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When new technology is released into the world It's tempting to jump headlong into the new innovation and incorporate it into all aspects of your business.

In this age AI, or artificial Intelligence (AI), you may be tempted to add chatbots as well as large language models (LLMs) within your customer service offerings. We've found that there's a balance to be found, says Lauren Gilbert, Eyal Avital and Mau Fournier from our Customer Happiness team.

Particularly when it comes to Customer Service, AI can be beneficial but should be used with caution when compared to the real, human professional in customer service. "Many users want to hand over 100% of customer support tasks to these new AI devices, however there will be instances that require actual human interaction. Transferring everything to AI is likely to leave a lot of your customers feeling more annoyed as they were prior to when they wrote them in," starts Mau.

Let's examine how, and when, you might be able to integrate AI to improve your service to customers.

Important qualities needed for a successful customer service team

Firstly, what does perfect customer service be as? How does it help a company's customers?

"We strive to be a reflection of the five characteristics of the PREACH model to maintain a customer-centric approach," starts Eyal Avital. "We want to be Proud responsible, compassionate, articulate, concise and human.

We all agree that empathy is perhaps the most significant of these. "Put yourself in the customer's shoes and show empathy for their situation. Let them know they are important to the employees of the business who help to run it," Lauren says. Lauren.

"Empathy is often a neglected skill," Mau adds. Mau. "You need to embody empathy so that you can understand the customer's issue, and you need to display empathy in your response to make the customer feel understood, which also helps to lower their defenses when they're angry."

In addition, customers need assistance from someone who is knowledgeable enough about the product that they can provide all of the information needed - plus the articulation to explain it. "When it comes to a platform that you count on to run your business, getting support promptly from a person who understands the software inside and out, and can help you resolve a challenge in a manner that's simple to comprehend and implementable is crucial," thinks Lauren.

Customer service is not just the exercise of ticking boxes: genuine kindness is vital. "Don't just answer their superficial question -- try to find out what's behind the question; what they're trying to accomplish," thinks Mau. "Help them address the root question, and then check back in the future to confirm that they got the job done. The audience will be satisfied if they sense that the person in the other room is genuinely trying to find ways to help," he adds.

Don't forget to consider the importance of timeliness and clarity in your interactions. "You need to provide prompt help, communicate clearly and concisely," starts Lauren. Eyal says: "You must be timely when you respond to your customers. You can give an A+ rating, but if the response isn't timely for the customer to think about it the member will feel disregarded and will view your interaction negatively."

When AI fails

It is clear that AI is a great tool particularly for businesses and entrepreneurs who have a lot to do however, it's not always the best option. We think there's a few aspects of excellent customer service that AI is unable to replicate.

Personalisation

Based on our experiences to date, AI is missing the mark on finding solutions that actually meet a specific customer's needs. There are a myriad of examples of help desk software that requires customers to respond to a lengthy list of questions to get an automated answer. And, by definition the automated response will only be able to solve a small number of issues because there isn't a 'one size fits all' situation.

"AI will certainly show expertise and come up with answers to questions - and they are often better at this than humans however its knowledge may not be as current and knowledgeable of your particular domain as a human could be," says Mau. "It is able to be useful with simple and quick interactions, but it won't take responsibility for being helpful, and it can't follow up like a human could or at the very least, not as yet."

Longevity

Even though LLM (AI) applications have improved the tone they use when talking to clients, there's still a long method to improve. "LLM apps may use an appropriate tone of voice however, it's not as authentic compassion from a human. Humans are able to feel empathy and relating a resolution to a specific situation is not possible to duplicate," says Mau.

Similar to that, AI is all about the short-term. "LLMs are prone to having a limited attention span - it's built into the technology," he adds. "They will not remember that conversations you had in the past six months about your customer's challenges, or how your content can benefit them in the future, or perhaps even that they love going to fishing with their loved ones. Incorporating these information in new conversations can make members feel like you really care."

AI is a great tool to help

However, this doesn't mean that AI cannot be beneficial for customer support. There are certainly clear-cut opportunities to automate the process, just like any other new technological innovation However, it is crucial that you know when to make changes at the right time.

"We should use AI into regular tasks that can be automated, while leaving a human voice as an option for those with specific requests," Mau begins. Mau. " LLMs provide a great initial draft of replies however the best results will always come from personal editing on this draft. Incorporate your personal voice into conversations."

"What was once the FAQ on a website is now handled by bots or AI to solve simple questions quickly and 24/7. Any questions that aren't answered by the one-click and one-question options must be directed to human support," Eyal adds. "Otherwise, customers might become frustrated. It's like the old days of getting stuck on a jumble of numbers to get to the right department over phone support."

The integration of AI is an ongoing process. "There's an improvement (crawl-walk-run) of integrating bots or LLMs," starts Eyal. "New companies should devote more time to their community by providing hands-on assistance. Once they are more popular, they will be able to move away from their frequently asked concerns to LLM."

"AI could help you expand as your career progresses, as more members can raise concerns," says Mau. "Many of these will be basic requests that AI can take off of your to-do list, so that you can focus on the more nuanced questions."

"You might be able to be able to rely on AI in the beginning However, I'd recommend against this. I'd recommend more manual support when you're beginning out. The questions that you get in the beginning stages of your career are an abundance of information that can be used to understand your intended group and ways to enhance your services to better serve them."

Conclusion

It looks like the people-first approach we're taking at is working, successfully blending a wealth of expertise and the compassion only human being can provide. Eyal says the way we are working helps us to make ourselves more human Memberul as a brand "a mix of empathy, sharing resources, and making it fun by using Emojis and GIFs" keep things fun and beneficial.

Mau shares some recent comments from a client that said it was enjoyable talking "to a real human with such an empathetic way of helping" as well as someone who could offer personalized guidance for the specific issue. "That customer said it was the most helpful assistance they've ever received!" smiles Mau.

Lauren remembers a customer that wrote to us asking for advice on members' retention. Using knowledge of her specific business, as well as the unique patterns that she has in her own company we were able provide suggestions on pricing strategies which in turn increased the members' lifetime value.

"You can certainly utilize AI to assist you in this type of question however when it comes to decisions that can have an enormous impact on your company I'd bet that the majority of people aren't prepared to trust AI on its own and they shouldn't I believe".