2 days ago
How AI Agents Can Help Improve Employee Happiness
Rohan Joshi is the CEO and co-founder of Wolken Software , a leading IT service management and customer service desk software provider. getty
When AI was first introduced into the customer service process of global B2B organizations, there was understandable skepticism about how employees would react. Would they worry the tech would replace their jobs? Would fear prevent adoption and limit the potential business benefits?
Over the last five years, AI-powered customer service has seen significant growth. In 2021, AI chatbots alone saw a 45% year-over-year increase in use. By 2023, just over two-thirds of consumers were happy with their last chatbot interaction. And customer service employees? It turns out they are satisfied with AI as well. Instead of worry or fear, they have embraced a technology that has increased their job satisfaction and happiness.
Since happier employees are more productive employees, how can B2B business leaders harness the power of AI for their customer service teams?
AI is extremely powerful, but it is not a magic bullet. Introducing it blindly without a clear strategy and measurable goals in place is a recipe for disaster in terms of both customer satisfaction and customer service employee morale.
What can AI do for customer service processes? For B2B organizations, it can address lower-level issues and menial tasks so that human employees can focus on higher value escalations. As a result, smaller problems can be resolved faster to the benefit and satisfaction of both customers and employees.
It's useful to view AI as an assistant to customer service agents. The tech can handle smaller issues without the agent needing to get involved. For more complex issues, AI can help human agents resolve issues faster by pulling relevant information in near real time.
For customer service employees, AI can enable increased productivity and reduce burnout from repetitive, low-level tasks. Both of these can help lead to happier, more engaged employees and less turnover, which is good for the overall health of the team.
With an understanding of what AI can do for B2B customer service teams, the next step is to understand the ways employees might be impacted and how they may need education to use new tools effectively. The use of AI may change former customer service processes, and this change may necessitate some general upskilling.
Take data security as an example. Customer service employees should understand which data AI can access and how AI can access it securely and appropriately. Data may be input into a knowledge base for one purpose and AI will unintentionally use it for another purpose. Making sure your customer success teams can understand AI is crucial for them to be able to use it effectively. Step 3: Set expectations at the beginning.
As with any major technology implementation, it's important for business leaders to be transparent with employees about what they can expect from the outset. For B2B organizations introducing AI into their customer service stack, this means communicating with the relevant team members early and often about what is changing, as well as when and how it will impact them.
Reassure employees that AI is not replacing them. Be clear about the uses of AI in the customer service process and explain the benefits employees can expect from AI support in their day-to-day work. Step 4: Measure and adjust.
As with any tech initiative, it's important to measure its impact at regular intervals. If B2B organizations want to ensure AI is having a positive impact on their customer service teams, one of the easiest ways to do this is simply to ask employees. Working with (instead of dictating to) employees about how AI can make their day-to-day jobs easier and more fulfilling is hugely impactful. Surveying employees on the benefits of AI implementation is a relatively low-lift way to get real-time feedback.
Another consideration for AI may be how it can help improve the work-life balance for customer service agents. If a server going down over the weekend or during a holiday can be identified and resolved by AI rather than requiring human intervention, employees are less likely to get burnt out by the feeling that they're "always on."
Again, asking employees how AI can improve customer service processes and then listening to their feedback can be impactful in increasing happiness and reducing turnover. Step 5: Be flexible and prepared to iterate.
When it comes to AI, B2B business leaders can be sure of one thing: the technology will continue to evolve and disrupt business at a breakneck pace. Keep the lines of communication between IT and customer service open so that cross-organizational teams can work together to make sure that the technology is being implemented in ways that keep both end users and customer service agents happy and satisfied.
Many B2B companies have seen AI implementations lead to improved customer service scores. While there is still a healthy amount of skepticism about AI among customer service agents, these results can help increase satisfaction at work while fueling new career growth paths through reskilling and upskilling initiatives within their company.
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