Customer satisfaction has a direct impact on customer loyalty.
Intuitively, we recognize that happier customers are willing to spend more with a brand and are less likely to switch to a competitor. But this phenomenon is also backed up by compelling statistics.
Three in four consumers will spend more with a business that delivers satisfying customer experiences (ZenDesk). Research also suggests that 95% of customers believe customer service is a defining factor that determines their loyalty to a brand. When you consider that a 1% increase in customer retention can result in a 5% profit increase, the value of loyalty and, by extension, customer satisfaction is clear.
What makes customers happy?
Historically, businesses considered price and product the primary drivers of customer satisfaction. While these are still undoubtedly vital factors, more competitive markets mean less divergence in pricing and product quality.
Consequently, businesses have to look for other ways to distinguish themselves. Focusing on Customer Experience (CX) and customer satisfaction are the primary ways of doing so. As switching between products and brands is now much easier, customers demand high-quality service, clear communication over familiar channels, and quick, effective, and accessible support. Delivering on these demands is critical to building customer trust, improving customer satisfaction, and increasing loyalty.
Fortunately, new customer support technologies are making it easier and more affordable to do so. Conversational AI is at the forefront of this technological evolution.
What is Conversational AI?
Conversational AI builds on the foundations laid by earlier self-service technologies. For many years, chatbots were hailed as the self-serve technology that would change the face of customer service, reducing costs and facilitating greater automation. However, previous generations of chatbots lacked the advanced AI technology accessible today and only allowed for prescriptive and restrictive interactions. As a result, they were unable to successfully automate many customer inquiries and, in many cases, added to customer frustrations.
Conversational AI incorporates the latest AI technology to resolve these issues and provide a more natural conversational flow and a much higher automation success rate. All of this can be delivered instantly over the customers’ favorite channels whether that is SMS, WhatsApp, social media chats or other messaging apps.
How does Conversational AI work?
Two technologies have been central to the success of Conversational AI. Natural Language Understanding (NLU) enables AI to process and respond to human prompts more naturally and accurately, moving it away from the prescriptive conversation trees associated with chatbots. Sentiment Analysis enables digital solutions to understand the intent behind human prompts. Together, these technologies ensure Conversational AI achieves a more accurate “understanding” of customer inquiries, ensuring it provides more accurate and valuable responses. In turn, this leads to a higher resolution rate, reduced costs and more satisfied customers.
How does Conversational AI make customers happy?
70% of customers expect brands to have a self-service channel where they can request and receive support without having to interact with an agent (Zendesk). To satisfy customers, brands must, at the very least, meet their expectations. So self-serve channels, such as Conversational AI, are essential.
But Conversational AI does much more than meet customers’ minimum requirements. It helps brands exceed expectations.
By providing quick responses, Conversational AI prevents long wait times and avoids customer frustration with call queues and similar customer service delays. It integrates personalization features, streamlining the customer support process and making customers feel valued. In multilingual areas, such as the Middle East, its ability to interact with customers in various languages is invaluable.
On the occasions when Conversational AI cannot resolve an inquiry, it facilitates a smooth handover to live agents, providing them with background information on the interaction and ensuring they have all the information they need to begin the support process immediately. Just as importantly, Conversational AI eases the pressure on human agents, giving them more time to deliver in-depth and highly tailored support to those customers who require it.
EDC and the future of customer service
Focusing on customer satisfaction is now a business imperative. Brands cannot afford to lose customers to the competition and must ensure a satisfactory customer experience to retain them.
Conversational AI enables businesses to deliver the type of self-serve support customers expect and enjoy. Crucially, it allows businesses to provide more personalized and efficient support while reducing costs. In the Middle East, companies are beginning to take advantage of the power of Conversational AI. Those who miss this opportunity will quickly fall behind.
At EDC, we provide businesses with the latest Conversational AI solutions, enabling you to take your customer service to the next level. To learn more about how we can help you improve customer satisfaction, distinguish your brand and boost business performance, reach out to one of our expert advisors. We’re here to help you exceed customer expectations through world-class customer support.
