When I think about the businesses I stay loyal to — from my go-to software provider to my favorite airline to my local yoga studio — it’s not because they’re the cheapest or even the most innovative. It’s because they make my experience as a customer easy, personal, and genuinely enjoyable.
Most customers today are like me; they have more options than ever and gravitate to products that offer genuine value. This is where customer experience automation can be incredibly helpful. And it’s more than just using a basic AI chatbot — AI is helping teams automate tedious tasks, uncover customer insights and expectations, and provide a personalized experience, all while ensuring a human touch when it matters most.
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What is customer experience automation?
Customer experience automation uses tools like AI to streamline and personalize the customer journey. It helps automate repetitive stuff, like routing tickets or collecting feedback, so your team can focus on what really matters.
According to our State of Customer Service Report, the majority of service teams are already implementing some form of automation in their process.
- 77% of service teams are using AI.
- 79% of service pros using AI find it effective.
Paulius Milišauskas, vice president of customer operations at Omnisend, explains how CX automation plays a role in his team: “Our primary goal is not efficiency itself, but customer satisfaction through service efficiency. We automate all processes that can simplify our clients’ experience.”
Why Customer Experience Matters More Than Ever
It’s important not to miss the big picture when talking about automation. Delivering a great customer experience deserves your attention, time, and investment because it makes customers more likely to be loyal, increase their spending, and even advocate for your brand.
- Loyalty reduces churn. And 20% of companies in our State of Service survey identified preventing churn and boosting retention as a challenge when creating a great customer experience.
- Better CX boosts CLV (Customer Lifetime Value).
- Good CX turns customers into advocates.
And looking at the top challenges service leaders face when trying to deliver a great customer experience, AI can help immensely.
How I Apply Customer Experience to My Business
Even though I’m not running a large customer service team, CX plays a huge role in how I run my freelance writing business. My ideal clients — usually marketing teams — have access to hundreds of talented writers with similar skills. So why would they choose me?
The answer often lies in the experience I provide.
A great client experience makes long-term relationships easier to build. I make sure to go beyond delivering solid writing: I’m responsive, proactive, and focused on making the process smooth and enjoyable. That effort pays off:
- Clients come back for future projects.
- They often increase the value of their work with me, asking for additional services or larger scopes of work.
- They recommend me to others, which brings in new opportunities.
And while I don’t use automation as extensively as an enterprise team might, there are plenty of ways I could bring it into my business to enhance my CX. For example:
- I can use data to understand my clients better. AI could help me analyze past projects to spot trends in terms of contract value and length, as well as what types of projects clients are most satisfied with or where delays tend to happen.
- I can automate feedback requests by sending automated follow-ups after projects to gather feedback that can help me improve and add more value. (This also means one less email I have to manually send!)
- I can streamline testimonials and referrals. An automated system can ask clients to share more about their experience and refer me to others in their network.
Benefits of Customer Experience Automation
Hopefully I’ve already made it clear how valuable automation can be to deliver a great customer experience — but don’t just take it from me. I spoke to a few CX experts to learn more about the key benefits of CX automation and how they’re seeing it play out in their business.
Improved Response Times and Availability
Today’s customers aren’t patient. (I know. I’m working on it, too.)
According to our survey, 82% of consumers expect issues to be resolved immediately. Automation helps you meet these expectations by streamlining tasks like ticket routing, providing instant answers through chatbots, and offering 24/7 availability.
According to Omnisend’s data, while human specialists typically respond within five minutes, AI systems provide instant responses. This immediate availability ensures customers get help whenever they need it, regardless of time zones or business hours.
When customers feel heard and their issues are resolved quickly, they’re far more likely to stick around.
Lauren Parker, founder of LMR Digital Marketing, explains how she helped a client automate lead follow-up and saw impressive results: “When partnering with Blissful Minds, a telehealth weight loss service, we implemented an email workflow that drastically cut response times. This approach helped them generate over 1,500 new patient leads and efficiently scale their services.”
Enhanced Efficiency
Automation lightens the load for your customer service team by handling repetitive or time-intensive tasks, like data entry or answering FAQs. This means your team can focus their time and energy on more complex issues that require a human touch.
For example, Salesforge increased onboarding engagement by 23% within 30 days by automating client check-ins and delivering timely, personalized resources, founder V. Frank Sondors told me.
Better Data-Driven Decision-Making
By automating data collection and analysis, you can uncover insights about your customers’ needs, preferences, and pain points. This makes it easier to make informed decisions and proactively improve the customer experience.
According to Sidharth Ramsinghaney, director of strategy at Twilio, organizations implementing AI-driven personalization are seeing powerful results: “45% report improved customer satisfaction scores, while 41% are achieving better data-driven decision making and market segmentation.”
Increased Revenue Through Personalization
Customers want to feel valued, and automation helps you deliver personalized experiences at scale. Whether it’s recommending products, tailoring email content, or preemptively addressing potential issues, AI-driven personalization increases customer satisfaction and drives repeat purchases.
Twilio’s research shows that “55% of consumers are willing to spend more for personalized experiences, with customers spending an average of 36% more with brands that personalize engagement.”
How to Automate Customer Experience
Automation can feel cold if done poorly, but the key is to make it feel personal and relevant. This lets teams deliver human-centric experiences while freeing up time for high-value interactions.
Here’s how I’d recommend tackling the process.
1. Start with a thorough understanding of your customer touchpoints.
The first step: Map out your customer’s journey — and include every point where they interact with your brand. (P.S. I’ve previously written how you can use AI when customer journey mapping if you want to learn more.)
Here’s an example of a customer journey template you can use:
When I’ve done this in my own business, I’ve been surprised at how many small touchpoints there are, from the first email inquiry to the follow-up after a project wraps up.
Using a customer journey map, identify where customers are thriving and where they’re running into roadblocks. For example:
- Are there delays in responding to inquiries?
- Are there common questions or complaints that come up repeatedly?
- Are there points where customers seem to drop off entirely?
In an ecommerce company, for example, maybe your customer pain points are around product delivery and communications. Patricia Pavia, a customer experience manager for biom, says that the most helpful thing they’ve automated is an order confirmation and tracking system.
“Once a customer places an order, they receive an instant confirmation email with their order details and estimated delivery time. This not only provides them with immediate clarity but also reduces the need for follow-up emails and questions about shipping status,” she said.
2. Understand your customers’ current experience.
Once you know the touchpoints, the next step is to learn how your customers feel at each stage. Personally, I like to gather feedback whenever I can — whether it’s through surveys, one-on-one conversations, or even just paying attention to what clients mention during our projects.
For a larger team, you might use AI tools to automate this feedback collection, like sending out NPS surveys after key milestones or analyzing the trends in your support tickets.
Here’s what our latest data shows about the effectiveness of certain customer service channels:
Lasandra Barksdale, founder of Kompass Customer Solutions, approaches this through what she calls “experience blueprints” — a sophisticated blend of journey mapping and service blueprinting that reveals how back-office processes affect front-line interactions.
“This approach starts with discovery: uncovering pain points, mapping out friction, and pinpointing where automation can enhance experiences,” she said.
“By working from the outside in, we identify unmet needs from a customer’s perspective, and then go inside out, analyzing internal processes to address those gaps.”
When Barksdale worked with a financial services client, for example, they discovered that while the company wanted to reduce call volume by redirecting customers to their website, the site didn’t actually address the top 10 reasons customers were calling in the first place.
“By helping them identify self-service functionalities and adding a status-tracker feature for more complex requests, we reduced the need for calls and gave customers transparency on their requests’ status. This shift led to happier customers and empowered staff, ultimately showing that call reduction is a customer-centered strategy, not just a cost-cutting measure,” she added.
3. Identify tasks that can be automated.
Not every task needs to be automated, but many repetitive processes are perfect candidates. Here are some examples I’ve seen work well:
- Support ticket routing.
- Answering FAQs.
- Follow-ups and reminders.
In my own business, I’ve thought about automating parts of my onboarding process. For example, sending out a welcome email that includes FAQs, project timelines, or next steps that could save me time while giving clients a consistent experience.
Philippe Mesritz’s team at Community Brands built customer journeys that adapted based on customer actions and CRM data. They created digital engagement points that would trigger specific responses, from sending relevant blog posts to scheduling training videos, all timed to provide maximum value to the customer.
“Through a combination of automated journey orchestration and manual intervention, we were able to engage with thousands of customers that would then gain benefit from the microlearnings,” he said.
4. Leverage AI for personalization at scale.
AI can be really helpful here — and this is especially valuable given that personalization is a top customer expectation in 2025.
AI tools can analyze customer behavior and preferences to deliver hyper-personalized recommendations and experiences. This includes things like:
- Suggesting products or services based on past interactions.
- Sending tailored email content based on what customers have browsed.
- Anticipating needs, like reminding customers of a subscription renewal or suggesting resources to help them get the most out of your product.
5 Tips for Automating the Customer Experience
As you begin to automate your customer experience, you should do it in a way that feels personal, helpful, and true to your brand. The key is to keep the human element at the heart of everything you do.
Here are some practical tips to help you get started and make the most of automation:
1. Keep automation connected to human support.
While AI can handle routine inquiries, there should always be a clear path for customers to escalate issues to a real person when needed. As a customer, this is my biggest frustration with some of the software tools I use.
A chatbot can answer basic questions, but if a customer needs more in-depth support, the chatbot should seamlessly transfer them to a live agent who has all the context from previous interactions.
Pro tip: Try using a tool like HubSpot’s Customer Service Software to see this in action. With Service Hub, you deliver support at scale with AI-powered service, an omni-channel help desk, and 24/7 availability.
2. Make automation feel personal, not robotic.
Nobody likes feeling like they’re talking to a machine. Personalize automated communications by tailoring them to customer data and behavior. Use names, recommend relevant products, and make messages sound natural.
I really loved this email I received from a pizza restaurant in London called Sweet Thursday. It started off with a tailored introduction and a personalized mention about me revisiting the restaurant. It also includes a few select discounts that might interest me. Overall, it feels friendly and helpful — and not like I’m just another email in their CRM system (even if I am!).
3. Let data guide your automation strategy.
Automation thrives on data. By analyzing customer interactions, you can spot patterns, preferences, and pain points to refine your processes.
For example, you could use data to identify which questions come up most frequently in support tickets and build a comprehensive, automated FAQ or chatbot response for those. Or you might track which customers are engaging with your emails and which aren’t, so you can tweak your messaging accordingly.
Pro tip: HubSpot’s CRM software can track customer behavior and segment audiences. This way, you can create more targeted, effective automation strategies that speak to different groups based on their unique needs.
4. Build proactive systems that prevent problems.
The best customer service should aim to prevent issues before they arise. Automation can help you be proactive by sending reminders, tips, and solutions before problems crop up.
For example, if a customer hasn’t logged into your product in a while, you could set up an automated email to check in and offer helpful resources or guides to get them back on track.
I recently signed up to trial Zoho Projects as a project management software for my business. I loved their approach to automating the onboarding process, and it gave me a really positive impression as a customer.
Take a look at the email below — it’s clear they are balancing some level of automation by reaching out and providing resources, but they are also connecting me to a human account manager. I feel like I have a direct line to the product.
Pro tip: Think about where you can automate follow-ups that prevent frustration. If a customer is having a technical issue, an automated troubleshooting guide can provide instant help, reducing their need to reach out.
5. Continue to monitor efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Automation can’t improve customer experience on its own — it needs regular monitoring and refinement.
You should consistently track metrics like response times, ticket resolution rates, and customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) to ensure that your automation efforts are working. At the same time, look at the quality of the customer experience — is your automation actually improving satisfaction, or is it creating frustration?
Pro tip: HubSpot’s Service Hub can be incredibly helpful here, too. For example, you can track your customer health scores, which show areas where you can improve customer retention.
A Better Customer Experience = Happier Customers
CX automation isn’t just for big businesses. Even as a freelancer, I’ve used it to improve efficiency and enhance client relationships. Whether it’s gathering feedback, automating follow-ups, or offering personalized recommendations, automation helps me focus on delivering great work.
With tools like HubSpot, it’s easier than ever to connect everything — from customer data to communications — so I can offer a more personalized experience without getting bogged down in manual tasks.
No matter the size of your business, automating key touchpoints can free up your time, boost your efficiency, and ultimately lead to happier, more loyal customers.
And that’s the kind of growth that really moves your business forward.
Free Customer Journey Template
Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free templates.
- Buyer's Journey Template
- Future State Template
- Day-in-the-Life Template
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
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