Gen AI - 1) How cool are Gen AI based customer service chatbots ?

 

  1. How cool are Gen AI based customer service chatbots ?


With the bloom of Gen AI based automated solutions in almost every sector, the transition from live support to automated chatbots in customer service / technical support areas is phenomenal over the past few years. Players with automated chatbot services like Freshdesk, Zendesk etc have a solid role to play in reshaping the user experience for new age users, who value time and effort more than money. But, are we able to provide the best to them, let’s check it out. 


        Before we deep dive into the subject, here are some interesting findings about chatbots in customer support.


  • The global chatbot market size was estimated at USD 5,132.8 million in 2022 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.3% from 2023 to 2030


  • 59% of customers expect a chatbot to respond within 5 seconds 


  • 62% of consumers would rather talk to a chatbot than wait 15 minutes for a human agent


  • 37% of businesses use chatbots for customer support. 71% of business leaders plan to increase their budget for AI chatbots. 25% of companies will rely on chatbots as their primary customer service tool by 2027



When we see a significant increase in adoption of these kinds of chatbots - irrespective of the purpose they serve, the other side of the coin shows concerns over the user satisfaction, which is vital for the brand’s growth and customer retention.

 

Chatbots or virtual assistants perform a variety of roles like RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation), text summarisation, automation of repetitive tasks, reminders, sending automated responses and so on. Here are some problems addressed by adopting these


  • Reduction in wait time 

  • Increased efficiency in routing chats

  • Minimal manual labour

  • Liaison between self - help options and live support



     On the other hand, there are few drawbacks to be considered if you are opting for replacing live support with bots. Let’s checkout a case study which illustrates the pain points in this transition journey.


User X is irate because he ordered food from a reputed food delivery service giant, where the delivery agent isn’t moving and the order status shows ‘Food being prepared’ for the last 45 minutes. He tried texting and calling the delivery agent as well, with no use even after multiple attempts. Frustrated, he reaches the platform’s customer service, where the user had the below conversation with the bot.


User X - (Selects from the limited menu available)


Where’s my order ?


Bot - Your order is being packed and will be delivered by 9.20pm

(User’s residence is 10kms away and the time is 9.17pm)


Is there anything else I can assist you with?


(Menu - I’m good (or) I need more help)


User X - I need more help


Bot - Choose from ‘Call delivery agent’ (or) ‘No, I'm good’


In the above scenario, the user was not offered an option to even type what he wants, was dictated to do what the bot suggests, despite it not being relevant or useful. Ideally, the order would be cancelled after an hour and the user will get a refund with an apology message.


Is this the level of customer service to be provided for users in this fast paced world ?


How do we address this concern and improve the user experience here ?


What are the improvements to be done in chatbots / virtual assistants to provide premium support experience without compromising customer satisfaction ?


How do we measure a chatbot’s efficiency ?


Stay tuned for the next update !! 

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