More Conversions, Less Grunt Work: The Power of AI Customer Experience
October 26, 2023
Want to wave goodbye to one-fifth to one-third of your customers in 24 hours? Just give them a terrible experience with your product or brand! But seriously, even if people are head over heels for your company, 59% of U.S. customers will ditch you after dealing with repeated offenses, and 17% will pull the plug after just one mishap. It’s a harsh reality, but it underscores the importance of customer experience in the modern business landscape.
From the stone age of segment-of-one marketing to today’s highly sophisticated customer journeys, one thing is crystal clear: personalized customer experiences have always been the foundation for building a competitive edge.
But personalization today is much more than getting a prospect’s name right or knowing a customer’s most recent purchase—it’s about anticipating their needs before they even realize them. This level of proactivity should be your gold standard, creating a physical or virtual experience so seamless and intuitive that customers can’t imagine it any other way.
Increasingly, businesses are turning to AI to make truly personalized customer experiences a reality. Read on as we examine the latest innovative strategies and solutions to help you not just meet but exceed customer expectations by leveraging AI—and how CRB can help along the way.
What is AI Customer Experience?
AI customer experience is much more than robot servers and AI-powered drive-throughs. Most often, it’s composed of less flashy solutions—chatbots, data analytics, and predictive algorithms—working their magic quietly in the background to create frictionless, tailored experiences for every customer.
Don’t worry—the robots won’t replace human customer service representatives any time soon, either; support agents will simply have more time to handle the complex issues, while AI handles repetitive tasks or customers with basic inquiries.
5 Ways AI Improves Customer Experiences
Facilitating Personalization
The right AI tools can help you gather mass amounts of customer data in order to present shoppers with personalized recommendations for products or services they might enjoy based on their activity with your brand. Take a Spotify customer for example. Suppose this individual wants to check out new artists but is overwhelmed by all their options in the app.
Spotify’s Discover Weekly is the perfect place to start; this personalized feature uses AI and recommendation algorithms to curate a playlist specifically for the user based on their listening history and preferences. The playlist is designed to introduce listeners to new songs and artists that align with
their tastes, making it a great way to discover fresh tunes in the comfort of familiar styles.
By providing a tailored selection of songs each week, Spotify enhances the user’s unique listening experience, making them feel like the platform understands their musical tastes and caters to their inimitable preferences.
Resolving Issues Quickly
Thanks (or maybe no thanks) to Amazon, customers expect instant gratification—that means laser-fast service and immediate resolutions to their problems whenever, wherever, and however they want. In fact, 32% of customers expect a response within 30 minutes, and nearly half expect a response in an hour.
But most businesses just don’t have the manpower to provide this level of service—that’s where AI comes in. Simple solutions like AI chatbots and callback queues can have a hugely positive effect on consumers. Recent data shows chatbots are more than capable of handling entire conversations with customers and do so successfully over 91% of the time.
And when AI assists with the conversation, customer response is sped up by 99% and resolution time goes from 10 minutes to mere seconds for most inquiries. Not to mention, a combo of virtual agents and AI can cut customer support service fees by as much as 30%–take that one to your next budget meeting!
The best part is, chatbots don’t need breaks, holidays, or sick days. They’re always bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (at least, as much as a computer program can be), ready to help customers any time of day, rain or shine. This gives your company the ability to deliver ‘round-the-clock service that increases customer satisfaction and loyalty and protects the wellbeing of your employees at the same time.
Anticipating Customer Needs
Using predictive analytics, AI can analyze customer behavior over time to later determine what they’ll want down the road. A strategy like this is especially beneficial for subscription businesses like Fabletics—and they’re making the most out of the technology.
Their algorithm acts like a personal shopper, using customer data to predict what styles they may want in their next order. As their subscription renewal date gets closer, the customer will increasingly receive emails and/or text messages reminding them to make their choices, again giving them options to chose from based on past purchases or activity.
It’s not just about providing shoppers with a convenient experience; high-touch customer service shows customers your brand cares about their needs. Plus, when it’s this easy to hit a button and grab a two-piece outfit or bundle that’s already curated to the customer’s liking, they’re more inclined to come back for more.
Also, OmniShop technology enables Fabletics to track every item that a customer brings into a dressing room via iPads both outside and inside dressing rooms that scan the products. All of those items are then placed into the shopper’s online cart and saved.
If the customer doesn’t decide to purchase the items in store, they’ll be ready to purchase online later. The customer will also receive cart reminders via email and/or text message. Fabletics, with the help of AI, is able to constantly stay in front of their target customer. With as many players as there are in the space, this strategy is vital to their continued success
Capitalizing on Customer Analytics
Using AI to analyze your customer data (satisfaction metrics, behavioral data, demographics, etc.) can help predict and stop expensive churn before it starts. Once you have a solid foundation of data, use an AI tool like SupportLogic or Freshdesk to uncover hidden patterns, proactively address issues, and improve the overall customer experience.
With AI-driven insights on your side, you can then implement strategies that boost customer retention and satisfaction like sending an apology email or offering a discount on their next order to salvage the relationship.
Reducing Mistakes
From typos to accidentally leaving out crucial information in a response, mistakes happen when your team is manually responding to customer requests. While some customers will be understanding, as we mentioned earlier, even a single mishap can result in a lost customer. Plus, your reps will likely need to take time to correct any accidents they make. If a human agent spends 30 minutes a day fixing mistakes, they lose up to a month of work to error correction over the course of a year.
On the other hand, AI’s holistic view of customer data provides context for the decisions it makes, preventing confirmation bias and helping you better anticipate customer needs. It doesn’t get bored and zone out when faced with repetitive issues, further reducing the likelihood of errors and saving you money in the long run.
Let CRB Guide You to AI Excellence
Competition in the retail world is fierce and consumer expectations are soaring. AI offers a wealth of opportunities to elevate your customer interactions, so long as you have the right tech professionals to manage its use. CRB is well equipped to connect you with the AI specialists who will revolutionize the service you provide for your customers, creating personalized experiences that drive conversions.