Conversational AI has long been discussed as an innovative technology that we can use only in specific industries, with narrow use cases.
By now, a lot has changed. Conversational AI has gone a long way from being a limited chatbot solution. Even though it hasn’t yet presented its capabilities in full glory, its application has become widespread across different industries and various business operations.
For enterprises to keep their place at the top of the game, they need technology that is up to date with the most recent trends. That’s where conversational AI steps in, with its ability to automate complex actions, increase customer and employee engagement and drive down costs.
This set of technologies usually combines machine learning, which enables systems to solve problems without explicit instructions, and natural language processing (NLP), which allows the AI to figure out and replicate human speech.
Read about the most efficient ways enterprises are putting conversational AI to work.
Improve Customer Service
A delighted customer is the top priority of any enterprise. They contribute 14 times as much revenue as a somewhat dissatisfied customer. The key to reaching that satisfaction is customer experience – consistent across all touchpoints and exceeding customers’ expectations. And the first step towards it is their experience with customer service.
Research shows that 67% of the customers prefer to self-serve rather than talk to an enterprise representative, so by using conversational AI in the form of a chatbot or virtual assistant, an enterprise is likely to have more satisfied and thus more loyal clients.
When put to good use, conversational AI saves customers time and energy from being on hold, long and tiring phone calls, or searching for answers on complex websites. Using text messages alone, they can communicate their needs and find timely and adequate solutions for their problems.
Personalize Customer Experience
Nowadays, customers are flooded with offers that don’t fit their interests and needs. Most of them are even ready to pay more to achieve a great user experience, which is more personalized to their unique needs.
Apart from improving customer support, conversational AI can improve customer satisfaction by personalizing the customer experience, ensuring higher customer engagement, more conversions, and a more loyal customer base.
Conversational AI gathers data about current and potential customers through every contact they have with the enterprise, whether it’s made via social media channels, an email, or a text message. Based on the data analysis, conversational AI can then identify different patterns, predict and finally offer a highly personalized customer experience, providing suggestions and proactive offers in real-time to address the customers’ needs or even anticipate them.
For example, a customer might get a personalized menu in a drive-through depending on the local factors that may affect ordering decisions – time of day, the weather forecast, or trending menu items.
Other enterprises choose to personalize the user experience by putting AI-enabled robots or avatars into action. Hilton’s concierge Connie, the two-foot-tall robot that stands in the lobby to greet guests and answer their questions, has the purpose of making guests’ experiences as intimate and enjoyable as possible. By knowing which visitors are coming into the hotel, they can learn over time how to provide services based on each user’s personal preferences.
Improve Employee Engagement
However, the technology is equally transformative in today’s digital workplace. The range of use cases for employee-centric conversational AI is extensive and growing. While many enterprises start their AI journey using a chatbot to answer employee FAQs, more advanced implementations soon follow.
Employee onboarding chatbot is one of the common use cases for conversational AI. It plays an important role in bringing new hires into the fold and getting them up and running. It can provide consistent responses to their queries about salary, company benefits, learning management, and IT systems. At the same time, it gathers any information company might need to get the employee properly enrolled and operational.
Enterprises also use this technology to enable their employees to easily access the knowledge base and solve some of the most common problems typically handled by support staff.
Even though the list provided here is not exhaustive, one thing is sure – conversational AI has already become a norm in modern enterprises. In today’s world, with so many systems already connected, conversational AI can help enterprises form better and more meaningful relationships with customers and employees, provide a great experience and enjoy all the benefits.