{"id":6413,"date":"2017-11-08T17:31:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T17:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=6413"},"modified":"2017-11-08T17:31:11","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T17:31:11","slug":"successful-integration-of-ai-into-customer-experience-requires-a-human-touch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/successful-integration-of-ai-into-customer-experience-requires-a-human-touch\/","title":{"rendered":"SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION OF AI INTO CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE REQUIRES A HUMAN TOUCH"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

Business AI isn\u2019t just coming, it\u2019s here. Einstein AI is now\u00a0integrated into Salesforce\u2019s cloud-based CRM<\/a>, IBM\u2019s Watson has gone commercial, and we\u2019re only scratching the surface of how artificial intelligence will impact the business world. Like any other advance, it will be a mixed bag. Our current generation of AI is already helping businesses solve problems, but like any new solution, AI generates as many questions as it does answers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The big one: How do we leverage this powerful technology to inspire, create, and improve the customer experience, without sucking the humanity straight out of the process?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not an easy question to answer. When a commercial AI solution proves its value, the natural response might be to give it more responsibilities. The current level of AI is not like popular portrayal you see in movies, where an all-knowing machine simply has the answer to every question. These are purpose-built systems, designed to perform their purpose very efficiently.<\/p>\n

Efficiency Is Great, but Not at the Cost of Humanity<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you look at Einstein AI from Salesforce, it\u2019s easy to see how two different businesses might use AI in very different ways. Among other things, the upcoming Einstein Case Management system automates data collection, automatically directs customer service inquiries to the correct reps, and moves high-priority cases to the top of the stack.<\/p>\n

All very useful, but the heavy lifting \u2013 the stuff that ultimately reflects on the perception of your brand \u2013 is still handled by humans. As it should be! If a brand is looking for a magic trick to turn poor customer service into something better, AI isn\u2019t swooping in to save the day just yet. It helps with the logistics, but you still need to have the right people in place to make the most of the technology.<\/p>\n

A customer service inquiry gets to the right desk, but that only matters if the person behind the desk knows what they\u2019re doing. If the person behind the desk is rude, unhelpful, or poorly informed, the customer will rightly be just as frustrated as ever. Maybe even more so, if you\u2019ve been bombarding that customer with marketing about your new, AI-based \u201camazing\u201d customer service.\u00a0I just had an experience involving poorly informed customer service agents with 1800Flowers\u2026 nothing more frustrating than them reaching out to you because of a complaint you lodged, and the agent not knowing why she called.<\/p>\n

A Means to an End<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smart businesses with very good customer service see AI as an\u00a0enhancement<\/em>\u00a0rather than a\u00a0replacement.<\/em>\u00a0A system like Einstein AI saves time, and with the right culture in place employees will use that time to better serve customers. The same goes for the information side of marketing and customer service. If an employee has to spend less time searching for information on customers, they can spend more time finding the best ways to put what they\u2019ve learned to work.<\/p>\n

But the people\u00a0must<\/em>\u00a0be an integral part of the process, and they must be in control of the process. There\u2019s no way around it, nor should there be. If you don\u2019t put the right people in place, develop the skills they need to succeed, and\u00a0empower<\/em>\u00a0them to put those skills to work, then AI will just be one more expensive cure-all that doesn\u2019t live up to the hype.<\/p>\n

AI has an incredible potential value for integration into the overall customer experience. The key will be using the tech to make it a more human experience, rather than the other way around. Put humans first, and use AI to enhance the customer experience rather than replacing the human element.<\/p>\n

Also keep this in mind\u2026 if you think you are not using AI in your marketing, think again. If you are buying adds on Facebook or Google, guess what\u2026 you are using AI. So consider how indexed content affects everything on Facebook and Google.<\/p>\n

Customer Experience and Marketing will truly WIN when Humans control the Machines instead of the Machines controlling the Humans.<\/em><\/p>\n

#RetailRelevancy<\/a>\u2026\u00a0#FollowThePath<\/a><\/p>\n

Previously posted at\u00a0TedRubin.co<\/a>m<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business AI isn\u2019t just coming, it\u2019s here. Einstein AI is now\u00a0integrated into Salesforce\u2019s cloud-based CRM, IBM\u2019s Watson has gone commercial, and we\u2019re only scratching the surface of how artificial intelligence will impact the business world. Like any other advance, it will be a mixed bag. Our current generation of AI is already helping businesses solve … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tedrubin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6414,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6413\/revisions\/6414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}