AD-HOC CONVERSATIONAL SELF SERVICE: THE KEY TO AI TRANSFORMATION IN CONTACT CENTERS?

"Online customer portals have failed," says Andreas, our AI evangelist. Because they are not designed from the customer's perspective. And most customers simply reject them. How AI gives service-oriented companies the opportunity to think about self-service from the customer's point of view is revealed by Andreas Klug in this article.

Coronavirus, energy regulations, skilled labor shortage: In recent months, numerous challenges have arisen in companies, making them increasingly difficult to overcome. Companies are inundated with a flood of customer inquiries. The use of apps and online customer portals is declining due to lack of acceptance. Turnover in contact centers is increasing, with service employees often changing employers every 12 to 18 months. A negative spiral: Overload due to skilled labor shortages, skilled labor shortages due to overload.

In my conversations with decision-makers in customer service departments of large companies, it becomes clear that many are trying to counter this trend by implementing customer portals. One client recently announced that "70 percent of customer service requests will be handled via the online customer portal" in the next three years. This strategy is unlikely to succeed, as customer portals and apps suffer from strong acceptance issues that are often simply ignored:

• The use of customer portals requires a significant investment of time from users. They need to enter data, download an app, and search for customer numbers without the advantage of clear communication about the benefits of logging in.
• Customer portals are rarely designed from the perspective of the customer but often follow the process-oriented thinking of the company (forms and applications instead of dialogues and customer orientation).
• Even in "portal-friendly industries" such as telecommunications and energy, customer portals rarely achieve an adoption rate of more than 25 percent (only one in four customers completes their services in self-service).

Through automation and conversational self-service, companies and authorities can increase the efficiency of their services and reduce costs. Conversational self-services are a better alternative to customer portals as they are not tied to a specific medium, app, or device. "Conversations" offer highly personalized, individual ad-hoc services that provide the customer with an immediate solution to their problem when they make contact.

I call it the 3 E's for customer-centric service processes: Easy. Real-time. And Empathetic. And I believe it will be the next "big thing" in strategic customer management.

An example of Conversational Self Service: Suppose a customer wants to manage their monthly installment payments with the energy provider. They can communicate their request via email or speak with the voice bot in the hotline. Within 30 seconds, they receive an individual link to their request on their smartphone or in their email account. Intelligent forms ask targeted questions about the additional information needed (e.g., "From which date should the new installment apply?"), without the customer having to re-authenticate or navigate through a menu.

I refer to this process as "customer-centric application process," as only the parameters needed for the AI to solve the request are queried through intelligent dialogue. The key to high acceptance of self-service is the intent recognition of the AI.

Once the intent is recognized, the customer journey can begin. AI not only identifies the intentions and concerns of the customer in incoming emails and calls but can also extract relevant transactional information such as customer numbers or personal data. This makes processes like address changes or contract adjustments simple, as companies can immediately and personally respond with the support of AI.

Some insurance companies and financial service providers, including LBS, are already harnessing the potential of customer-centric service journeys through "Conversations." This marks a shift in mindset as application processes are now realized from the customer's perspective.

My perspective? Modern, AI-supported customer dialogue must increase the efficiency of services and reduce costs through automation and Conversational Self Service. Why does this work? Because the cognitive contributions of employees in the contact center can be technologized with AI.

Adding to this is "Generative AI." It is also suitable for improved knowledge management and is capable of evaluating very different data sources and presenting the results of this evaluation in an easily understandable way. For example, after identifying a customer, all data about them can be collected and presented in an organized manner. This would make it easier for call center agents, for instance, to provide individualized customer care.

However, there will always be customers who prefer human contact in certain situations. Often, this depends on the product, as in the insurance market. Simple property insurance policies are well-suited for complete automation since costs are the main concern. However, consumers often prefer direct contact with a person for topics such as wealth or health to receive emotional and social value contributions and to build trust. The great skill lies in companies being able to distinguish between the cognitive routine scenario and the emotional-empathetic individual case in dialogue with customers.

It is conceivable that in the future, surcharges or case flat rates will be charged for personal support. Similar to IT services, where an extended service contract must be concluded if a personal contact person is needed.

These seemingly small automation processes lead to significant efficiency gains - on both sides! Thanks to Low Code, the web forms and processes on the company's side are easy and intuitive to create. Customers also appreciate the time saved and less paperwork.

Because they don't have to invest in analog waiting time (#Instantness), but receive an immediate, personalized service experience #Personal and simple processing #Convenience.

What does AI have to do with it? Only with Intent Recognition can machines trigger service experiences towards customers within seconds. Employees need (at best) hours in the face of the current wave of service requests.