Customer service trends are constantly changing based on the technology available and what customers start expecting businesses to do. For example, customers expect to be able to communicate with a business on social media, which means you have to have social media customer service agents ready and willing to help customers. Customers are beginning to expect to be able to text customer service, so your business has to offer that as well. But what is becoming the newest expectation and trend is using AI to communicate with customers.
Salesforce recent AI, Einstein
Einstein was introduced by Salesforce as a way to help customer service departments increase efficiency and get a better understanding of what their customers need. The artificial intelligence at salesforce has been in development for a long time, but now we are starting to see how the technology emerge in different ways at the company.
With Einstein, for example, a business can route calls to the best customer service agent based on the AI determination of what the caller needs. Einstein also compiles data for managers to view in order to figure out how everyone is doing. Not only is it a valuable customer service tool, it is also a valuable tool for managers.
Other uses for AI
Artificial Intelligence at Salesforce is new and expected to improve, but we are also seeing it many other places. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have started AI Chatbot services for businesses to use when messaging customers. There are also businesses using AI in their ordering process, including Starbucks who launched an app that allows customers to say what they want just to have AI break it down and order the drinks.
The best AI Chatbot available right now for every business is text customer service. It is an amazing way to communicate with customers because nobody at your business has to be readily available to answer questions. It also saves a lot of time because your customer service representatives aren’t wasting hours answering repetitive questions such as information about store hours or daily specials. And customers don’t have to waste hours waiting on hold while your representatives answer other people’s questions. Instead, customers text those questions in for an immediate response.
Don’t forget real people too
As much as we are a society progressing towards AI use in the workplace and with customer service, don’t forget that sometimes your customers just need to talk to a real person. Make sure you have real representatives readily available to answer calls when a customer needs it. You won’t be able to get rid of your customer service agents by adding AI to your business. But you will be able to cut down your access to real people to regular business hours instead of having to have someone all the time. Or if you didn’t have someone all the time before, now you have the ability to answer questions 24/7. You’d be amazed at how much you can do for your customers by simply adding artificial intelligence to your customer service department.
