Top 6 Customer Experience Megatrends to Prioritize in 2024

Delivering exceptional CX becomes more of a business imperative. It hinges on seamless digital and self-service options. While empowered employees remain vital for tackling intricate customer scenarios, AI is emerging as the ultimate game-changer, capable of optimizing every stage of the customer journey.

2024 is going to be absolutely amazing for the companies preparing to embrace the power of Cloud computing, AI, and advanced customer experience (CX) applications. It’s not unknown that the customer demands are shifting significantly. The need for instant, hassle-free solutions are rapidly increasing among the customers. At this point, delivering exceptional CX becomes more of a business imperative. It hinges on seamless digital and self-service options. While empowered employees remain vital for tackling intricate customer scenarios, AI is emerging as the ultimate game-changer, capable of optimizing every stage of the customer journey. By harnessing these technologies, companies can unlock dramatic improvements in customer loyalty and streamline CX operations across the board.

1. Sustainability Drives Customer Satisfaction

A 2023 study by IBM revealed that 83% of global consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable brands. Additionally, a Cone Communications report found that 90% of U.S. consumers consider a company’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility when making purchasing decisions. 

From the above-mentioned status, it’s quite evident that consumers today are increasingly aligning their purchasing habits with their values. Businesses that go beyond simply offering products and services and demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainability will win over environmentally and socially conscious customers. This can encompass eco-friendly packaging, ethical sourcing practices, and community engagement initiatives.

2. Omnichannel CX: Meeting Customers on Their Terms

73% of customers expect consistent service across all channels (phone, email, social media). Additionally,customer experience becomes 1.5 times more important in omnichannel customer journeys. Customers today expect a seamless experience regardless of the touchpoint they choose. This necessitates breaking down siloed operations and integrating all customer interaction channels to ensure consistent messaging, information access, and service quality.

3. Smart Subscriptions and Personalized Experiences

The subscription economy is booming, with a McKinsey report indicating that global subscription services revenue reached $335 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2025. A majority of the customers expect companies to use their data to personalize their experiences. Businesses are moving beyond one-size-fits-all subscription models. By leveraging AI and advanced analytics, companies can offer dynamic pricing, tailor content and recommendations, and personalize service levels based on individual customer preferences and behavior. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also increases customer lifetime value.

4. Prioritizing Customer Accessibility   

A study by the National Center for Disability and Journalism found that 26% of adults in the United States have some form of disability. Additionally, a WebAIM report highlights that over 98% of home pages on the top 1 million websites have at least one accessibility issue.

Creating an inclusive and accessible customer experience goes beyond just complying with regulations. By making websites, mobile apps, and customer service channels accessible to users with disabilities, businesses tap into a wider market segment and build stronger customer relationships.

5. Personalization Powered by Generative AI and Data

Gartner predicts that by 2025, 40% of customer service interactions will involve generative AI (like chatbots). Additionally, a report by Accenture reveals that companies with strong personalization capabilities achieve loyalty program revenue that is 18% higher than their competitors..

Generative AI offers exciting possibilities for personalization. Businesses can leverage this technology to create dynamic marketing campaigns, tailor user experiences, and offer personalized support through chatbots. However, it’s crucial to ensure responsible and transparent use of AI to maintain customer trust.

6. Embracing New Technologies, with an Eye on Data Privacy

According to a study by Statista, the global market for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is expected to reach $800 billion by 2025. Additionally, a report by PwC highlights that 72% of consumers are concerned about how companies use their data.  Emerging technologies like AR and VR have the potential to revolutionize customer experiences by offering immersive interactions and product demonstrations. However, businesses must navigate the ethical and legal landscape surrounding data privacy. Building trust by adhering to data regulations and prioritizing transparency is key to successful adoption of these technologies.

Final Thoughts

Strategically implementing these top customer experience megatrends in 2024 empowers businesses to build resilience and cultivate enduring customer relationships. By prioritizing sustainability, omnichannel accessibility, data-driven personalization, and ethical AI integration, organizations demonstrate a commitment to environmental responsibility, customer convenience, and building trust. Furthermore, empowering employees through automation and fostering a customer-centric culture not only elevates customer satisfaction but also cultivates loyal brand advocates, propelling businesses forward in a competitive marketplace. Embracing these trends transcends mere adaptation; it signifies a proactive approach to shaping a future-proof customer experience that thrives in the ever-evolving business landscape.  

AI Features in ConvergeHub Lets You Think Beyond CRM

Generative AI is one of those megatrends that are shaping up CRM in 2023. AI superpowers are propelling businesses for next-level outcomes by extending the capabilities of the marketers, sellers and the support agents alike. 

Generative AI is one of those megatrends that are shaping up CRM in 2023. AI superpowers are propelling businesses for next-level outcomes by extending the capabilities of the marketers, sellers and the support agents alike. 

In the CRM space, Generative AI has brought in countless possibilities within the easiest reach. It seamlessly assimilates and comprehends customer interactions, be it phone conversations, emails, or meeting transcripts. As a result, it’s way easier for the businesses now to derive  insights about customers’ mindset and leverage the same for enhanced engagement.

What’s Generative AI in CRM?

Generative AI is the gen-next artificial intelligence technique. Basically, generative models are leveraged to use in the CRM software, in order to streamline workflow, enhance and automate customer interactions with the sole objective of  increasing process efficiency. It helps create emails, responses and even product recommendations  by identifying customer data patterns from previous conversations. The process fosters personalized customer relationships at every touchpoint (be it sales, marketing, billing or support), which further translates into improved customer satisfaction rate.

In this fast-evolving field, CRM with generative AI seeks to improve working methods and to reduce labor-intensive tasks, reports Gartner’s 2022 overview of AI for business.

AI in ConvergeHub Takes Customer Communication to the Next Level

The latest AI features in ConvergeHub are all set to reshape Customer Relationship Management. It not only transforms the way you do business but also enhances your CSAT rate to a great extent. The inclusion of Generative AI puts in place a whole new range of functionalities which operates across sales, customer service, marketing, billing and  more -streamlining workflows across multiple levels. 

AI-first Customer Interactions

The rising cost of human-led support is a frustrating reality in customer service. And, Generative AI is the answer.  

Let’s talk about a real-life scenario.

What happens in most cases, the customer service team at the initial level often establishes a service level agreement (SLA) that looks manageable. But then there are times when support volumes skyrocket. It further translates into an endless stack of support tickets. For obvious reasons, agents become overwhelmed and the CSAT rates start falling. 

On the other end, customers suffer long wait times and poor experiences. Conversations and feedback are lost in the mix. CSAT and net promoter score (NPS) take a serious dive. SLAs are missed, and senior leadership is wondering why. 

Enter Generative AI.
GenAI is poised to alleviate administrative burdens by assisting in email composition, RFP responses, note and content creation, and more. This facilitates productivity surge and allows teams to dive more into creative and strategic endeavors.

AI functionalities in ConvergeHub helps analyze vast datasets to generate concise summaries, distilling key information for quick reference. With it , AI-driven CRM platforms take contextual notes during interactions, capturing relevant details to inform future communication. This not only ensures a comprehensive understanding of the customer’s history but also facilitates seamless collaboration among team members.

Personalization Done Right

AI algorithms have exceptional capabilities to personalize email content by dynamically adapting language, tone, and messaging based on individual customer profiles and preferences. This level of personalization extends to anticipating customer needs, suggesting relevant content, and optimizing communication strategies. As a result, businesses leveraging ConvergeHub experience a significant leap in productivity, creating tailored and engaging emails that foster stronger, more meaningful connections with clients.

How AI Assistant in ConvergeHub Streamline Workflows

Reduce Repetitive Tasks to Ensure Growth in Productivity level

Generative AI automates routine and time-consuming tasks, freeing up human resources to focus on more complex and strategic activities. This translates to increased efficiency in managing customer data, handling routine inquiries, and ensuring timely follow-ups. And,  all  these  hardly  require  manual  intervention at  any  level.

Generative AI In ConvergeHub  helps in process automation within its CRM platform. This includes automating data entry, sending personalized follow-up emails, and updating customer records based on predefined rules. This not only reduces manual workload but also minimizes the risk of errors associated with repetitive tasks.

Being Virtual Assistants to Ensure 24/7 Customer Support

ConvergeHub’s  AI-driven virtual assistants provide users with intelligent, voice-activated interfaces that can perform tasks, retrieve information, and even offer insights through natural language interactions. On many  occasions, the  AI  assistant assists users to navigate the CRM platform efficiently. From scheduling appointments to providing analytics insights, ConvergeHub streamlines user interactions, taking it to the next  level.

Leverage  AI Functionalities to Take your Business to the Next level

Get Precise Customer Insights

Generative AI algorithms can sift through vast amounts of historical customer data to identify patterns and trends. By applying predictive analytics, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, enabling them to anticipate needs, identify potential issues, and make data-driven decisions that contribute to long-term customer satisfaction. Such  kinds of data-driven approach helps in informed decision-making at every level of  business- ve it sales, marketing or support- contributing to the company’s continued success.

Improved Lead Scoring and Customer Segmentation

As already mentioned, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can seamlessly analyze diverse data points to determine the likelihood of lead conversion. Basically, it performs sentiment analysis from customers’ behavioral  patterns. As a result, more granular customer segmentation  is possible based on nuanced factors. It helps ConvergeHub users create a more tailored approach and target  specific audience segments.

Powerful Business Intelligence

Through real-time alerts, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can keep you well-informed about abrupt shifts in sales or support workloads, customer concerns, and sales performance. This proactive notification system enables customer-facing teams to promptly address challenges, allowing for swift issue resolution. Precisely, an  AI assistant offers strategic refinement to capitalize on your strengths. You can actually stay ahead of the curve with ConvergeHub’s timely insights, enabling you to navigate dynamic business scenarios with agility and precision, ensuring optimal performance and sustained competitive advantages.

Overcoming Challenges and Ensuring Ethical Use of Generative AI

As businesses embrace the transformative potential of Generative AI in CRM, it is essential to address potential challenges and ensure ethical use. Issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and transparency must be carefully considered and addressed to build trust with customers and stakeholders.

Data Privacy and Security

The implementation of Generative AI in CRM necessitates the responsible handling of customer data. Businesses must prioritize robust data privacy measures, including encryption, access controls, and compliance with regulatory frameworks such as GDPR, to safeguard sensitive customer information.

Addressing Algorithmic Bias

Generative AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. To avoid perpetuating existing biases, businesses must invest in diverse and representative datasets and implement ongoing monitoring and adjustment protocols to identify and rectify potential biases in algorithms.

Transparency and Explainability

Ensuring transparency in how Generative AI algorithms operate is crucial for building trust with customers and stakeholders. Businesses should prioritize explainability in their AI systems, providing users with insights into how decisions are made and fostering a sense of accountability.

Leverage  AI Functionalities to Take your Business to the Next level

Get Precise Customer Insights

Generative AI algorithms can sift through vast amounts of historical customer data to identify patterns and trends. By applying predictive analytics, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, enabling them to anticipate needs, identify potential issues, and make data-driven decisions that contribute to long-term customer satisfaction. Such  kinds of data-driven approach helps in informed decision-making at every level of  business- ve it sales, marketing or support- contributing to the company’s continued success.

Improved Lead Scoring and Customer Segmentation

As already mentioned, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can seamlessly analyze diverse data points to determine the likelihood of lead conversion. Basically, it performs sentiment analysis from customers’ behavioral  patterns. As a result, more granular customer segmentation  is possible based on nuanced factors. It helps ConvergeHub users create a more tailored approach and target  specific audience segments.

Powerful Business Intelligence

Through real-time alerts, AI functionalities in ConvergeHub can keep you well-informed about abrupt shifts in sales or support workloads, customer concerns, and sales performance. This proactive notification system enables customer-facing teams to promptly address challenges, allowing for swift issue resolution. Precisely, an  AI assistant offers strategic refinement to capitalize on your strengths. You can actually stay ahead of the curve with ConvergeHub’s timely insights, enabling you to navigate dynamic business scenarios with agility and precision, ensuring optimal performance and sustained competitive advantages.

Overcoming Challenges and Ensuring Ethical Use of Generative AI

As businesses embrace the transformative potential of Generative AI in CRM, it is essential to address potential challenges and ensure ethical use. Issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and transparency must be carefully considered and addressed to build trust with customers and stakeholders.

Data Privacy and Security

The implementation of Generative AI in CRM necessitates the responsible handling of customer data. Businesses must prioritize robust data privacy measures, including encryption, access controls, and compliance with regulatory frameworks such as GDPR, to safeguard sensitive customer information.

Addressing Algorithmic Bias

Generative AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. To avoid perpetuating existing biases, businesses must invest in diverse and representative datasets and implement ongoing monitoring and adjustment protocols to identify and rectify potential biases in algorithms.

Transparency and Explainability

Ensuring transparency in how Generative AI algorithms operate is crucial for building trust with customers and stakeholders. Businesses should prioritize explainability in their AI systems, providing users with insights into how decisions are made and fostering a sense of accountability.

The Future Landscape- Closing the Never-Ending Customer Feedback Loop

As technology continues to advance, the role of Generative AI in CRM is poised to expand further. Future developments may include even more sophisticated natural language processing capabilities, improved sentiment analysis, and enhanced predictive modeling, all contributing to a more precise and personalized customer experience.

This is an AI-centric era when the paradigm of customer service undergoes a profound transformation. At the forefront of this evolution is the strategic utilization of generative AI, fundamentally reshaping the key metrics that define operational excellence.

Firstly, the infusion of AI optimizes the cost-effectiveness of customer service operations by elevating First-Contact Resolution (FCR) and streamlining Average Handle Time (AHT). These improvements not only enhance operational efficiency but also serve as tangible indicators of the viability of an AI-first strategy. Through a meticulous investment perspective, organizations bolster their customer service teams, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and financial goals.

Meeting and exceeding Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Automated Resolution benchmarks become benchmarks of success, illustrating the prowess of an AI-powered customer service infrastructure. Automation, intelligently integrated, serves as a shield for human capital, freeing valuable resources to focus on nuanced, high-value interactions. This strategic deployment of technology aligns seamlessly with organizational objectives, safeguarding efficiency and quality in the customer service domain.

Wrapping Up

Generative AI, as the linchpin of this transformative approach, possesses the unparalleled ability to rapidly and accurately decipher diverse data sets. This includes intricate information extracted from customer service transcripts and feedback surveys, a capability critical for navigating the complexities of expansive data during periods of rapid growth. The swiftness and scalability of AI enable it to instantaneously generate comprehensive reports on customer insights, leaving no inquiry, conversation, complaint, or suggestion unattended.

Furthermore, the implementation of generative AI establishes a robust feedback loop. It ensures that every customer interaction contributes to a reservoir of actionable insights. This visibility into customer data empowers C-suite leaders to make informed decisions, fostering a more profound understanding of customer needs and expectations. Consequently, the organization becomes adept at closing the feedback loop, cultivating a continuous cycle of improvement and customer satisfaction.

Generative AI in the CRM premise has certainly reshaped operational dynamics but also positions organizations at the forefront of technological innovation. The strategic fusion of AI capabilities with the intricate facets of customer service operations serves as a catalyst for efficiency, excellence, and sustained growth in this AI-first business landscape.

Stay tuned to get more updates on ConvergeHub. Share your thoughts in the comments.

How AI and Easy to Use CRM Solution Can Change the Future of Sales

In the present times, several companies are proactively using both easy to use CRM solutions and AI in forms of groundbreaking ways to escalate their businesses. For an example, if you are watching Netflix, an AI (a recommendation algorithm) will undoubtedly be used for you to help you decide what to watch. Similarly, while shopping in Amazon your decision about what you might wish to buy is also influenced by an AI (through an association algorithm). Even if you ever wish to call an Uber, an AI (a location algorithm) is used to find and quickly book a car in your vicinity. Now, this same type of AI algorithms can also be used to empower any company’s business strategy or decision-making process, to help businesses to make better business decisions. Here are a few specific areas where AI algorithm can be ideally leveraged to help companies grow by helping your sales teams to increase their sales and revenue.

In the present times, several companies are proactively using both easy to use CRM solutions and AI in forms of groundbreaking ways to escalate their businesses.
For an example, if you are watching Netflix, an AI (a recommendation algorithm) will undoubtedly be used for you to help you decide what to watch. Similarly, while shopping in Amazon your decision about what you might wish to buy is also influenced by an AI (through an association algorithm). Even if you ever wish to call an Uber, an AI (a location algorithm) is used to find and quickly book a car in your vicinity.
If you ever had a thought about a product or a vacation, and like telepathy, it seems to suddenly appear on your email inbox or on your search page, we can assure you it was also based on an AI (a classification algorithm) that is monitoring your 24 hours online activities.

Now, this same type of AI algorithms can also be used to empower any company’s business strategy or decision-making process, to help organizations make better business decisions.

Companies that have pioneered the use of AI in sales rave about the impact, which includes an increase in leads and appointments of more than 50%- Harvard Business Review Click To Tweet

Here are a few specific areas where AI algorithm can be ideally leveraged to help companies grow by helping your sales teams to increase their sales and revenue:

  1. Providing Sales Teams with Pertinent Insights

Marketing automation in spite of all its technological advancements has its limits, as only a sales rep can finally have a 1:1 conversation with the customers and close a deal.  However, an AI algorithm can help marketing and sales teams by permitting them to make available valuable insights to their colleagues about prospects, throughout the sales cycle. Information about the customers like their preferences, buying patterns, price selections, brand preferences, preferred time of interactions with sales reps and marketing teams provides a positive outlook, since sales professionals can deal with this information and discover relevant and actionable insights.

AI-driven prescriptive sales tools work like a regular easy to use CRM platform with the exception that it is capable of tracking and analyzing billions of touch points and events, thereby identifying areas for constant improvement.

Manash Chaudhuri the CSO of ConvergeHub CRM and a thought leader in AI-driven Prescriptive Sales technology says:

AI programs can fetch through billions of customer touch points and events to find correlations and patterns that we just would not be able to notice as human beings on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, it might notice a correlation between sending a specific sales campaign to a prospective customer before calling them, which results in a better conversation. It can also notice that sending a weekly follow up email can yield results up to 6 weeks after an initial contact, which are just example of small practices that sales reps might miss, but that can increase their performance over time.

  1. Price Optimization

Knowing the amount of discount (if any) to be provided to a customer is always a tricky area for any sales representative. But then again no sales rep wants to leave money on the table. In the present AI based business scenario, an AI algorithm can easily tell the sales teams using a best small business CRM like ConvergeHub what this ideal discount rate should be. Ensuring that you are most likely to win the deal by analyzing specific features of past deals that were won or lost on that very product or service to the customers. These features can include:

  • New or existing client
  • Size of the deal in dollars
  • Product specification compliance
  • Number of competitors
  • Territory/region
  • Customer’s annual income
  • Level of decision-makers (influencers) involved
  • Timings of the past sale (e.g., Q1 vs Q3), and several others
  1. Quality and Quantity Leads

Improving lead generation has been the focal point of the buzz around AI. In a study conducted by HBR (Harvard Business Review), it was found that businesses using Artificial Intelligence along with online lead management software platforms for sales were able to increase their lead generation by 50%. Moreover, the lead quality, as well as the lead quantity of AI-driven leads, are superior as Artificial Intelligence has a keen potential of spotting the best targets for inbound and outbound marketing initiatives. Therefore, a large chunk of the longstanding friction between marketing and sales in a company can be eliminated with the growth of AI in sales.

In other words, AI-driven solutions can act as a blessing throughout the entire sales-marketing cycle, turning a magnanimous amount of information in the CRM database into actionable insights.

  1. Manage Performance

Sales managers in all businesses, have to evaluate the revenue pipeline of each of their sales representatives every month, with a vision towards nurturing deals that might have got stalled, or worse, fallen through the crack. Using an AI-powered best small and medium business CRM software platform, managers can now use the dashboard to visually perceive which sales reps are likely to accomplish their sales targets along with the number of outstanding deals that stands a good chance of getting closed.
An AI-powered easy to use CRM solution allows sales managers to concentrate their attention on key sales reps and their associated deals that can help the company to reach its forecasted sales objectives.

According to Shampa Bagchi, CEO of ConvergeHub CRM for small businesses, ‘using AI to uncover trends and correlate data is great, but customer data in CRM is only made valuable when you can take action on it.

  1. Simplify Tasks

According to McKinsey Global Institute, as AI magically reduces tasks, therefore, 40% of time spent by sales reps on day-to-day mundane and menial tasks such as cold calling, replying to emails and others can be automated by adopting all the present technologies that AI has to offer for the sales teams.
As AI is capable of aiding professionals to commit to their jobs better, especially with the use of analytics and data science.

Embedding AI into CRM database, sales force automation software platforms, and other applications can eliminate a lot of crippling tasks and liberate the sales reps from monotonous tasks, which can uplift their efforts in sales to unprecedented new heights.

Conclusion

Therefore to conclude although AI is never going to be a replacement for sales and marketing in any business, nevertheless it is ‘The’ technology for now, and for the future, which is going to impel sales professionals to a ‘level-up’ in their game.

Al will allow sales and marketing professionals to base their decisions and opinions more accurately based on data (and since data never lies) focusing and unveiling the information trapped in the CRM database, making their choices more precise than ever.

CRM and the Role of AI for the Future of Businesses

Everywhere that you see today, customer data is blowing up. People (and all their modern devices) are sharing data, which even refers to household products. This is happening, as behind each device, interaction, and products there is a customer, which equates to a first-time opportunity for organizations to delight their clients and customers with unprecedented experiences that are most intuitive, predictive, and relevant than ever, upholding the role of AI for the future of businesses in this modern world.

Everywhere that you see today, customer data is blowing up. People (and all their modern devices) are sharing data, which even refers to household products. This is happening, as behind each device, interaction, and products there is a customer, which equates to a first-time opportunity for organizations to delight their clients and customers with unprecedented experiences that are most intuitive, predictive, and relevant than ever, upholding the role of AI for the future of businesses in this modern world.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) embedded in trade and commerce and CRM platforms are creating striking new possibilities for the customer experience and beyond.

Out of more than 1000 global companies analyzed by IDC 28% of companies already use Artificial Intelligence and 41% are planning to use AI in the next two years. Click To Tweet

In December 2016, President Obama released a detailed report on the role of AI for the future of businesses, automation, and the American economy. The report endorsed technology being the primary driver of growth in GDP per capita, overruling labor, or capital in the U.S. However, it also warned that the larger economic gains that can be found by AI could remain to a selected few, as the winner-take-most nature of the IT markets means that only a few may come to dominate the markets that hold the role of AI for the future of businesses.

Recently the pioneering market intelligence company IDC, in collaboration with SFDC, released a report on the economic impact of using AI for Customer Relationship Management activities, ranging from marketing and sales to customer support and retention. Whereby they confirmed, out of more than 1000 global companies analyzed  28% of companies already use Artificial Intelligence and 41% are planning to use AI in the next two years. Hence, 2018 is expected to be a pivotal year for AI adoption for enterprises, paving the road for the role of AI for the future of businesses.

Within CRM specificity, it is a known fact to many that 50% of business activities in the Customer Relationship Management platform are already in the cloud. No wonder vendors of cloud-based SaaS CRM ranging from IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, and even Google have doubled down on the war for acquiring lion’s share of the market of the enterprise cloud.

The term Artificial Intelligence or AI is an extremely broad term that defines a wide range of technology that includes machine learning, NLP (Natural Language Processing), computer vision, and several other predictive analysis approaches that heralds the role of AI for the future of businesses.

The challenge in this golden age of AI revolution is to determine how we can develop the right expertise and process for collecting data, as well as build AI algorithms and models fast enough to reap the benefits of this technology.
Given the fact that most companies do not even know where and how to begin, building AI based new systems, apps, and capabilities or having AI already ingrained into CRM, will significantly hike any companies’ skill to deliver high-impact and smart customer experience quickly and effectively.

Customer intelligence in a CRM starts with the cluster of rich data that resides in one location and caters to a single comprehensive view of each customer. Without this data, AI algorithm (no matter how advanced it is) will not be able to present a meaningful predictive analysis. Additionally, this approach not only turns CRM platform into an ideal technological choice for managing customer relationship but it can help to build all kind of apps like the one that can predict late payments, accounts receivable, supply chain management that can predict stock level according to expected demands and more.

E-commerce firms can also use the CRM database to elevate buying experience by providing personalized and automated recommendations and special offers that can help draw shoppers to their e-commerce websites. Thinking ahead of times, embedded intelligence can even learn from conversation history and coach sales agents in the next steps they must take to reach out with their best offers to the customers.

To conclude, with all trends that are transforming the ways we do business and interact with customers, the role of AI for the future of businesses will surely show us even more exciting and innovative developments during the upcoming months in 2018.

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The Past, Present, and Future of AI in Customer Experience

It can be debated, for all the good things that technology has provided to businesses over the last few decades, it has also compromised on customer experience, which is a key element, responsible for growth in any businesses. Nevertheless, at present we have just starting to realize the potential of AI and understand the potential implication for Artificial Intelligence applications, to make a more than welcome impact in the field of customer experience.

You can thank IBM’s Watson for creating an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that was integrated into a plethora of businesses and customer facing applications. You can credit Facebook and Skype for their recent buzz about chatbots and the gold rush of venture capitalists and developers creating an onslaught of bot developing companies. You can laud Amazon’s Echo and Apple’s Siri for applying intelligence into mundane everyday devices and bringing to life; voice, as the new user interface.
Nevertheless, the truth remains that we have also at present just starting to realize the potential of AI in customer experience.

The-Past-Present-and-Future-of-AI-in-Customer-Experience-CTA

It can be debated, for all the good things that technology has provided to businesses over the last few decades, it has also compromised on customer experience, which is a key element, responsible for growth in any businesses.

Websites, call-centers, apps, emails and other offspring of modern digital technology have offered companies scopes to scale and automate customer engagements, while also ushering in process efficiency and cost management systems. However, this also came at a price. As over the years, numerous customers have complained that these very processes and systems were the very elements that undermined and hindered satisfaction for the buyer’s community.

Think about it now. When was the last time that you enjoyed calling up and talking to customer service representatives? Or, for that matter, when was the last instance you were transferred between customer support executives, where the next support personal was already plugged-in into your customer account details and had the precise knowledge as to why you were calling?

It is really a matter of grave disappointment even today that many aspects of the customer journey are still disconnected. A symptom of outdated business models, where many important touch-points are independently run, in many businesses. Of which, many of these touch-points do not connect or even talk to each other, the way customers expect them. Pragmatically, in several cases, they even actually compete or conflict with one another, over the course of the customer journey.

The main reason behind this slow growth for improving customer experience is that businesses are most often viewed as cost centers rather than long-term investments.

However, in the recent times with stellar improvement in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology, AI opens up an unforeseen opportunity for introducing more personalized intelligent and scalable engagements with the customers, to help them solve problems and accomplish tasks, which contributes to improved overall satisfaction for the buyer’s community.

However, for AI to break new grounds and introduce new values, customer support and marketing strategists must step into an innovative approach regarding CX and so consider its impact beyond its novelty. Moreover, this growth of AI in CX cannot be hampered or throttled by existing CX perspectives and processes that abound today’s customer experience analogies.

AI applications in CX

Whether you are a CEO (Chief Experience Officer), CIO, CCO (Chief Customer Officers) or CMO in marketing, IT or service industry, Artificial Intelligence represents a blank slate for ushering improvement and innovations in CX. For, with a mix of right vision and intent, customer experience can thrust businesses into an accelerated path of maturity that can guide any organization with a new purpose, which is based on customer centricity.

Here are some of the ways by which you can apply AI to CX:

Chatbots

Chatbots are virtual agents that can perform intelligent conversation, which can be applied to various customer engagement scenarios. Under their hood, chat bots are just sophisticated computer programs that are  developed to simulate conversations with humans online- and they are a long time in the making.

Recently, Mark Zuckerberg the co-founder and Chairman of Facebook, in partnership with 1800FLOWERS, demonstrated a Chabot application at the F8 development conference. In this demonstration, Mark Zuckerberg used Facebook Messenger to show how a consumer can talk to a virtual agent and order flowers of his/her choice, without leaving the window.

What was unique with this demonstration is that the Chabot was capable of picking up conversational cues to suggest floral arrangements that meet the customer’s personal needs and goals.

Although, other Chabot applications that have hit the market have borne witness to some of the challenges, such as poor design and execution, and a universal emphasis on transactions over experience, but in reality, bots can be truly so much more if we allow our imagination to unlock new possibilities.

Virtual concierge

Whether they are docked in hardware devices or messaging platforms, virtual concierges are bots that are designed for providing personalized services. In certain instances, these bots are partnered with human counterparts to perform the task as a ‘digital-butler’ to aid us in booking travels, buy or find gifts and commodities, coordinate with a human on specific experiences and others.

A recent example of using on-demand virtual concierge in the retail business is Operator, which is developed by Garrett Camp, who is also the co-founder of Uber.

Operator aims to build a new front door to eCommerce by using messaging app.

Another example of using virtual concierge in the travel business is Lola, which is developed by Kayak’s founder Paul English. Lola is a new travel app that personalizes engagements with human thoughts along with AI.

Virtual assistants/attendants

While virtual concierges are designed to aid users in achieving simple-to-complicated tasks, virtual assistants and attendants make use of Artificial Intelligence to help users with commands and questions. Microsoft Cortana, Amazon Echo, Google Now, and Apple Siri are some of the examples of virtual assistants/attendants, among others.

Recently, each of these applications is vying each other to become a platform for its implementation in common devices and appliances, collaborating with the developer communities to help extend the functionalities of these applications in horizontal and vertical planes.

Cognitive computing

Cognitive computing is the simulation of human thought process to augment human engagements. One of the most well-known platforms in this space is IBM’s Watson, the AI platform that is famous for beating-down human contestants on the wildly popular American TV show “Jeopardy”.

Cognitive computing involves self-learning systems to recognize patterns, mine data, process natural language and interact with people in a way that is intelligent, value-added and complementary.

One such example is Softbank’s partnership with IBM, for adding emotional and cognitive intelligence to its line of robots, named “Pepper”. These robots are deployed in financial, retail and hospitality settings for proving an enhanced personal form of engagements to the visiting customers.

In the present times, self-service options are limited to ATMs and kiosks, where the abilities of these platforms are limited to nurturing customer relationship up to transactions. With ongoing researches on cognitive assistance, people will soon be able to have a natural conversation with machines, where their words, gestures, and expressions will be understood by these systems.

Initial applications where AI can improve CX

Although AI pilots can be used for, testing and learning everywhere, in a customer journey mapping exercise- here is a list of where AI applications are implemented today.

  • Personalization
  • Questions/answers
  • Customer self-service
  • Pre-emptive routing
  • Product/service innovation
  • Task performance/management
  • Predictive service/sales
  • Augmented engagement
  • Digital concierge/assistant collaboration

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Takeaway

Today’s customers live in an omnichannel world, where AI provides a means to facilitate up to date and precise responses across all platforms, at any and every point in the customer journey.

This represents a new ground for what is referred to as ‘conversational commerce’. Where as an alternative for resolving disjointed touch points and instances, AI will aid the enterprises to stitch together a more natural and complete customer journey to integrate, improve, and re-imagine customer experience.

Customer engagement is not a cost center, but it is an investment in customer relationship. So whether it is integrating back-end CRM, introducing new touch points; predicting trends, behaviors and expectations successfully, AI implementation needs a new blueprint with imagination and ingenuity, which will not only enhance CX but can improve every aspect of any business in the long run.