With competition and customer expectations continuing to increase, it’s even more difficult to scale a business without the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). And business leaders are beginning to understand this need for AI to meet customer demands. In fact, of all motivators for investment in AI, improving customer experience ranks at the top of the list.

When it comes to call center interactions, every interaction contributes to the customer experience, which is why they must be seamless and consistent to exceed expectations.

From the very first engagement, AI is there to help. Through predictive engagement, AI understands and recognizes prospects who are likely to buy as well as the ideal moment, method and offer on how to engage them. And when a web visitor needs help, AI can predict when and how to help. Then the technology uses chatbots to offer assistance and answer questions.

Of course, AI doesn’t just improve the customer experience; it offers benefits for employees as well. Customer and employee experiences are inextricably linked. And numerous research studies and publications from Gartner, Gallup, HBR and the Temkin Group note that good employee experiences contribute to good customer experiences. In fact, MIT Research found that the businesses that produce the best (top quartile) employee experiences developed more successful innovations and touted double the Net Promoter Score — a measure of customer satisfaction and advocacy — than those in the bottom quartile.

AI takes this all a step further to unify, connect and personalize both experiences throughout the journey. When a customer needs further assistance, AI can select and connect the most-appropriate employee available to help by analyzing past interactions and activities of all employees.

Customer context and history is maintained for the employee, and AI provides real-time recommendations and next-best actions. And, as business demands fluctuate — whether from a natural disaster, seasonal spike or any other factor — AI helps you schedule the right number and type of employees accordingly. It’s a win for the customer, the employee and the business.

AI also gives companies a better understanding of their resources and abilities — and the tools to use those insights to power future interactions in an ongoing effort of continuous improvement for customers and agents.

But AI is only as good as the benefits it delivers. And when it comes to business objectives, there are three distinct ways AI delivers.

  1. AI helps to grow revenue by driving conversions and retention; it predicts online visitors’ buying intents and proactively connects qualified customers and prospects with the right offer at the precise moment of need.
  2. It lowers costs by handling more tasks and resolving issues faster through the use of automated chatbots and forecasting to meet fluctuating business demands.
  3. The technology boosts performance by maintaining customer context across interactions and offering real-time recommendations.

To give you an idea of the many ways in which AI improves contact center dynamics, we’ve analyzed and broken down a common customer scenario – from beginning to end. Get a behind-the-scenes look at this AI-powered customer scenario and explore what it can do for your contact center.