Conversational Self-Service: Why AI Is the Key to Smart Ad-Hoc Self-Service

“Online customer portals have failed,” says AI evangelist and Frontnow expert Andreas Klug. “Because they are rarely thought of from the customer’s perspective.” He says: AI offers companies the opportunity to lead the service industry faster (and more effectively) into an era of ad-hoc self-service.

“There is no insurer who is satisfied with the performance of the customer portal/app.” Justus Lücke, CEO of Versicherungsforen Leipzig (06/2023)

The crises of recent years have created many areas of tension in companies. The flood of customer contacts can hardly be managed. The usage figures for apps and customer portals are declining. Fluctuation in the contact center is growing - service employees often change employers every 12 to 18 months. We are facing a dangerous negative spiral of overload due to a lack of skilled workers and a shortage of skilled workers due to overload.

Challenges in Customer Service: Crises and Customer Expectations

I talk to many decision-makers who want to counter this trend with a customer portal. Just recently, a client announced that in 3 years “70% of customer service requests will be processed via the online customer portal”. It will not work. Because customer portals and apps suffer from significant acceptance problems that are often simply ignored:

• In order to use customer portals, users have to invest time. They have to enter data, download an app, look up customer numbers without being given the advantage of registering.
• Customer portals are rarely thought of from the customer's perspective, but rather always follow the company's process philosophy in design and structure (form and application thinking instead of dialogue and customer thinking)
• Even in “portal-related industries” such as telecommunications and energy, customer portals rarely achieve an adoption rate of more than 25% (i.e. one in four customers provides their services self-service).

Through automation and conversational self-service, companies and authorities can increase the efficiency of their services and reduce costs. Conversational self services are – compared to customer portals – the better alternative because they are not tied to a medium, app or device. “Conversations” are highly personalized, individualized ad hoc services that offer the customer an immediate solution to their problem the moment they make contact.

The 3 "E's" in Contemporary Digital Customer Service

I call these the 3 E's for customer-centric service processes: Easy. Ephemeral. And empathetic. And I believe it will be the next “big thing” in strategic customer management.

So let's assume a customer wants to manage his monthly payments with his energy supplier. He sends an email with his concern or speaks to the voice bot on the hotline. Within 30 seconds, he will receive an individual link to his request on his smartphone or email account. Intelligent forms specifically ask for the information still required (e.g. “From what date should the new discount apply?”) without the customer having to authenticate themselves again or navigate through a menu.

I call this the “customer-centric application process.” Because the intelligent dialogue only asks for those parameters that the AI needs to solve the query. Intent recognition of AI is crucial for companies to achieve a high level of adaptation to their self-service.

When Intent Is Recognized, the Customer Journey Can Begin

Artificial intelligence can not only recognize the customer's intentions and concerns in incoming emails and calls but also extract relevant transaction information such as customer numbers or personal data. This makes an address change or contract adjustment “child’s play” because companies react immediately and personally thanks to AI support. The first insurance companies and financial service providers (including LBS) are already using these “conversations” to exploit the potential of customer-centric service routes. A rethink. Rarely before have application routes been implemented here from the customer's perspective. With the 3 E's…

The Holy Grail of Modern Customer Dialogue

Through automation and conversational self-service, companies can increase the efficiency of their services and reduce costs. Why? Because they can technologize the cognitive value contributions of their contact center employees through the use of AI.

However, there will always be customers who prefer contact with people in certain situations. In many cases, this depends on the product. The insurance market is a good example. Simple property insurance lends itself well to full automation. The focus here is on costs. But when it comes to topics like wealth or health, consumers often want to speak directly to a human being. Why? Because people’s emotional-social value contributions are needed to create trust. I describe the ability of companies to distinguish cognitive, routine facts from emotional, emphatic individual cases at the moment of establishing contact with a dialog as the holy grail of modern service management.

Future Prospects and Automation Advantages

I think it is conceivable that additional payments or flat rates will be charged for personal care in the future. This already exists in a similar form with IT services: Anyone who needs a personal contact must conclude an extended service contract.

These seemingly small automation processes lead to enormous efficiency gains - on both sides! Thanks to low code, the web forms and processes on the company side are easy and intuitive to set up. And customers are also happy about the time they have saved and less paperwork.

Conversational self-services are...

… customer-centered “guided dialogues”,

… personalized and individual,

… triggered from every touchpoint,

… for the media-free handling of (application) processes,

… and virtual ad hoc collaboration.

Because you don't have to invest in an analog waiting time (#Immediateness), but rather you receive an immediate, personalized service experience #Personal and easy processing #Convenience.

What does AI have to do with it? Only with intent recognition can machines trigger service experiences for customers within seconds. Given the service tsunami, employees currently need (at best) hours to do this.