Dive Brief:
- Three-quarters of consumers say they will stop buying products or services as a result of repeated communications issues — and nearly half will do so after one or two poor experiences, according to a survey of 7,000 consumers in 17 global markets released last week by telecommunications provider Vonage.
- The top frustration was long wait times to speak to an agent, cited by two-thirds of respondents. Another two-thirds say they would be very likely or somewhat likely to use AI-powered support tools for faster responses, according to the survey.
- This makes AI well-suited for speeding up simple customer service inquiries, according to Reggie Scales, head of global applications at Vonage. Top applications of AI include 24/7 support for inquiries like password resets or order tracking and for instant responses to frequently asked questions.
Dive Insight:
The key to using AI is to understand customer needs and implement the technology where it enhances rather than replaces the human element, according to Scales.
Less than one-quarter of consumers are very comfortable using AI-powered support for complex or sensitive issues, though nearly half are at least somewhat comfortable, according to the survey.
Beyond using AI for simple interactions, AI can help improve person-to-person interactions, according to Scales.
“AI can also be used to triage incoming requests, routing complex issues to live agents along with historical customer information to aid the agent in providing relevant support,” Scales told CX Dive in an email. “This approach ensures that AI serves as an efficient first line of support, freeing up agents to focus on more nuanced problems, which ultimately improves the overall customer experience.”
Customers are open to using multiple channels for a single customer service inquiry, and this is where AI can shine. Nearly three-quarters of respondents had multichannel communications with businesses at least once in the past year, and nearly 3 in 5 did so multiple times.
Companies need to seamlessly escalate queries from AI to a live agent in order to keep these journeys positive, according to Scale.
AI needs to be programmed to recognize when a customers’ needs are beyond its capabilities, particularly for complex inquiries or specific kinds of assistance that require human expertise, according to Scale. Companies should also offer the option to escalate to a human whenever the caller pleases.
“When an escalation is necessary, the transition should be immediate and effortless,” Scales said. “The customer should not have to repeat information they've already provided to the AI. The AI should pass the conversation history and context to the live agent, picking up where the AI left off.”
