When a customer interacts with a company, product or service, they can experience a set of perceptions, emotions, and opinions. This occurs throughout the entire interaction process and includes all touchpoints, from initial research and the purchasing process to ongoing product or service usage and post-sale support.
Businesses must be vigilant about emerging trends in customer experience (CX). Therefore, paying attention to designing an appropriate customer experience strategy is key to adapting and meeting customer needs. By doing so, it is possible to create a long-term relationship and even form a stable community.
Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining increasing relevance in both employee experience (EX) and CX. However, we must think of it as a tool that helps us serve customers, rather than an end in itself. “If not designed with the human needs in mind, technology can harm the experiences a company provides,” says Olga Potaptseva.
Discover how AI can transform customer experience in 5 practical steps
Understanding user behavior and customer expectations or needs helps provide potential solutions and improve their experience throughout the interaction process. Advances in AI and data management enable organizations to offer a more efficient and personalized overall experience.
In her article published in CX Panda, Potaptseva explains the five key ways’ technology can improve human interactions.
1. Personalization: Make your customers feel valued
Automated chatbot responses that go in circles and fail to connect with a human at the appropriate moment often cause frustration and a poor experience for consumers.
Instead, “AI can analyze vast amounts of data about individuals’ preferences, behaviors, and interests to deliver highly personalized experiences,” states Olga Potaptseva.
According to research conducted by Salesforce Research (which interviewed 15,600 people), understanding consumer needs gives companies a competitive advantage. Here are some of the results:
- 52% of customers expect offers to always be personalized, compared to 49% in 2019.
- 66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations.
2. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Learning to see people as individuals, not as part of an audience
According to Olga Potaptseva, artificial intelligence can be designed to recognize and interpret human emotions, including facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures. This allows employees interacting with customers or managers to be alerted to any signs of distress and ensure timely human intervention.
A report by PwC highlights how empathy can influence customer loyalty and their decision to recommend the brand to others. Additionally, the report states that companies adopting an empathetic culture can improve customer satisfaction and ultimately increase their revenue.
Here are some of the reasons why empathy is crucial for companies:
- Empathy enables companies to better understand their customers’ needs and desires, allowing them to offer more relevant and personalized products and services.
- Customers are more likely to remain loyal to companies that demonstrate empathy and care about their well-being.
- Empathy can also help companies solve problems more effectively, as empathetic employees are more willing to listen and understand customer issues.
- Companies that demonstrate empathy can significantly improve customer satisfaction and, ultimately, increase profitability.
3. Language Translation: Overcoming language barriers
Language translation tools powered by AI can overcome communication errors and enable intercultural communication. The impact of this tool on customer satisfaction can improve CX through content translation and localization, especially in regions where different languages are spoken, and different cultures are present.
A report by Smartling emphasizes the importance of a well-planned translation strategy and the need to use intelligent translation technologies to ensure quality and efficiency.
4. Decision Support: Helping users make informed decisions
“AI can provide decision support tools that can analyze data, generate insights, and offer recommendations to assist humans in making informed decisions,” explains Olga Potaptseva.
A Decision Support System (DSS) is a type of computer system that aids people in making business decisions. DSS is used to handle problems and situations that do not have a clear solution and often involve multiple variables or factors.
DSS uses a variety of tools and techniques to help users collect and analyze information, as well as model different scenarios and simulate outcomes to assist people in making informed resolutions.
5. Virtual Assistants: They will be of great help in the workplace
AI virtual assistants, such as voice-activated personal assistants or intelligent chatbots, can provide real-time information, reminders, and assistance, helping humans manage their tasks, schedules, and daily activities. “We already use them at home, and soon we’ll see them in the workplace,” says Olga in CX Panda.
Some of the ways virtual assistants can improve the workplace include:
- Employee Assistance: Virtual assistants can help employees with routine tasks, such as completing forms, booking meeting rooms, searching for information, and scheduling meetings. This reduces the workload for employees and allows them to focus on more important tasks.
- Customer Service: They can enhance customer service by providing quick and accurate answers to customer questions, even outside of customer service hours. This improves customer satisfaction and reduces the time employees spend answering repetitive questions.
- Process Automation: Virtual assistants can automate low-complexity tasks, such as document review, invoice processing, and task management, saving time and reducing errors.
- Training and Guidance: They can provide training and guidance to employees on topics such as regulatory compliance, security procedures, and internal company processes.
Conclusion
The use of AI in CX is increasingly important and can help companies improve the services they offer. AI and digitization should be used as tools to enhance user experiences.
By implementing these technologies, companies can increase customer loyalty and, therefore, profitability. They should always be used with human interactions and people’s needs in mind.