Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, have been a popular topic lately. Many businesses and clients are experimenting and exploring the use cases of AI for their industry. For instance, AI can be used for customer support by integrating it into ticketing and chat features. If you’re not already sold on the idea of using AI, let’s consider some of the uses and benefits of using AI for customer support processes.
How is AI used for customer support?
AI can be used for customer support by adding or utilizing AI features into your support tools. There are many potential implementations, but typically AI is integrated into the messaging, chat, or self-service features of a ticketing or support management software. When implemented, the AI can help streamline workflows and enhance ease-of-use. We shall see in more detail some examples below.
Can AI replace customer support?
While AI is a powerful tool for improving productivity and efficiency in customer support, it is unlikely to replace human agents entirely. Instead, AI serves as a complementary tool, enhancing the capabilities of human agents and improving overall support processes. In many cases AI can handle common questions or more straightforward issues, leaving support agents to work on more complex and otherwise high-value work.
5 Ways to use AI to improve customer support
Here are five effective ways to utilize AI for enhancing customer support:
Smart Suggestions:
Canned responses are a great feature typical of help desk software. Also called saved replies, these are pre-written responses used to provide accurate and fast replies to your customers. Likewise, a customer knowledgebase allows agents to provide robust answers and guides to customers. The only issue with using these tools for support is that agents need to be able to find the right answers for the situation. Searching for the right answer can take time and in some cases the best options are missed. With AI, agents can receive smart suggestions. Rather than searching for answers through your saved replies or knowledgebase, agents can use smart AI-powered suggestions. Using advanced language models, the AI makes recommendations of the best sources based on the context of the conversation. In OneDesk, the AI can suggest replies or knowledgebase articles.
Chatbot Support:
Maybe the most popular way companies use AI to improve customer support is through the use of a chatbot. The reason chatbots are so popular is that AI-powered chatbots can handle the weight of your support. The chatbot is also highly accessible from a customer point-of -view. An AI Chatbot uses natural conversation to answer questions from customers via chat or email. The AI chatbot is integrated into a live chat widget on your webpage. Customers or prospects can easily converse with the bot as needed. Best of all, the bot is available anytime and can answer multiple customers at one time. The OneDesk AI chatbot is trained entirely on your own content such as saved replies, previous replies, and knowledgebase articles. This ensures that your chatbot always provides accurate and relevant answers.
Self-Service:
AI technologies can enhance self-service options by providing comprehensive and accurate information to customers. AI closes the gap on some of the challenges of self-service by making information more accessible, findable, and relevant. OneDesk offers a knowledgebase powered by AI. The AI summarizes and provides content when your customers or end-users type a query into the knowledgebase.
Ticket Deflection:
Most of the options we discussed above serve as a form of ticket deflection. But more direct ticket deflection can be implemented into a ticket form. OneDesk provides AI-integrated ticket forms. Before filling in the ticket, customers can have their questions answered by the AI. By addressing common questions and known issues, AI can reduce the volume of incoming tickets, streamlining the support process.
Generated Replies:
AI can generate new replies to customer inquiries, ensuring prompt and relevant responses. If you don’t have the right canned response or an existing article for the situation, the AI can generate a new reply for you. Agents can save time when typing out answers or searching for relevant information.
Benefits of AI for customer support
With those ideas out of the way, let’s dive into some of the benefits of implementing AI in your customer support tools.
- Saving Time: AI can help agents generate replies and find answers more quickly. It can also handle common questions, saving valuable time for agents and companies.
- Lowering Costs: With AI’s ability to handle higher ticket volumes, fewer agents may be needed, thus reducing operational costs. Additionally, AI can boost the productivity of existing agents, allowing them to work on high-value work. The AI also has the potential to expand your business, as even small companies can provide 24/7 support options to an international market.
- Providing Continuous Support and Scaling Support: Whether dealing with many customers or just a few, AI agents can provide consistent support without the need to predict workloads. This ensures that support services can scale effectively.
- Improving Speed and Accuracy: Since agents can utilize smart suggestions, AI systems can enhance the speed and accuracy of responses, leading to a better overall customer experience. Moreover, unlike traditional chatbots, the AI can answer a wide range of questions and understand context. These features enhance the customer experience when interacting with the bot. On top of this since the OneDesk AI is trained entirely on your own data, the responses are accurate and tailored to your company.
- Making Self-Service Easier: By utilizing AI, self-service options can be made more efficient, allowing customers to find solutions to their queries quickly and easily.