Customer support is going through a rapid shift. As demand for customer service grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for human-only support staff to keep up. At the same time, companies that have gone all-in on AI have found that the technology often doesn't deliver the level of support that customers demand.
In fact, a recent report found that AI customer service chatbots had a failure rate four times higher than general AI use. The pressure to use AI has often led to poor implementations that don't truly help customers or human support representatives.
However, as Han Butler, president and co-founder of ROI CX Solutions, explains, these early challenges may actually be a good thing for the industry in the long term. As companies rethink the balance between AI automation and human support, they can identify solutions and systems that better meet the needs of their customers.
1. Customers Still Prefer Human Interaction
Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest reasons many companies are re-assessing their approach to AI automation comes down to customer preferences. In one recent survey, over three-quarters of customers said human-only support "always" or "often" led to better outcomes. The same survey found that 46% of customers felt the AI service was rarely or never successful.
As Butler explains, this largely comes down to our preference for human interaction. "As humans, we value the nuance that we receive when talking with a really good support rep. Even if that rep is getting help from AI, their human instincts and intuition bring a sense of personal connection that can help with complex or sensitive issues. Humans are still naturally better at handling non-standard issues and demonstrating empathy, which is what customers value."
2. AI for Routine Inquiries, Humans for Complexity
Despite the general customer preference for human support, many organizations find their service teams overwhelmed with calls, emails, and other communications. This can lead to lengthy wait times, including for relatively simple issues. Implementing AI support for relatively straightforward use cases becomes a good balance for many companies.
"Slow response times can really hurt customer satisfaction and retention rates," Butler explains. "This is where utilizing AI to help with routine inquiries can make a big difference. Many of the highest volume inquiries, like account balance checks or shipping updates, are easy and repeatable. AI is adept at handling these, and often faster than humans can. This leaves human support staff with more time to focus on complex service problems, while reducing wait times for everyone."
3. AI's Growing Agent Support Role
When customers think of AI in customer support, they have a tendency to think of a chatbot answering their phone call. But as Butler explains, many of AI's most impactful customer service outcomes go on behind the scenes.
"For human agents, AI can be a valuable support tool that enables them to provide faster and better service than in the past," Butler notes. "For example, an AI support can surface relevant answers and prompts in real-time during a conversation with a customer. An AI can pull up knowledge base content automatically so a human support rep can get the information a customer needs without looking it up manually. AI can also generate things like interaction summaries, automatically handle CRM updates or provide performance data to management for future coaching."
These are the kinds of activities that a customer might not notice during a support call, but that would directly impact the quality of their experience. By reducing the manual work of a call, support staff can focus on the person they are trying to help.
4. Truly Balancing Operational Costs
As in so many other industries, many in the customer support sector are concerned about getting displaced by AI. And while Butler acknowledges the legitimacy of these fears, he believes that the future looks positive overall for human support agents because of the improved financial outcomes of hybrid human/AI support. "We've seen some of those companies that went too far with AI coming back to a more balanced hybrid approach," he says.
"AI that isn't properly implemented just makes customers angry, and they'll try to escalate to a human support rep. You just get higher service costs and longer resolution times, which can increase customer churn. It can also burn out your support reps when they have to deal with customers who are already angry because of the AI. The smarter move is to look at AI as a way to scale your existing operations and make them more effective, rather than just trying to cut costs. When you make your people more productive and allow them to deliver higher-quality service, you get better customer retention and lower employee turnover, which is the best way to improve your costs."
Finding the Right Balance
As Butler's insights reveal, balancing AI automation and human support in the customer service sphere shouldn't be an all-or-nothing proposal. AI can aid in a wide range of tasks, especially when it comes to offering real-time support for agents. But it still can't replace the human nuance and empathy that customers hope to receive from an exceptional human support team.
By leveraging the unique strengths of both human support staff and AI, customer service teams can deliver more efficient, personalized, and timely service that keeps their customers happy.
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