AI Will Never Replace Efficient, Process-Driven, Customer-Obsessed Support Teams

AI is everywhere. Whether you’re skeptical or you’ve gone all-in, there’s no denying that AI is changing how we deliver (and receive!) customer support.

There are pundits everywhere predicting the end of human support teams. AI support chatbots have been deployed, and AI-driven, interactive phone agents are becoming more and more popular.

What is driving this rapid deployment of AI? Cost.

Support teams are expensive.

A Backlash is Inevitable

Despite their ubiquity and affordability, AI chatbots are not the ideal solution for most customer support processes. They feel impersonal and create the impression that the organization is trying to block its customers from contacting a human.

And, of course, they can hallucinate incorrect answers to support questions.

In the coming years, with AI deployed more broadly as a form of front-line support - similar to the automated phone trees of recent decades - customers will grow more and more frustrated. And as they grow frustrated, they will seek to do business with organizations that provide high-quality, human support.

Use Human Support as a Competitive Advantage

Not all organizations are capable of providing high-quality, human support in a cost-effective way. Those that do will find themselves with a competitive advantage in the market.

Process-oriented organizations must double down on efficiency, quality, and process so they are prepared for opportunities to exploit their competitors’ weak support offerings.

Selling your product or service, at scale, with a reputation for incredible customer support will become a moat that competitors will find difficult to cross.

Deliver Personalized Support Profitably

With the right process, efficient support organizations can take their support offering a step further and turn their customer support department into a profit center. This can be done by segregating support into higher-tier offerings or selling access to support agreements as an addon.

The catch: this is impossible without the right internal processes. Customers must have a centralized method of accessing the support team and escalating tickets. The entire support process must be included in the buying journey, ensuring that access can be enabled or disabled just like any other feature.

Use AI as Search with Killer Documentation

Use of AI in customer support shouldn’t be discounted entirely. Many customers prefer not to interact with your human support team and instead prefer high-quality documentation.

Embrace AI as a way to encourage customers to explore your help center interactively. As part of a larger strategy focused on efficient, high-quality support, this only works if your documentation is well written and thorough.

Start with an Efficient Support Process

In the end, even with the rise of AI, all roads lead back to an efficient support process. There are no shortcuts to developing and refining your support processes for efficiency, quality, and effectiveness.

The right tools can help. While tools can’t replace processes, they can help enforce them. We’re building a support call scheduler specifically for efficient support teams. We can help you deliver human support competitively, even profitably, because we’re not forcing a support process into a tool built for sales teams.