Customer Service Week 2023

Monday 2nd October 2023 is the start of Customer Service Week which is organised by The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) to celebrate customer service achievements, as well as highlighting issues.

For Monday 2^nd October the theme is The Future of AI (Artificial Intelligence).

Beware the increase in chatbots

With the share of retail online sales back to pre-pandemic levels, I advise companies to be careful with their automation. In the scramble to automate everything and cut down on financial costs, companies should be aware of the long-term impact on service levels:

Despite what many companies seem to think, chat bots are not popular. Just look at complaints on social media or ask what customers think of chat bots. Customers want to talk to a human being. People dislike the amount of time it takes to go through, only to find that actually the chat bot can’t answer your question. Or you have to type so much detail before you can get to a human and then have to repeat it all.

Chat bots are still limited in what they can do. They may be useful in limited cases, such as asking when an order might be delivered or how to return an item but attempting more complex queries can be excruciatingly frustrating!

What do consumers think of chatbots?

In general, customers do not like chat bots. Jacqueline Buckland, for example, says she can see how as a basic function of directing people, they can be helpful:

“However, the majority of people come to customer service with a complaint/ issue. When you’re in a negative mindset with the brand/company, a chat bot can fuel the anger when you don’t get the answer you’re looking for.

I also think they often come across as laziness after Covid – call centre teams were downsized through the pandemic and even when you call companies three years later, a lot of them still say ‘please bear with us during these unprecedented times’ and direct you to social media or websites, where you’re met with a chat bot.”

George Icke says:

“When something goes wrong you at the very least want to be able to actually speak to someone. I hate it when sites offer live chat which is actually just a bot, and you’ll get an email in 24-48 hours. Might as well have just emailed them in the first place! I had it recently with a brand that has become massive on TikTok!”

Dalia Hawley calls chat bots “a massive turn off”, whilst Emma Corrine Thomson comments “They give you options to choose from and they are never the option you need so you spend ages clicking through different buttons just to be given a vague automated answer”. Michaela Lambert, following a recent negative chat bot experience, remarks “circular argument was the most infuriating exchange ever.”

Smaller companies and chatbots

It seems to be the mainly the bigger companies’ territory. Smaller companies still prefer the personal touch and want to get things right.

Isosconnect serves health and wellness practitioners to securely manage private clients. Its founder, Kim Page, says that she is a big advocate for human customer service anywhere where decisions are made. “Humans are quicker. I built my own company that way. The whole team does customer service. Therapists have enough stress in their day!”

Karen Saull uses a chat bot on her website which answers very basic questions and states “Hello! I’ll respond as soon as I’m able – it’s just me (Karen, Founder, GWD 😊)” demonstrating the desire to provide personal service whilst managing people’s expectations. She hosts her store Goodwashday on a Shopify store which uses a third-party platform to collect customer reviews. They’ve recently trialled AI to reply to customer reviews. Karen says of the experiment:

“It’s rubbish! Either doesn’t make sense or is just not very smart in relation to what the customer has written. I pride myself on my customer service, and I personally respond to every single review (99% are five stars and I even reply to those). I love picking out something the customer has mentioned and commenting on it in my reply. I can’t see myself using AI any time soon!”

AI and the law

Then there’s the legal position. James Bores, Director of Bores and a Chartered Security Professional, says:

“The current UK version of the GDPR provides you with the right, even where other exceptions might apply, to ask for human intervention in automated decision-making. Automated decisions are a form of AI, whether they’re on credit decisions, or customer service chatbots.”

Of course, getting past a bot to challenge a decision can be difficult! James advises:

“Anyone thinking they have been subjected to an automated decision and wanting to object should contact the company’s data protection contact, usually the DPO [Data Protection Officer], using contact details that should be available in their privacy notice.”

Future of chatbots

Companies would do well not to believe that AI will make them become more effective. With the current economic downturn, businesses should be doing everything they can to invest in customer service that meets clients’ requirements, rather than simply focussing on cost-cutting.

Whilst AI certainly has its place in streamlining systems and processes, businesses should be careful of how they use it in customer service. There seems to be a tendency for companies to think their chat bots are great, without getting feedback from customers. Consumers tell us time and time again that they simply want to speak to a human. Ensuring that contact with a human is always available will ensure that a happy customer becomes a returning customer.

Needing help with a company?

If you are struggling to reach customer services, contact the CEO, whose details can be found on ceoemail.com

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