AI Giving Customer Experience a Boost in 2024
Qualtrics research indicates that slightly less than half of their customers (48%) feel at ease when interacting with a company's AI. The challenge of making AI-driven chatbots communicate naturally has persisted for years, with language fluency posing a more significant hurdle when dealing with diverse languages. This challenge underscores the growing importance of leveraging AI-driven natural language processing (NLP). Unlike outdated rule-based chatbots, NLP-powered virtual agents rely on intent systems and predefined dialogue structures, enabling them to learn dynamically during conversations and generate authentic responses in real-time.
It’s important to note that creating an AI strategy makes sense when AI happens to be the technology to solve a problem and not just to launch an AI strategy for the sake of it.
“AI offers tremendous opportunities to organizations that implement it thoughtfully but if customers detect a pure cost-saving attempt they will leave in droves. So AI interactions must build confidence-trust from customers with consistency, accuracy and convenience.” Leanonie Brown, Principal XM Scientist, Qualtrics.
But rather than taking a boiling the ocean approach, it’s better to find out what interactions matter e.g. impact satisfaction, loyalty and spend between customers and the brand and what can be streamlined with AI. This is where it helps to benchmark and document customer journeys. In general, there are three areas that are worth improving with AI, according to Qualtrics.
Source Qualtrics 2024 Consumer Report
It’s not surprising that “receiving support” impacts satisfaction more than “getting information” and “making a purchase.” Support is one of the biggest opportunities companies can invest in because it can also be such a powerful tool for collecting feedback. According to Qualtrics, 66% of customers do not leave feedback, which places more emphasis on operational data and providing more customizable ways for customers to leave feedback such as personalized surveys provided within the chatbot experience. AI-powered surveys are predictive and can detect whether or not a customer might be willing to provide additional feedback.
In conclusion, the integration of AI in customer interactions holds enormous potential, provided it is implemented thoughtfully to enhance customer experiences rather than merely as a cost-saving endeavor. Customers value consistency, accuracy, and convenience in AI interactions, which can foster trust and loyalty.
In the end, AI should be harnessed strategically to enhance customer interactions and build stronger customer relationships, rather than being a mere buzzword or cost-cutting tool. By aligning AI initiatives with customer-centric goals, businesses can unlock the full potential of AI in the pursuit of exceptional customer experiences.