AI Isn't Replacing CX Professionals -- It's Making Them Better Posted on : Mar 20 - 2020

Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting a bad reputation. There’s a lot of buzz about emerging tech stealing the jobs of hardworking people -- especially those in the customer experience (CX) field. And while Forrester predicts that 1 out of 4 CX professionals will lose their jobs in 2020, it has little to do with employers implementing AI.

The real reason is the growing business-criticality of CX. In fact, brands will spend $8 billion more on customer service agents in 2020 than 2019 due to heightened demand and competition for highly skilled agents.

The truth is plain and simple: AI isn’t replacing contact center agents -- it’s helping them step up to be the best they can be and deliver more value than ever. The key is in implementing AI to be on their side.

AI: The Superpower For CX Professionals

Delivering a five-star customer experience is a huge differentiator for a brand. Gartner predicts 89% of organizations will compete primarily on CX, and Forrester says CX is the only sustainable competitive advantage remaining. The pressure is on for CX professionals to get it right, and organizations are smartly investing in AI to enable their success across the customer journey.

What’s the most important thing about customer service? I’d say knowing your customers inside and out, which includes understanding their opinions, attitudes, history, emotions, expectations and more. But unfortunately for contact center leaders, that’s simply impossible without the help of technology, especially for brands that have millions of customers.

AI delivers some amazing benefits in the contact center. It’s enabling agents to personalize interactions and make smarter decisions in real time, while equipping organizations with customer feedback and intelligence to transform operations. Sure, AI might automate the mundane part of CX in the contact center, such as collecting contact details from customers, providing high-level information and routing calls. But it also positions people for what they do best: solving complex issues and forming emotional connections that leave customers feeling satisfied.

AI Gathers Data For Contact Center Agents

The analytical capabilities of AI are game-changing from a CX perspective. In the past, an organization might screen and analyze as little as 3% of customer interactions. Expanding this was simply impossible from a scale and capacity perspective. On top of it, those interactions were likely graded by humans, which introduces bias and subjective standards. Just imagine the blind spots this approach caused.

Advances to machine learning and AI toss the old approach out the window and equip organizations to analyze 100% of calls in the contact center to track trends, opinions, common customer problems and agent strategies. This intelligence can be used to inform CX professionals on what’s working -- and what isn’t. With access to this level of data, brands can more effectively identify customer satisfaction and loyalty drivers to guide their CX strategy. View More