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As technology advances, customers also expect faster and more effective support. However, consumers do not simply crave swift response time nowadays. They also seek support with a personal touch.
Thus, companies leveraging business process outsourcing (BPO) to deliver seamless and personalized experiences achieve a competitive edge. But how do third-party call centers, known for handling large customer bases, infuse personalization and speed into interactions?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is instrumental in enabling service providers to bridge the gap between efficiency and personalization. Through this article, you’ll learn how customer service facilitated by BPO call centers can gain a boost through AI.
How personalized customer service becomes possible in BPO through AI
Technological and economic shifts modify customers’ expectations, priorities, and preferences when purchasing and seeking support. Besides faster service, they want consistency, efficiency, and a human touch to keep loyal to a brand.
Consumers demand that their brand experiences align with their changing needs and inclinations. At the same time, they expect that companies safely use their data to customize and enhance the customer journey.
Businesses rely on third-party call centers to meet such demands. These service providers combine AI and human expertise to improve the customer experience. The following sections discuss how customer service via BPO companies becomes more personalized with the help of AI.
Understand customer sentiments
AI is what BPO call centers use to understand evolving consumer sentiments and market trends. Machine learning (ML) algorithms enable AI to continuously analyze customer behavior and transaction history.
The results inform providers about the strengths and weaknesses of their existing customer service strategies. They then utilize such insights to tweak their approaches and implement targeted agent training to personalize future interactions.
Moreover, BPO companies use these AI-powered techniques to understand customers’ needs and demands deeply:
- Leverage natural language processing (NLP) to record calls and messages. This tech helps identify keywords and voice tones to know the sentiment behind an inquiry. AI then categorizes each concern and routes it to the right agent or self-service option.
- Integrate AI with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Third-party customer service teams apply this approach to access past transactions, understand the customer’s background, and personalize the engagement.
- Forecast consumer needs via AI-powered customer journey mapping. Analyzing historical customer data allows BPO companies to resolve problems proactively before they arise. This targeted approach helps maintain consistent service quality and reduces downtime.
Automate personalized responses to basic inquiries
According to a 2022 Emplifi market study, consumers identified slow response time as the top reason for a negative experience. They reported that 24/7 customer support matters next. The research also showed that consumers reward brands that deliver a more holistic, personalized service.
BPO companies use AI tools to help provide such needs. These solutions automate responses to basic inquiries through customers’ preferred communication channels.
Here’s how service providers optimize AI for automated and personalized customer service:
- Integrate AI into multiple touchpoints. This tech boosts the productivity of human call center agents, allowing them to prioritize more complex issues. It makes interactions more personal, from search functions to voice assistants.
- Deploy AI-powered chatbots on social media platforms and websites. BPO companies train these bots on product details, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and troubleshooting steps. These tools can instantly access data during a customer interaction.
- Enable automated call routing through interactive voice response (IVR). Third-party call centers program these AI-driven platforms to automatically understand and forward concerns to the appropriate teams, reducing wait times.
- Build and implement intelligent knowledge base search functionalities. These features are accessible via self-service portals, chatbots, and IVR systems. They empower customers to find solutions to their urgent and common concerns independently.
Boost and customize order management
Providers harness AI to boost and customize order processing and management. Automated data entry and product purchasing offer a smoother and more efficient experience for all parties involved.
These practices show how this critical customer service function provided by BPO call centers is transformed through AI:
- Analyze historical sales data, buying patterns, and market trends. AI-based forecasting helps anticipate order volume and optimize inventory levels.
- Speed up the tracking of customer location, product availability, and shipping. AI assists in determining the nearest and most efficient order fulfillment center, ensuring rapid delivery times and reduced shipment costs.
- Provide real-time updates on an order’s location and estimated delivery. AI powers web-based or mobile logistics trackers with personalized dashboards that detail relevant customer and order information.
- Use predictive analytics to monitor delays in order processing and delivery. This tool then proactively sends personalized notifications to customers through emails or chats, keeping them informed about order conditions and changes.
Enable people-centric outbound customer service
Besides advancing inbound customer service, AI in call centers enhances a client’s outbound activities. The emerging tech simplifies the analysis of customer demographics and past interactions, guiding providers in scoring and prioritizing qualified leads for outgoing calls.
A unified customer service platform helps agents in BPO call centers scan transaction history and recommends personalized scripts through an AI feature. These prompts guide them in offering existing and new products and services during voice or non-voice outreach.
For instance, an agent inquiring about an upcoming internet service renewal suggests an upgrade based on the customer’s past usage patterns. Suppose the current plan offers 600 Mbps, but the AI tool detects a slow connection. In that case, it will automatically provide the agent with a script for a personalized message via call or email, including the following details:
- Addressing the customer by name
- Referencing the customer’s current plan
- Giving an overview of the plan’s limitations
- Outlining possible upgrade options
Generative AI in customer service outsourcing
Although traditional AI boosts operational efficiency, generative AI delivers more people-focused services. This disruptive technology has been helping businesses perform processes faster and more effectively since it boomed in 2023.
As per McKinsey & Company’s latest study, generative AI’s impact on productivity could bring an annual value of up to $4.4 trillion to the global economy. About 75% of that value falls across customer service, marketing, sales, software engineering, research, and development.
The BPO industry is among the primary sectors that explore and adopt generative AI to enhance consumer support. As shown in the following ways, customer service providers in the BPO industry can ensure increased customer satisfaction and retention through this type of AI.
- Equip chatbots and voice assistants with generative AI to understand inquiries and generate human-like responses.
- Analyze incoming emails and automate personalized replies to customer concerns concurrently.
- Automatically record and summarize topics tackled during an interaction to minimize the post-contact work period.
- Enable prompt and appropriate responses to customer feedback on apps and websites to help ensure a positive brand image.
- Deploy generative AI-powered language translation and interpretation systems for multilingual customer support.
Implementing generative AI has helped project management software provider ClickUp boost productivity and customer service efficiency. Its built-in AI chatbots deliver instant answers to FAQs and route complicated concerns to suitable human agents.
The same applies to Wealthsimple, a Canadian-based online investment management service provider. Besides responding to FAQs, its generative AI-powered chatbots let consumers quickly access their financial data and provide relevant guidance on money management without a live agent or adviser.
The role of human agents in an AI-enhanced BPO call center
Human customer service agents are still relevant in a BPO call center despite accelerated support through AI. The modernized tool only augments agents, making them more strategic and efficient. It frees them from repetitive functions and empowers them to prioritize these tasks:
- Address unforeseen and complex challenges.
- De-escalate interactions with frustrated customers and build rapport.
- Provide in-depth product and service knowledge.
- Offer hands-on, remote guidance during troubleshooting.
- Monitor and improve AI-generated customer service responses and strategies.
- Incorporate emotional intelligence during customer interactions.
However, Zendesk said in its CX Trends 2024 report that many agents remain unsure when using new AI tools. They worry about what AI will entail for their job security. Besides, they think the training necessary to use the emerging tech needs to be improved.
Hence, BPO call centers take critical steps to ensure their agents are well-equipped to use AI. They train employees through the following methods to properly and ethically leverage the modern tool:
- Educate agents on the fundamentals of AI, so they know when to intervene during regular operations.
- Familiarize workers with how AI processes customer data and generates personalized recommendations so that they can explain to consumers the reasoning behind it if needed.
- Simulate real-life use cases for specific AI solutions (e.g., chatbots and IVR systems) to let agents practice interpreting automated recommendations whenever necessary.
- Provide online training modules detailing AI applications in customer service. These modules include interactive tutorials and quizzes to reinforce learning.
- Facilitate coaching sessions to guide agents in using AI effectively during live calls and receive real-time feedback to address any challenges encountered.
- Set up internal knowledge-sharing platforms that allow employees to tackle experiences with AI, exchange insights into best practices, and discuss lessons learned.
The bottom line
Customer service helps attract and retain loyal customers, especially when it is fast and personalized. BPO call centers offer cost-effective support to achieve such goals. In addition to human expertise, they deploy AI to deliver a people-centric customer experience.
AI solutions have been helping third-party service providers deeply understand customer sentiments and quickly provide customized responses. Generative AI has explicitly made it possible to further personalize engagement without compromising speed and efficiency.
However, concerns about whether AI will replace human agents remain prevalent. Customer service companies in the BPO sector address these concerns through the aforementioned ways of using AI.
Let’s connect to learn more about how a BPO organization implements such measures and enhances your overall consumer-facing function.
