If you are reading this, you are already familiar with the way artificial intelligence is taking over manual tasks by automating them and completing them with improved efficiency. It also helps companies to keep a check on labor costs and reduce them as much as possible. While artificial intelligence (AI) has helped a lot in reducing production times, it is still in a nascent stage when it comes to enhancing customer experience. However, AI for customer experience is quickly getting the recognition it deserves with the tech giant Microsoft predicting that by 2025, 95% of customer interactions will happen through an AI-driven channel.
This highlights the need for companies to incorporate AI in their business dynamics to not just cut down on time and costs, but to also provide a great customer experience. After all, the customer is at the center of everything a company does, no matter which industry it belongs to.
Need of AI for Improved Customer Experience
A complete customer journey involves different stages that can generate large volumes of data. Storing what a customer likes, searches for, adds to the cart, recommends someone else, and more, is not as easy as it might seem, but very crucial for the steps that follow.
Unifying customer data across different silos of the customer journey can be complicated if everyone is using a different method to store data. With the help of AI though, data unification can be achieved so that there is uniformity about a customer’s data, no matter from which stage of the customer journey it has been collected.
Similarly, analyzing this huge set of data is a mammoth for even a dedicated team of professionals. This could lead to a loss of opportunity or not identifying future market trends early due to heaps of unprocessed data. Luckily, the improved computational prowess of AI-driven systems can process this data quickly and provide intelligent insights, which can then be turned into successful business opportunities.
Ways Businesses are Using AI for Customer Experience
Customer experience is one of the biggest parameters on which companies compete against each other in the market. Thus, it has become essential for companies to provide a memorable experience to their customers. Leveraging the benefits of AI can help enhance the shopping experience, improve customer support, ensure fewer mistakes, and keep customers loyal to a brand. Here are some common ways in which businesses have already started using AI for better customer experience:
Intelligent Chatbots
Sometimes, customer queries are so basic that a full-fledged human interaction can work against the purpose. Therefore, companies are integrating intelligent chatbots on their websites to enable users to get their queries and issues resolved instantly. Machine learning algorithms analyze what the customer needs help with and provides an intelligent solution based on the issue. For extended help, these chatbots can connect the customer to a service representative. Chatbots also help with FAQs, guiding the users or receiving feedback about a service.
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Improved Recommendations
Companies are using AI-driven technologies to curate personalized content for their consumers. By analyzing their past buying habits and interactions, companies are now better suited at recommending clothes, movies, brands, songs, and even places to visit nearby for their customers. With competition increasing in every space, being super responsive to a customer’s needs and providing them with what they need without too much searching around can be advantageous for businesses. Targeted marketing campaigns are also a great way to pique a customer’s interest in your offering.
Better Pricing
While items like clothes and consumer packaged goods come with fixed prices, insurance policies, travel packages, hotel rooms, and more are priced variedly based on the customer’s needs and requirements. Finance and travel companies are leveraging the fast processing and predictive analytics functionalities of AI to help customers find the best prices for their products. Customers can get information about the cheapest flights, fastest routes, highest rated hotels, as well as any deals or offers they can use while traveling.
Similarly, insurance policies and loan payments can be personalized around the customer’s financial ability, past credit history, collateral value, and more.
Smart Assistance
‘Ok Google’ and ‘Hi Alexa’ are becoming an integral part of most households around the world. These smart assistants are capable of doing more than just dimming the lights or playing music. Thanks to advancement in technologies and interconnectivity of devices, businesses are trying to incorporate some of their services in these assistants. Banks are allowing customers to pay their bills or schedule money transfers. Movie theaters are allowing remote ticket booking and seat selections. Restaurants can now reserve tables and clinics can schedule appointments with AI. All this can happen through the customer’s voice, without the need for smartphones or computers.
To wrap up, businesses are increasingly using AI for customer experience, so that they can meet their demands even before searches for something. At the end of the day, satisfied and loyal customers are the biggest advocates of your brand and products. Which is why, making their experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible, should be your chief objective.
