Automated customer service gets a bad wrap.

I often get asked in media interviews about the effects of artificial intelligence on customer service. So many people bemoan the seemingly soul-less interaction we have with chat bots online. But we we prefer them. And so do our customers.

What does the research show?

Our internal research at Service Integrity Mystery Shopping shows that:

Ai in telecommunications

I recently heard a keynote by the head of artificial intelligence at Optus telecommunications at the Google Cloud summit in Sydney. The Optus executive said that customer net promoter scores (NPS) were higher when they interacted with artificial intelligence then when they interacted with humans.

Customer Service Secret Shopper

They also stated that artificial intelligence bots can now handle up to 75% of all enquiries.

This tells me it’s only getting better. We want knowledge above all else and artificial intelligence is the best tool to give us that. And it can give us the knowledge we need instantly. 

Bad nostalgia

Now that the technology is getting to the point where it is useful, we will NOT look back fondly on the days we had to wait 20 minutes or 2 hours on the phone to speak to a representative about a mobile phone issue. Will be able to login and get it dealt with within 10 seconds or a minute. 

I like shopping instantly online, rather than waiting for someone. I like not having to wait for someone to come fill my car up for me. I like not having to wait for a checkin persona at the airport.

Automated customer service improves service, not diminish it.

I don’t care that I’m dealing with the machine. I just want my question answered and I don’t want to wait.

Are you meeting this challenge with your customers or still reminiscing about the good old days – which were not so good.

(This begs the question about the role of people, but that’s a whole other topic)