When clients contact financial services, they expect to feel reassured that their livelihood is being handled well. When it comes to money, there is no room for error or inconsistent service – every caller should know that their requests are priority number one.
So you can imagine what happens when a customer contacts their local bank or insurance operator and goes through several agents, each of whom gives the impression that nobody knows how to solve the query, apart from unnecessary waiting times.
This is where artificial intelligence (AI) has been instrumental in championing customer engagement in financial services. It has enabled agents to perform more qualitative tasks, removing the corrective aspects of their roles, allowing them to fully focus on providing the highest quality customer service.
Fears of AI taking agent jobs have subsided now that the true value of this technology has been recognized. However, to truly capitalize on the AI opportunity, time and consideration is needed to ensure it is properly implemented within the communications mix, which takes time and careful consideration.
a changing landscape
The pandemic and its aftermath triggered major changes in the business and consumer landscapes. Financial services, along with countless other industries, have had to change their approach to accommodate changing consumer habits and expectations.
At the top of the list is the increased use of cross-channel communications. Gone are the days when the phone was the primary method of contact. Now, various forms of messaging have taken hold and financial service providers need to be able to seamlessly exchange them as needed. Coupled with having to deliver an uncompromising customer experience to every caller, these new logistical challenges make it considerably more difficult for agents to do their jobs.
AI’s ability to give customers the right information they need in real time with self-service options means removing the need for a call to other departments and instead making the role of your customer experience team much more important. less stressful and less time consuming. Give agents more information to handle complex issues that self-service can’t solve.
The vast majority of contact center agents in the Cirrus survey said they felt AI supports them in their roles and were positive about the role AI will play in the future of financial services.
The business case for AI
What we considered AI a decade ago is now ancient history compared to its current capabilities. This evolution means that AI technology can now analyze calls and decipher customer impact, including problem resolution, long-term loyalty and ways to improve. Predictive AI elements also allow agents to assess customer behavior over the phone and provide recommendations to agents on how best to address the issue.
One of the biggest challenges for workers in the financial services industry is the vast amount of data involved in daily operations, most of which is highly sensitive. All of this data needs to be stored somewhere and accessed when needed. Any time workers handle data manually, there is a natural risk of human error, which can cause total chaos later on. Not to mention the need for agents to access this data in real time to help deal with customer inquiries as quickly and efficiently as possible.
AI works like a human brain, automatically organizing, categorizing and storing data in large amounts. Giving agents the tools to manage and access data, while freeing them up to better focus on delivering the highest quality customer service, means stronger relationships with customers and the entire business. You benefit from a more efficient process.
When given the chance, agents and AI can work in symbiosis, and everyone involved benefits.
The AI roadmap for contact centers
Financial services will always be in high demand and contact center agents are often at the forefront of initial customer engagement. AI can drive the industry toward greater efficiency, while allowing agents to focus on more complex or challenging customer interactions.
AI should never be seen as a replacement for employees. Instead, it is a tool to advocate for these hardworking people, freeing them from repetitive manual tasks that consume valuable time that could be better spent on value-added activities. Human instinct is at the heart of genuine engagement: the ability to read the situation and respond accordingly is unique to human agents and will be incredibly difficult for machines to replicate.
When implemented effectively, AI can give financial services companies a competitive advantage that contributes to their ability to provide the best possible service to their customers in the long run. With AI driving the engines and agents at the helm, the list of benefits will be endless.
About the Author: jason rose He is CEO and Founder of cirrus response, that provides benefits to businesses through its cloud-based contact center as a service (CCaaS) platform. He has been CEO of Cirrus for more than a decade and has nearly 20 years of experience in the customer service solutions industry.