specific tasks such as NLP for chatbots, predictive analytics for customer behavior, or automation routines for field services.

• Continuously train these models with new data to improve accuracy and relevance.

Implement Hybrid Customer Service Models:

• Design systems where AI complements human agents. For instance, bots can handle routine inquiries while complex issues are escalated to human representatives.

• Ensure that transitions between AI and human interactions are smooth and transparent to customers, and contain all contextual information.

Ensure Data Privacy and Security:

• Implement robust data security measures to protect sensitive customer information.

• Comply with relevant data protection regulations (like GDPR) to build trust and maintain legal compliance.

Monitor and Optimize:

• Continuously monitor the performance of AI tools using metrics such as resolution time, customer satisfaction scores, and usage rates.

• Use insights from these metrics to fine-tune AI applications and improve overall system effectiveness.

Employee Training and Change Management:

• Train customer service representatives on how to use AI tools effectively and how to provide a seamless service experience when taking over from AI.

• Address any resistance to change by highlighting the benefits of AI, such as reducing workload and enabling employees to focus on more complex and rewarding tasks.

Scalability and Future-Proofing:

• Design AI systems with scalability in mind to handle increased load as your business grows.

• Keep abreast of emerging AI technologies and trends to continually update and adapt your strategy.

Feedback Loop:

• Establish a feedback loop where customer responses and agent inputs help to refine AI interactions.

• Regularly update stakeholders on AI initiatives' performance and integrate feedback into ongoing strategy refinements.

By following these steps, businesses can build an effective AI-first strategy that enhances their customer service capabilities and meets evolving customer expectations.