5 Emerging Trends in Customer Service: The 2024 Conversational AI Landscape
The year 2023 has experienced a dramatic transition in the domain of artificial intelligence, presenting it as a critical year of (r)evolution for innumerable enterprises and individuals alike, including our company. In the face of rapidly emerging technologies and the era of generative AI, now is the time for strategic adoption — a time to be alert and innovative, yet measured and thoughtful.
At Born Digital, we are constantly investigating the latest AI trends in customer service, and we’re eager to share our pragmatic view with you. Let’s explore these developments together and utilize them to create advanced customer service solutions as we move into 2024.
1. Knowledge Base Advisors: Your 24/7 Digital Experts
With 81% of consumers desiring more self-service options (NICE), knowledge base advisors in the form of chatbots have become the cornerstone of customer service. They provide instant responses to inquiries, guiding users through troubleshooting steps, and offering immediate access to a vast repository of information. These AI-driven chatbots are not only scalable to handle increasing queries — addressing the 61% increase in total calls reported by CX leaders — but also sophisticated enough to manage intricate customer service landscapes, ensuring 24/7 support.
2. Analytics and Hyper-Personalization ✨
The drive for personalization is stronger than ever, 73% of customers expect customer service representatives to understand their specific needs as Salesforce reports. Consequently, analytics play a critical role in decoding customer behaviors, enabling hyper-personalization in service delivery. AI tools are becoming adept at predicting customer needs and customizing interactions based on past interactions and preferences. By leveraging these insights, we empower your company to deliver a bespoke service experience that exceeds customer expectations.
3. Digital Humans: Conversational AI meets Visual AI
Visual AI, particularly in the form of digital humans or personas, is redefining the customer experience by adding a human touch to digital interactions. These AI-driven personas can simulate human emotions and expressions, providing a more engaging and personable interaction than traditional chat or voice interfaces. In the digital landscape where brands are fighting for consumer engagement, digital personas represent a fusion of technology and human-like interaction, projected to be embraced by brands who are aiming for AI-based selling, and a superior customer experience at their physical branches or online. Now is the time to give your brand the voice and face it deserves.
4. Omnichannel approach to cover all digital touchpoints 🪄
Zendesk reports that 73% of consumers wish for the ability to move seamlessly between channels, which our omnichannel solutions provide. The convergence of voice, chat, email, social media, and even VR/AR platforms into a cohesive customer journey ensures that consumers can pick up where they left off, regardless of the channel they choose. This is imperative as more than half of contact center leaders anticipate an increase in interaction volumes over the next 18 months.AI tools are becoming adept at predicting customer needs and customizing interactions based on past interactions and preferences. By leveraging these insights, we empower your company to deliver a bespoke service experience that exceeds customer expectations.
5. Voice AI and Emotion Recognition
The final trend is the advancement in Voice AI, coupled with emotion recognition technology. While 81% of agents, as per Salesforce, still believe that phone calls are the preferred channel for solving complex customer service issues, the integration of emotion recognition enables AI to detect subtleties in a customer’s voice, allowing for empathetic and effective responses. This trend reflects an understanding of not just the content of customer communication, but also the context and emotional state, enabling a more personable customer service interaction. Moreover, it comfortably bridges the gap between the physical and digital worlds for consumers who are still rather hesitant to adopt the newest technologies.
At Born Digital, we’re not just following trends; we’re creating them. Our mission is to support you in delivering a customer service experience that’s ahead of its time. Ready to redefine customer engagement with digital humans of knowledge base advisors? Let’s talk!