The level of customer service expectations has never been higher. According to HubSpot's State of Service & CX in 2024 survey, 71% of leaders believe customers expect immediate responses to their service tickets or requests.
Using AI and automation tools, companies can increase service speed and improve customer satisfaction. We have everything you need to get started with AI or find new ways to implement intelligent tools.
Here are 8 ways AI can increase customer service.
8 Problems AI Solves in Service
1. Prioritizing Customer Needs
Prioritizing customer requests will be the top challenge for customer service leaders in 2024. Our survey found that 75% of companies report a higher volume of tickets than ever before. Identifying the most urgent queries from incoming queries becomes more challenging as service requests rise.
How AI Solves This Problem
By analyzing keywords and sentiment in incoming requests, AI tools can identify those with high importance and then prioritize requests accordingly. Reps can immediately deal with high-priority issues once requests are sorted.
It has been reported that AI tools have improved the response time of customer service agents by 92%.
2. Time Management
Agent-level representatives and service leaders also reported that they did not have enough time in the day to accomplish everything they needed to. It can be challenging for representatives to address multiple tasks of varying complexity since they handle multiple tasks of varying complexity.
How AI Solves This Problem
By automating routine and manual tasks, AI can perform tasks instantly without the need for human intervention. Chatbots, for instance, can handle entire tasks independently, while others handle smaller tasks so reps aren't overburdened.
73% of customers prefer self-service options to speaking with a real person, and 78% want to resolve issues on their own. 68% of companies say they will prioritize offering customers better tools to help them solve their own problems.
3. Wasted Time
According to the National Customer Rage Survey, wasted time was the top frustration among consumers. The survey found that 56% of customers who encountered an issue said the issue wasted their time, and 43% said it wasted their money. Combined, these factors result in a poor customer experience.
How AI Solves This Problem
Using AI/automation, service teams can significantly reduce the time customers spend waiting for help since tools can be programmed to answer questions automatically.
Rather than waiting in a long phone queue, a machine-learning chatbot can provide customers with return information quickly.
Additionally, chatbots make it easy to offer 24/7 support to consumers right when they need it. To reduce the amount of time spent waiting the next day, a late-night chatbot can schedule a callback when a live agent becomes available.
According to HubSpot data, 74% of respondents believe that implementing AI would improve customer service.
4. Lack of Personalization
78% of consumers expect personalized experiences, but keeping track of unique customer information and buyer behavior can be time-consuming.
How AI Solves This Problem
Using AI, teams can track and record consumer data to build well-rounded profiles of their customers. You can personalize customer experiences using HubSpot's CRM, which stores customer details, interaction history, and all relevant information in one place.
By entering relevant information about your customer into your preferred generative AI tool, you can create customized service content, such as product recommendations, that are relevant to their needs.
With 86% of service pros stating that AI enhances their ability to create personalized service responses, and 91% stating that it is capable of analyzing the sentiment of customer service conversations, personalization is one of the biggest benefits of using AI in their roles.
5. Collecting and Analyzing Customer Feedback
Feedback from your customers is the best way to learn about your business and the usefulness of your service processes. However, gathering feedback can be challenging, whether you're unsure what to ask or spend too much time analyzing responses.
How AI Solves This Issue
Survey creation and feedback analysis can be streamlined with the help of generative AI and customer feedback software. Feedback tools help you send out your surveys, analyze results, surface key insights, and calculate important metrics like Net Promoter Score automatically for you. Gen AI can help you craft the perfect questions to ask, and feedback tools can help you send out your surveys.
Customers' feedback is collected and analyzed using AI tools by 90% of CS professionals.
6. Varied Customer Communication
No matter how you communicate with your customers, whether via email, phone, or in person, it is important. Support reps might get confused if they use different tones, and varying communication styles make it difficult to compare post-support feedback.
How AI Solves This Issue
88% of reps say generative AI tools that help them write responses to customer service requests are “somewhat to very” effective.
You can use your preferred tool to stay consistent across every aspect of customer communication, from call scripts to social media responses. Reps will have every template they need to communicate with customers across all channels, and you'll have a cohesive and consistent strategy.
Moreover, each template you create can be further customized for each customer, allowing you to continue to prioritize personalization.
7. Reduced Costs
Businesses lose money when customer acquisition and retention costs exceed lifetime spending. It takes businesses at least $4,000 to break even if capturing a new customer costs $1,000 on average and keeping them costs $3,000 on average.
It is possible for companies to increase revenue if they can decrease the cost of keeping customers happy. The challenge? Making sure cost-cutting measures do not affect service quality or response time.
How AI Solves This Issue
8. Scaling Service Processes
There is no such thing as a static service process. Growth in business creates more customers, which in turn requires better service at scale.
Traditionally, providing superior customer service meant hiring more customer service representatives on-site or in call centers. There are two potential problems with this approach today. The first is finding and onboarding staff. Recruiting and training new service agents can take weeks or months, depending on the business needs.
The second problem stems from the shift to digital processes. Insufficient computing resources can hinder service reps' ability to access and analyze customer data, analyze service histories, and take effective action, even with stable staffing levels.
How AI Solves This Problem
Artificial intelligence can automate tasks previously performed by customer service representatives, and can enhance the capabilities of staff.
Companies can use AI to create self-service knowledge bases that are continually updated. In addition, they provide real-time insight into interactions between service agents and customers. Because many AI tools are cloud-based, businesses can easily scale services up (or down).
85% of companies say AI helps them scale their customer service operations, according to State of Service data.
The Floor is Yours
Since most processes are connected, AI/automation tools can solve all the problems in customer service.
In the future, teams will be able to reap the benefits of AI/automation across their entire customer service strategy, regardless of what tools they choose.