AI and Digital Humans are fast changing the face of customer engagement. As real humans are increasingly struggling to keep up with the demands of customers and the information that needs to be stored and processed, AI and Digital Humans are offering a better way to create engaging experiences for customers.
It is no secret that engaged and happy customers are more likely to become repeat buyers and spread positive word of mouth – and in today’s consumer world, personalisation and outstanding experience are the secrets to happy customers.
The late Steve Jobs famously advised: "Get closer than ever to your customers. So close, in fact, that you tell them what they need well before they realise it themselves." While in the past, that meant having direct conversations with customers, observing their behaviour and making assumptions about their future needs, today, AI enables businesses to know more about their customers than ever and to make more accurate predictions about their future needs.
While AI does the heavy lifting in the background, Digital Human interfaces enable businesses to leverage this data to have better, more scalable engagements with their customers.
Here are the top five benefits Digital Humans can offer customer-centric organisations.
As many businesses offer ever-more products and services, it is become increasingly challenging for human representatives to know everything about all products. Simultaneously, customers have access to more information online. As a result, it can be challenging for sales and service representatives to know the answers to all customer questions – or even just know more than the customer does.
Digital Humans don’t have this problem. Due to their ability to access and process vast amounts of data, they can provide more accurate and specific information. A Digital Human can literally know every little detail about all 1000+ of your products – assuming you’ve provided the data.
Digital Humans are adaptable
Personalisation is a key element of excellent customer experiences. Customers expect to receive information that is relevant to them, deliver in a communication style that resonates with them. That means, human representatives need to adjust their approach for each individual client they deal with, which is no easy task.
In addition, in today’s multi-cultural world, businesses need to be able to engage with customers in multiple languages, which means more staff to cover more languages.
Digital Humans can help overcome these challenges. They are able to adapt their communication style and the information they provide to each individual customer and, if programmed accordingly, can even switch language as a moment’s notice.
Digital Humans are always on
Just like customers expect personalised information and communications, they have also come to expect that they can get support whenever it suits them. A customer looking to make a purchase might do research online in the evening, long after shops have closed, and want's an answer to a question right there and then. Or a customer might have a problem with one of your products and needs a solution NOW. And there is also the fact that many businesses have customers across different time zones.
Keeping customer service centres staffed 24/7 is extremely expensive, so it is probably no surprise that organisations are increasingly leveraging Digital Humans to be always on. Digital Humans don’t need sleep or breaks. They are always on and can respond to customers whenever required.
Digital Humans are patient
Even the most patient and tolerant customer-facing staff will, at times, find it hard to stay calm and friendly. In addition, human representatives are often under pressure to deal with enquiries quickly so they can move on to the next customer. All of that can lead to frustrated customers who feel like they did not get the information – nor the respect – they deserve.
Thanks to their endless patience, Digital Humans are able to provide friendly and lengthy support to even the most demanding customers. They can deal with multiple customers at the same time, so they are not under time pressure, and they can adapt their responses to suit the individual customer to get better results.
Digital Humans are scalable
Last but by no means least, Digital Humans are scalable. In today's competitive business environment where profit margins are shrinking and cost needs to be cut everywhere, this is often the main benefit that drives adoption of AI and Digital Humans.
The idea to no longer need to staff large customer service teams is extremely compelling to many businesses. Digital Humans, with their ability to deal with multiple customers at the same time, is the technology that will make that possible.
While the benefits of AI and Digital Humans are compelling, it's important to remember that any AI solution will only ever be as good as the algorithms behind it and the data it has access to. Furthermore, leaders need to consider that this technology is still in its infancy which has two critical implications. Firstly, any implementation will require some trial and error and businesses need to be prepared for things not working perfectly from day one. Secondly, it means that technology is likely to continue to evolve, and any solution implemented today should use what is currently available but also position the business to take advantage of new solutions as they become available.
AI is not magic – even if it looks like that at times. Businesses who want to leverage the benefits need a deliberate, well planned and executed strategy. The best way to achieve that is by teaming up with digital transformation experts who bring the experience and expertise needed for a successful implementation.
If you want to learn more about the role AI and Digital Humans will play in customer engagement, follow the link below.
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