Where is my order?
How much do I have invested?
Can I change my address or a direct debit?
These can take place when and where a customer chooses, so they aren’t limited by call centre opening times or left searching through confusing online FAQs to find an answer.
Putting the intelligence in AI
A virtual assistant with artificial intelligence capabilities can answer questions, such as the ones above, in a way that provides a satisfying experience for the customer and valuable insights for you. Here’s how:
- By using natural language analysis they can show customers the most relevant response that satisfies customers most frequently.
- Once trained, the assistant will recognise the different ways customers ask the same question and the words used to describe your product and service.
- An assistant can break up information into smaller sections that help customers through complex content or scripts and disclaimers required for regulatory purposes.
- It can quickly access complex information stored on other systems and retrieve personal information.
- The assistant can capture information about your customers to help refine their experience and develop further content.
Virtual assistants are easily implemented into online journeys and are configurable, ‘low-code’ solutions. Also, most of their features can be maintained by operational teams who know customers best and can react quickly to market changes.
They’re eager to start too. Customer-facing virtual assistants can be live in a couple of weeks – ready to learn, improve your customers’ experience and reduce the burden on your contact staff.
Getting more from your (human) agents
Virtual assistants also provide invaluable support for your contact centre staff. Automating the answering of simple questions will give your agents more time to focus on tasks that require human skills such as empathy, creativity and professionalism.
Intuitive artificial intelligence is particularly useful for agents working remotely with little support. They can use it to quickly and independently find the right processes and information for a customer. For example, products can be complex and may need to be treated differently based on their specific features and how and when they were sold. A virtual assistant can guide an agent to the right answers quickly in the same way it would if it was interacting with a customer.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the agent-AI working relationship. Other benefits we’ve seen include:
- Accelerated training times with an intuitive and familiar interface.
- A single source of the truth displayed logically to improve consistency of service.
- Less need for ‘floor-walkers’ in call centres and agent support, as information is displayed with rich video and image content.
- Analysis of agents’ questions used to shape the content and functionality they need.
- And AI that learns your organisation’s style and industry jargon so that it displays the right answer regardless of how the question is asked.
Take a look at the case study below to see some of the concrete benefits of AI: