Jason S. Bradshaw argues AI won't replace customer service but will make it more efficient. Salesforce and chatbots already handle routine work. Companies that combine AI efficiency with human connection will keep customers loyal and perform better.
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Hi, I'm Jason S. Bradshaw, and welcome to another live edition of Talking Points with Jason, where we're currently running a series exploring the most commonly asked questions about customer service and customer experience on the web through Google. And today the question is, will customer service be replaced by AI and what will the impact be? What impact will that have, therefore, on customer experience? So, first and foremost, AI is already being used in the way that companies serve you, big and small, every single day. We might not necessarily know it or experience it directly, but for years, companies like Salesforce have integrated machine learning into some of the advanced features, feature sets of their CRM tools. Salesforce has a best Next action recommendation engine which is based off machine learning machine learning, artificial intelligence. People use chatbots, which a very rudimentary early form of using artificial intelligence machine learning to serve you, the customer. Now, of course, before you come at me, I know that the really early chatbots were simply a search lookup of a predefined database, but they've certainly matured now where there is a level of artificial intelligence both in terms of understanding your request and then finding you the right answer. My point is that artificial intelligence is being used in serving you today, whether you necessarily know it or not. However, what I think people are asking here in this question, will customer service be replaced by AI? I think that's being driven by two things. Firstly, will there be a lack of jobs for people like me in customer service? And will I lose the level of engagement, the level of connection I have with a business because of AI? So, so my personal opinion, and that's all it is, because I don't have some magic eight ball or some magic lens into the future. But those companies that continue to accelerate their business growth in 2024 and beyond will absolutely be focused on leveraging artificial intelligence machine learning to expedite their level of service that they deliver to you, the customer. They'll use it to make it effortless for you to get from point of interest to point of purchase and use of their products. So I don't think we should be fearing artificial intelligence. I think companies should be embracing it to reduce the amount of effort required for a consumer to achieve their goal with your product or service. However, here is the caveat. The pandemic taught us many things from a business perspective, taught us many things about us as individuals. And the one thing that is true that the pandemic highlighted is that we value human connection. So the difference between those companies embracing AI and, and those companies embracing AI and still delivering exceptional customer Experience experiences in my opinion will be those companies that don't lose human connection, that they look to continue to create communities and one to one feeling relationships with their customers. And I do not mean by that creating or using artificial intelligence to create fake Personas and fake people to serve you and to build a relationship. Will the contact center of the future look different to today? Yes, it will be much more efficient. It will be able to service the needs of the of many customers faster. But it will still rely the ones that win will still rely on humans connecting with humans. Now why do I say that this is an important thing? Well, number of reasons. Don't jump on the AI bandwagon just because it's cheaper than your agent. Self service checkouts were cheaper than having a checkout operator. And now some of the world's largest supermarkets are removing self serve checkout because it's had a detrimental impact to loyalty. And a 1% increase in loyalty has a significant impact on profitability. Equally, a decrease in loyalty impacts profitability. So we're seeing this trend where organizations that have used machines to replace humans are now undoing those steps because of its impact on loyalty. So we, we absolutely need to focus on continuing to leverage technology while keeping it personable, while keeping the human element, the connection in there. The second reason is that we know that companies that consistently deliver an easier experience outperform their competitors and machine learning AI will help do that. And thirdly, if we maintain our focus on delivering experiences that our customers value, experiences that our customers want repeated, and experiences that our customers want to talk about in positive ways, therefore creating repeat or loyal customers repeat and referral business, then as a consequence of that great customer experience, or I should say customer experiences, your business will absolutely continue to grow and outpace your competitors who don't do it as consistently or as well as you do. And you'll outpace in revenue, stock performance, profitability, market share, share of wallet and employee engagement, employee experience will all be positively impacted. So. Well, if you are in customer service, I am absolutely positive that something like AI coming along makes you fearful for your job. However, your greatest asset is your ability to create meaningful human connection with customers and helping them navigate your internal systems, whether they be AI fueled or otherwise to achieve their goals. Stay focused on making the customer win and you and your organization will continue to win. So that's my view on Will customer service be replaced by AI in 2024 and beyond? I'm Jason S. Bradshaw. Please do subscribe to my YouTube channel or the newsletter at Jason sbradshaw.com but until next time we talk, I wish you great success.
