Dive Brief:
- Salesforce updated its Data Cloud with new features designed to help it access data that can be used to build out customer profiles and power Salesforce’s Agentforce AI agents, the company announced Tuesday.
- Starting in October, Data Cloud will be able to extract unstructured data from audio and video sources like customer calls and feedback surveys to build out customer profiles, the company said. Teams can use this information to better understand customer preferences and behaviors to improve customer service practices and train AI agents.
- “In this new era of AI and agents, customer data and metadata are the new gold for the enterprise,” Rahul Auradkar, EVP and general manager for Data Cloud at Salesforce, said in a prepared statement.
Dive Insight:
Salesforce’s expansion of its platform’s data-crunching capabilities could play a key role in its effort to become a leader in implementing AI into CRMs.
While current AI chatbots can handle many customer service situations right out of the box, every business has its own set of quirks and nuances that require extra training, according to Julie Geller, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group.
Unstructured data can speed up the process by using data from real customer conversations to help the chatbot develop the right tone, language and understanding of common issues necessary to deliver a good customer service experience.
“By tapping into predictive intent modeling, chatbots can anticipate customer needs and offer proactive solutions or personalized recommendations,” Geller told CX Dive in an email. “This allows businesses to roll out AI more reliably and quickly, starting to see results faster.”
Unstructured data can help companies understand their customers in ways structured data like survey results can’t match, according to Geller. The candid nature of the information can capture emotional nuances and sentiment that wouldn’t come across in a formal channel, which can help train AI agents to come across as more empathetic.
“It’s not just about having more data — it’s about using it to connect on a deeper, more meaningful level that drives loyalty and keeps customers coming back,” Geller said.
