Call support is the go-to channel for most customers for flexible communication. Around 57 percent of the customers, as surveyed by Accenture, said that they would prefer to call over anything else. But the pandemic has had contact centres across the globe shut shop and thin out over the last two months. And even as most businesses have recently begun partially opening and as many more now get in tow, large setups densely packed with callers only seem far-fetched in the wake of contagion.
Augmenting the traditional caller support teams with AI can prove an intelligent salvage for businesses during precarious times like these.
Easy-to-use smart voice assistants resonate with the people’s preferences to talk over typing out queries. When leveraged in collaboration with existing support operations, these bots can elevate the services and customer experiences, and replenish the teams with additional skills and vigour.
A few more ways AI-based voice assistants can help your business :
Besides assisting the customers and boosting engagement in real-time, the voice assistants hold ample potential and offer immense opportunities for organizations in terms of internal processes. For instance, in the banking and insurance industries, these bots can serve as self-service portals and enable employees to raise tickets and consult for process support. They can also help upper management make more informed decisions that are grounded on tangible employee insights drawn up from the data collated from various branches.
Additionally, the AI-based voice bots can tap into the vast customer and product data reservoirs and help the support reps quickly pull out the right information to help the customer instantly. They can help the executives create sharply precise 360° customer profiles, finely sketch their anticipations and desires, and craft product recommendations and offerings in a more personalized manner. The bots can empower employees, drum up enthusiasm, creativity, and productivity among teams, and keep them motivated to craft supremely refined customer experiences.
The AI-enabled voice assistants can handle the more complex functions like insurance claims processing, investment advisory, etc. with as much ease as they carry out their primary responsibilities like answering simple customer queries, checking their account information, updating them with their transaction history, etc.
This can be especially useful for many financial and investment services companies that can now automate the disbursal of personal loans — right from the initial stage of the loan process from checking loan eligibility and verifying the details to finally assessing whether the person can get loans — freeing up the support reps to amplify their skill sets and step in with their expertise and intellect only when the case requires so.
Take, for example, JPMorgan Chase whose institutional clients are already consulting Alexa for share prices and analyst-related enquiries. Similarly, TD Ameritrade customers are placing trades via Alexa-enabled devices without having to call a broker or use laptops or phones.
As per one consumer focus group research panel study, consumers often prefer automated solutions as they are not judgmental. For the broking and banking firms, these AI-based voice bots would especially mean a higher reach. Consider the investors who are just getting started with the market. These AI-based advisors would prove a valuable low-friction medium to them.
They are able to successfully take on a key challenge that often holds some customers back from taking on such services — the discomfort in discussing money matters with an agent who they are afraid will judge them. On the other hand, the interactive voice assistants are extremely friendly, fluidly conversational, highly intuitive, and sharp, and exact with their data and knowledge-based assistance.
Collaborative AI-powered voice bots can be extremely comforting during the global virus pandemic that has led to a bold red uptick in isolation and anxiety. If you have watched the movie “Her”, you’ll know exactly what we are talking about. These voice assistants can be custom-designed to be virtual friends that can almost talk like humans and lift spirits.
For people reeling under the lockdown and loneliness crisis and stress related to job losses, having someone as elementary as a bot to talk to in the morning can be a breath of fresh air.
The exciting thing about using these assistants during times like these is they can be trained to respond to individuals in their language and be made to profess a personality that complements their users. Moreover, they are highly adaptive, responsive, and perennially learning and honing their skills to offer empathetic experiences and helpful recommendations with every passing conversation.
Their non-judgemental aspect only helps people open up more and feel connected. Amid the pressing crisis, the bots can be encouraging companions and can offer similar support as human therapists, reminding people to take medication, helping them perform yoga and meditation, and advising against risky behaviors.