Whether through chatbots, generative content creation, or using data to fuel a more personalized experience, AI is changing customer service.
Some businesses have used AI/automation tools in support for years, while others have adopted them in response to the recent AI boom.
Whether you’re new to AI or looking to update your current strategies, we’ve got you covered with a look at the data from HubSpot’s State of Service 2024 report.
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Read on to learn more about the current state of AI in customer service, how customer service teams are using it, and what comes next for intelligent tools.
Table of Contents
- How Do Customer Service Professionals Feel About AI?
- How Is AI Used in Customer Service?
- Benefits of AI in Customer Service
- Concerns and Challenges with AI in Customer Service
- The Future of AI in CS
- What’s Next for Customer Service Reps
How Do Customer Service Professionals Feel About AI?
Leveraging AI helps service professionals be more productive, offer round-the-clock support, and deepen relationships with customers.
Kieran Flanagan, HubSpot’s SVP of Marketing, said on a Marketing Against The Grain podcast episode that customer support is an obvious place where AI offers a better experience because it can leverage a significant amount of data and company information to help customers and bring answers to their questions.
Flanagan says, “In an AI world, support is live 24/7. And it probably has, over time, a better experience because an AI bot can have all of the information at once, where it’s really hard for an individual support agent to be able to have all of that information.”
With that being said, how do customer service professionals feel about AI?
The State of Customer Service Report
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- Exclusive insights from worldwide CRM leaders
- Analysis of modern customer behaviors
- Closer look at the AI opportunity in CRM
- Strategies for staying agile in 2024 and beyond
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Per our survey, 84% of respondents say AI/automation tools will be instrumental in helping them meet customer service expectations. In addition, 86% say AI will transform the experience customers get with their company, and 75% also agree that AI/automation tools will help improve customer service response time.
When asked about their views on how people should use AI/automation in their roles, 45% of customer service reps said AI is useful in helping human staff resolve customer service issues, while 54% said the same for more complex issues and tickets.
How Is AI Used in Customer Service?
The most common AI/automation tools used to provide customer service are:
- AI chatbots that respond to customer service requests.
- Generative AI tools that help write responses to customer service requests, like asking ChatGPT to write an email.
- Tools that route service requests to the right agent.
Of the most popular use cases, AI chatbots that respond to customer service requests are the most effective, followed by tools that route requests to the right agent, then generative AI tools that help write responses to service requests.
Although service reps have their preferred tools, the most effective tools overall are chatbots, tools that collect and analyze feedback, then tools that assist with routing to the right representative.
Service people who don’t currently use AI are most interested in tools that route service requests to the correct representative and help customers find answers to their questions independently.
Chatbots and Generative AI in Customer Service
As mentioned above, chatbots are widely used in customer service, and 90% of companies say chatbots are effective at handling customer service requests. Chatbots will see the most investment of any channel in 2024.
When it comes to generative AI, meanwhile, 88% of customer service specialists say using gen AI to write responses to customer service requests was somewhat or very effective.
Benefits of AI in Customer Service
The main benefits of using AI tools for customer service are making service available 24/7, saving time, and making the most of customer data.
1. 24/7 Customer Service
In 2022, service leaders and agent-level reps reported that their biggest challenge was having enough time in the day. This data shows that AI is a beneficial solution to that need.
When AI tools can make service available 24/7, people have the time to focus on and prioritize tasks requiring a human touch. For example, a customer can chat with a bot while a rep can handle a phone call with a frustrated customer.
Chatbots are the most popular way to offer round-the-clock support, with 47% of companies now using AI chatbots to handle customer service requests. Customers can get their questions answered at all times, and the bot can direct them to a knowledge base of helpful resources for more help or schedule a call with a live rep when they come online.
2. Saving time.
AI tools make it possible for CS reps to save time when responding to customer concerns, and make it easier for customers to get help when they need it.
Consider that 74% of customer service staff say that switching between multiple tools and applications makes resolving a ticket take longer. AI tools automate this process, allowing staff to focus on what matters: helping customers.
Time is also a consideration for customers, with businesses saying that 82% of consumers expect issues to be resolved immediately. By implementing AI, 92% of companies say they improved their response, and 83% said it was easier to respond to customer requests.
3. Making the most of customer data.
Collecting, curating, and analyzing customer data helps companies improve personalization and increase retention rates.
The challenge? Just 38% of companies say that the tools they use are very interconnected, and only 35% of service leaders say that their customer data is fully integrated with CS toolsets. As a result, improving alignment between customer success teams and other departments to create a single source of truth is a top priority for companies in 2024.
AI can help bridge this gap. Instead of relying on staff to connect the dots across disparate customer data sources, AI tools can quickly search multiple databases to find trends, patterns, and potential opportunities for improvement. 86% of leaders say that using AI has improved their ability to scale AI operations as their business grows.
Concerns and Challenges with AI in Customer Service
Despite the rapid evolution of AI and its applications in customer service, concerns remain.
First is personalization. While AI tools can capture customer data from multiple sources, worries persist that AI-created messages will either make no difference or have the opposite intended effect: 26% of businesses say AI won’t impact personalization, and 13% say it will worsen personalization.
There are also concerns about AI replacing human staff, with 72% of leaders saying that AI tools can provide better customer service than humans.
A deeper look at the data, however, reveals that companies aren’t planning to replace human staff; instead, AI will work alongside human CS reps. Consider complex service resolutions. While 54% of respondents said these tasks should be handled by humans with assistance, just 19% said they preferred an AI-only model.
The Future of AI in CS
So what’s next for AI? Like cloud computing and mobile device adoption before it, AI continues to evolve as adoption increases.
A majority believe that people will soon use some form of AI or automation to assist them in their role, whether it’s software with AI/automation built-in,
generative AI, or using chatbots to answer questions.
And by 2025, 77% of leaders say that AI will be able to resolve the majority of tickets without a customer service representative.
And, for what it’s worth, only 34% think that AI will completely replace humans in the workforce (most business leaders don’t think this will happen).
What’s Next for Customer Service Reps
In summary, customer service reps are adopting AI but trying not to become overly reliant on it. It’s used most often to provide consumers with 24/7 support through chatbots, but people are also remaining vigilant over potential errors in generative AI and monitoring how it’ll impact the workforce.
That’s the state of AI in customer service. Curious to learn more about AI and its implications across different areas of business? Check out this learning guide for all things AI and topics like AI ethics, cool jobs that could be created around AI, and expert insight from business leaders.
The State of Customer Service Report
Unlock essential strategies for exceeding customer expectations and driving business growth in a competitive market.
- Exclusive insights from worldwide CRM leaders
- Analysis of modern customer behaviors
- Closer look at the AI opportunity in CRM
- Strategies for staying agile in 2024 and beyond
Download Free
All fields are required.
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