During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more critical than ever to maintain customer trust by providing outstanding customer service. What’s more, the impact of customer service on people’s buying decisions is steadily increasing.

But how can you sustainably step up your customer service game during a global crisis? Especially when you’re juggling teams that suddenly turned remote?

One way to respond to this challenge is by harnessing the power of AI. Artificial intelligence was high up on the list of customer service trends of the new decade well before the pandemic.

Now, it is indispensable.

What seemed futuristic a decade ago is now a reality. You can use machine learning and develop AI tools that respond to customer inquiries, provide answers, and even predict their needs. You can choose specialized software or take the simpler route of adding an AI plugin to your WordPress site.

Keep reading to find out how AI can help you scale back customer service expenses and improve quality at the same time.

AI is the Future of Customer Communications

AI and machine learning are the overarching tech trends of the new decade – in any industry, and all parts of your business. 77% of IT professionals expect AI to become critical to their business within the next three years.

AI has the ability to reduce costs and enhance quality, especially in customer communication. Some experts predict that by 2025, 95% of customer interactions will be driven by AI, covering both phone calls and online chats. Thanks to significant progress in AI technology, many customers won’t be able to distinguish between a human and a bot, enabling smooth collaboration between human agents and AI systems.

But in what forms exactly can AI be integrated into customer service?

Chatbots are already ubiquitous, and rapidly improving. They can answer up to 80% of routine customer queries, and shave as much as 30% off customer service costs. Chatbots have come a long way since the first one, ELIZA, was built way back in 1966. Today, 90% of companies have already added AI enhancements to their customer journeys.

24/7 Support and Faster Responses

Rather than having a massive team of customer service agents working in shifts, or in offices distributed across the globe to respond to customer queries at any hour in any time zone, you can let AI handle that.

Statistics show, for example, that 64% of internet users say that the 24-hour availability of chatbots is their best feature. They also have the ability to get responses to queries instantly. 37% of customers use chatbots to quickly get answers in case of an emergency, and 55% state that they highly value the prompt responses.

For businesses, having chatbots take care of routine queries means that human agents can focus on solving more complex issues and requests, instead of wading through a flood of trivial questions. Overall, 90% of businesses using chatbots register a faster complaint resolution, which reduces customer churn.

Optimized Processes

AI applications are also invaluable for process optimization and automation. This is a boon for customer service departments.

70% of IT professionals believe AI tools will improve the operational efficiency of their business, and more than 50% say that they will help to create competitive advantage and make existing data more actionable.

What’s more, 6 in 10 executives also believe that AI can help supercharge business’ organizational abilities. Through networking with other bots, automating processes such as follow-ups and task scheduling, rendering internal communication more effective, and structuring client queries.

Finally, AI analytics tools provide actionable data on internal productivity of customer service agents and highlight areas for improvement.

Better Customer Understanding

But even more crucially, AI-driven analytics tools can also help businesses gain a better understanding of their target demographics. Whether it is an analysis of the behavior of website visitors, the click-happiness of newsletter recipients, or businesses’ interactions with people on social media, AI can provide a wealth of actionable data for personalization.

And personalization is an indispensable requirement for businesses to succeed in the new decade.

As of 2020, 74% of customers say they quickly become frustrated with business websites if they are not personalized for their particular preferences. And a stunning 91% say that they are more willing to shop with brands that provide recommendations and offers that cater to their interests.

In unearthing these preferences and interests, AI is an invaluable asset.

From performing social media sentiment analysis to decoding the facial expressions of customers watching promotional videos, and reporting on the effectiveness with which the brand message was conveyed, AI provides data that has the potential to help businesses anticipate their target audience’s needs.

Today, 53% of companies already see AI as a vital ally in creating a ‘customer-first culture’. In this culture, businesses don’t just react to customer demands, but take proactive steps to meet them.

Higher Customer Satisfaction

At this point it should not be surprising that AI applications can overall help to increase customer satisfaction. With faster response times to both simple and complex queries, and business being able not just to respond to customer needs, but to anticipate them, happy customers are almost a given.

According to recent statistics, 80% of businesses using AI measured a significant increase in customer satisfaction, service delivery, and contact center performance.

This number will only increase as more sophisticated technologies are being rolled out every day. The integration of AI into business life is fast becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Final Thoughts

No matter how you look at it, AI is here to stay. Experts agree that it will transform the world of business – including the realm of customer communications.

That means that now is the time to catch up with or get ahead of the curve. To take a major step in the digital transformation. It’s time to harness the power of AI to cut costs, even as you take your customer service to the next level.