The contact center has become a key testing ground for generative AI, promising efficiency and improved operations. At the same time, AI-driven technology is making the experience of human interaction in the call center even more important.
Seems like a paradox, but it’s true. AI is driving tremendous change in how human agents are tasked to work in your company’s call center.
Generative AI solutions can handle common customer issues
Self-service channels used to be hit-or-miss in terms of functionality and ease of use, but they have now become effective by using AI technology. In return, the public has become accustomed to using chat and other self-service functions to resolve an issue or ask a question when buying a product or service.
Today’s consumers will gladly resolve many simple issues on their own, and companies are all too happy to let them. Customers can interact with companies 24/7 to get their queries resolved using their preferred channels such as mobile apps, portals, chatbots, or other options. Among the many benefits of AI-backed customer self-service, the most significant change is the dramatic reduction in calls to a company’s contact center.
However, when someone does call, that person usually has tried and failed with self-service—often because their issue is too complex for an automated system. The customer expects to reach a live agent with all the contextual information about themself and their past interactions.
For the agent picking up the incoming call, providing excellent customer service is a much different activity than even just a few years ago. Traditionally, interactions between contact center agents and customers were script-driven and transactional. Agents were hired based on their ability to stay on script.
Today, agents must solve intricate, multi-faceted issues and offer solutions that go well beyond a canned response. Agents must interpret subtleties and nuances during a conversation, ensuring the customer feels heard and valued. Companies now must hire, train, and empower agents to be empathetic, creative problem-solvers.
The result of this phone conversation between customer and agent could not be more important. Across all industries, customers expect a better experience in the buying journey. In fact, 74% of customers would switch brands for a better experience.
Generative AI solutions give agents a more robust knowledge base
Fortunately, AI can help by giving agents knowledge at their fingertips and empowering them to connect and build customer relationships. AI-powered solutions can transcribe calls, monitor customer sentiment, identify recurring issues and trends, and discover inconsistencies that lead to returns such as incorrect product listings. To give these modern-day call center agents the information they need to meet growing customer expectations, companies must take advantage of their vast knowledge base—no matter how it is currently structured.
EXL is working with a client that is applying generative AI (GenAI) to their contact center knowledge database to digitize thousands of printed product manuals. This unstructured data has become valuable information that is immediately available to their agents as they engage with customers. Now, agents spend more time resolving issues and less time locating information.
Gen AI solutions can help agents work better.
AI-backed solutions provide insights for more effective agent coaching and ongoing performance improvement by providing real-time feedback and fostering continuous learning. AI-driven tools can evaluate communication quality and tone and offer guidance so agents can adjust their approach and learn from each of their past interactions.
For example, an EXL client is analyzing millions of customer conversations and interactions in their contact center operations across channels including voice, chat, and digital. This information will help them improve the agent experience by enhancing knowledge, reducing transaction time, and increasing calls per hour per agent.
More clients are turning to GenAI solutions to enable call center agents to deliver a whole new level of engagement and experience. By using GenAI, agents can access information previously unattainable and can be fully prepared to engage with customers in a more meaningful way.
In a competitive market, the ability of your company to sustain customer relationships is crucial to building brand loyalty and increasing sales. Nothing makes or breaks that relationship as much as issue resolution. A happy customer who experiences an unexpected positive result can become a customer for life.
The opposite is equally as true. An unhappy customer will talk about that negative experience to everyone they know and will switch soon.
GenAI is reshaping contact center operations through AI and tech automation while elevating the importance of human interactions. Both digital and person-to-person interactions are equally important. The success of this symbiotic relationship between AI and humans will be a defining factor in providing exceptional customer service.
Learn more about how EXL can delight your customers with data-led, AI-enabled experiences here.
Rahul Arora is the senior vice president and head of the emerging business unit for the UK and Europe and Ankush Jain, vice president, and solution owner, data-led customer experience at EXL, a leading data-and AI-led services, digital operations, and solutions company.
