7 Ways Conversational AI Can Improve Customer Engagement

With the growing popularity of AI tools like ChatGPT, businesses are starting to take notice of how artificial intelligence can improve several aspects of their operations. Conversational AI has a promising future. Moreover, it’s already helping businesses make changes and process improvements. One big focus is the use of AI in the customer experience. 

Conversational AI can be implemented in various ways to enhance customer engagement across all channels and touchpoints throughout the customer journey. The first step is understanding exactly what conversational AI is. 

What is conversational AI?

Conversational AI uses technology to recognize speech and text, understand user intent, and respond as if it were a human having a conversation. Chatbots and virtual assistants are great examples of conversational AI in practice. 

These platforms utilize various artificial intelligence capabilities, including:

• Machine Learning (ML)
• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Natural Language Understanding

The use of conversational AI today is much broader than many anticipated, handling a variety of tasks and interactions in a human-like way so that actual humans don’t have to do the work. 

How can conversational AI improve customer engagement?

So, now that you have a better understanding of how conversational AI works, let’s dig into how it can help you deliver a better customer experience. Here are seven ways customer engagement can benefit from the use of AI. 

1. Enhance the speed of service and assistance 

As with the example above of chatbots and virtual assistants, having AI tools available for customers will enhance their service experience in several ways. Most importantly, it gives them instant access to assistance, even if your human support team is out of the office. Plus, it can help them get answers faster and easier, which a lot of customers love about self-service and AI. 

Sometimes, it’s a matter of seconds that makes all the difference. If your chatbot is instantly available and a live agent is a two-minute wait, you’d be surprised how many people will choose the chatbot to avoid waiting. Two minutes in Internet time is an eternity, after all. 

2. Maintain availability around the clock 

Chatbots and voicebots don’t need to sleep. They can be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week so that you never miss a single customer call. They can even engage in ways that are complex and help guide customers to a resolution, including if that resolution is to have a human return their call as soon as possible. 

3. Offer a proactive approach to customer support 

Having an AI chat tool or voicebot that’s waiting to field customer queries is an important step in building a proactive strategy for your customer service and support. Rather than making people reach out and ask for assistance, you can have a full suite of AI solutions in place to help guide them through finding what they need. 

When your customers see you approaching their needs in a proactive way instead of a reactive one, they will take note. This can drive loyalty and engagement. 

4. Enhance interactions with high levels of personalization

Today’s customers demand a personalized experience in almost everything that they do. The Internet has created a world where people can get just about anything they want and they aren’t taking that lightly. With AI, you can farm huge amounts of data in less time to gather valuable insights that help you personalize your interactions. 

Personalized interactions and experiences are what set brands apart. They are the driving force behind conversions and if you don’t provide them, your customers will find another company that does. Take advantage of AI to create ultra-personalized experiences and watch your business thrive. 

5. Enhance your understanding of customers

You can use conversational AI to collect valuable insights about your customers, too. This is information you can use to make changes and improvements moving forward, allowing you to deliver a better customer experience. When people see that you take their concerns and needs to heart and enact real change, they’re going to be more engaged and loyal as a result. 

Consider this: through a conversation with your AI chatbot, you learn that your customer would buy more frequently if your shipping prices were lower or there were incentives available. As a result, you decide to create new shipping policies that encourage your customers to buy more and remain loyal. That’s just one of the examples of how conversational AI can help you improve engagement through customer understanding. 

6. Offer self-service alternatives 

Customers are in a hurry and want fast answers. They might not have time to email someone, pick up the phone, or wait in the queue for a live chat agent. That’s why self-service is an important part of your customer service and support strategy. With conversational AI, you can provide voicebots, chatbots, and other automated solutions that can help customers get answers on their time. 

Conversational AI can even help you pick up on better ways to serve your customers, as a bonus. Then, you can improve your support resources based on the insights you gather. 

7. Analyze vast amounts of data to deliver a better experience 

One of the best features of AI is its capability to not only analyze, but interpret data that can be used to make improvements throughout the business. No matter what type of conversational AI tools you implement, make sure that you take advantage of their ability to gather and analyze data so that you can continuously optimize and improve the customer experience. 

Continue your customer engagement improvements by partnering with Smith.ai 

At Smith.ai, we take pride in being at the forefront of technology and advanced solutions.

Check out our all-new AI Voice Assistant that combines the power of AI with human agents, and remember to ask about our 24/7 answering service so that you never miss an opportunity. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.