How can you make your customer service more efficient with AI? Examples, tips and tools
Artificial intelligence both fascinates and frightens. We're fascinated by its prodigious achievements, but fearful when it comes to integrating it into our business. This fear is legitimate and even normal. You wouldn't let just anyone take on a role in your company, especially when it comes to looking after your customers. Nevertheless, it's possible to welcome this revolution with equanimity. Indeed, if AI is well integrated, you'll benefit from a far more responsive and agile customer service .
Just like the SaaS software we analyze and compare for you, artificial intelligence applications are particularly varied. Making the right choice is therefore important to ensure that the evolution is transformative and brings real added value to your productivity and brand image. Each example of the use of artificial intelligence in business that we present will help you to better visualize the different possibilities.
What is AI in customer service?
AI in customer service is not a robot that takes your place. Far from it! In fact, AI in customer service is a set of services that ensures the partial or total automation of certain tasks assigned to it.
Do you often feel overwhelmed when it comes to responding to customer requests, questions and complaints? Is your team struggling to cope with the flow of requests from different channels (website, social networks, messaging...)? It's probably time to take advantage of the many benefits offered by AI. But before integrating the tools, it's essential to take the time needed to understand them.
A study conducted by Zendesk on customer experience in 2024 found that 65% of CX managers consider AI to improve the customer experience.
✅ AI enhances the quality of the relationship between your company and your customers. Paradoxically, despite its artificial nature, it brings a more human side to your interactions. This comes from the fact that over the course of exchanges, it learns and enriches itself.
AI in customer service does not replace agents, whose empathy is a fundamental pillar. Artificial intelligence brings greater precision to exchanges and the processing of requests. This translates not only into better performance, but also into an optimized workload for your employees.
How does AI differ from traditional automation tools?
Until the advent of artificial intelligence, the automatic responses and processes offered by companies were based on traditional programming. More concretely, traditional automation works on the basis of predefined instructions. Each response thus responds to precise actions. This type of program solves the problem of repetitive, time-consuming tasks, particularly in customer service.
Conventional automation quickly reaches its limits, particularly when the interaction becomes more complex. We remember those chatbots and automatic responses that displayed unsuitable answers in a loop:
- " We couldn't identify your request ",
- " Can you rephrase? "etc.
These requests were then systematically redirected to the agents, who could quickly find themselves overwhelmed.
With the arrival of AI, the processing of requests and queries has changed radically. Instead of rigid scripts, you now benefit from tools capable of reasoning and taking into account a large number of parameters to arrive at personalized responses or treatments. AI can make autonomous decisions.
The other major advantage of artificial intelligence is its ability to process different types of data (text, images, audio, etc.) in a coordinated way. It can also link different tools, such as messaging, CRM and live messaging.
AI's main asset is its ability to adapt. Thanks to machine learning and deep learning, it can adapt to context, analyzing and enriching a database as it goes along. A question or query will thus give rise to a personalized response, rather than a scripted one as with conventional automation. The quality of AI's work is very close to that of a human.
How can AI improve customer service? 6 benefits
Reduced response times
This is one of the first benefits of AI customer service. Your leads and customers won't have to wait long for information to be processed. What's more, the quality of responses is generally satisfactory, provided you choose the right AI for your company's specific needs.
In addition to handling time-consuming tasks, AI can also take direct charge of a request and process it immediately. For example, if a customer requests that an invoice or quotation be returned in a new format, the digital assistant will do so without delay.
Today's tools also have the ability to interpret emotions through the tone of a text or audio call. The customer service AI can therefore quickly decide to adopt a particular tone to soothe, arouse curiosity, adopt a neutral tone, exchange in a cheerful way...
Optimized availability
Artificial intelligence is available 24/7. You can therefore count on this high-performance assistant to respond to your customers' requests at any time. Whether for :
- prospecting,
- purchasing assistance
- after-sales service,
- customer loyalty.
What's more, AI can handle several requests simultaneously. During busy periods such as the sales season for retailers, or the end of the year for accountants, for example, this availability is particularly appreciated when it comes to coping with work overload.
For companies with an international presence, AI makes it possible to ignore time zones.
Improved customer satisfaction
AI improves customer satisfaction in several ways. Firstly, thanks to its availability and responsiveness, it spares customers long, irritating waits. AI considerably reduces, if not eliminates, the often frustrating long waits behind the keyboard waiting for a letter or on the phone trying to reach an advisor.
AI is capable of providing personalized answers down to the smallest detail. Depending on the role you assign it, it will be able to handle complex requests that precisely meet customers' needs.
It's also worth noting that AI can help customer service reduce its error rate. From drafting an e-mail to tracking order numbers and providing technical support, AI can act as a canvas or bulwark for minimally error-prone interactions. Keep in mind that these errors degrade the customer experience and ultimately undermine customer satisfaction.
Optimizing staff costs
As mentioned above, customer service AI will never replace agents, who are essential to guaranteeing a genuine, high-quality relationship between your company and your customers. On the other hand, this powerful virtual assistance will help your team to better manage its workflow and redistribute tasks. This is all the more important when it comes to managing multi-channel communications, where information is constantly pouring in.
First-level tasks that are particularly time-consuming and demanding for agents can be delegated to AI:
- message sorting,
- initial responses,
- processing complaints, etc.
The AI then routes the priorities to the agents concerned, with the option of a summary presentation of the various cases to make it easier for them to get to grips with assistance.
Fully integrated AI improves quality of life at work. It also helps to improve organization and management. The choice of tool should therefore be taken into account.
More personalized interactions
Artificial intelligence makes it easier to personalize automated exchanges. The system takes into account personal history and data to enrich the interaction, in addition to completing its knowledge base. This creates a close relationship between your company and the customer. As a result, your sales increase. According to a report published by McKinsey, 76% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase if the brand offers a personalized experience.
✅ A perfect example of this personalization: name exchanges let your customers know that they are unique. AI can also suggest products and services likely to be of interest to your leads and customers.
The personalization of automated customer service must be carried out with strict respect for the customer's privacy. You mustn't be too intrusive, as this could drive customers away.
Anticipating trends
Thanks to its predictive capacity and with the help of the company's customer database and resources, AI can help the company anticipate future customer needs. This means, for example, that reminder letters can be sent automatically when a deadline approaches. An analysis of customer habits can also help determine needs, and thus refine commercial offers. This proactive approach represents a major gain for the company's development, and enhances the customer experience.
The course of a conversation also enables us to anticipate problems based on the questions and responses provided by the customer. Anticipation means solving problems before they arise!
What can AI do for customer service? 5 application examples
Example 1: Intelligent chatbots
In their appearance, intelligent chatbots haven't undergone any revolution compared with their traditional counterparts. Nevertheless, when chatting, customers benefit from a warmer interaction that takes precise account of their requests and queries. There are no longer any ready-made answers. Each reply is unique, and benefits from the neural network that enables artificial intelligence to mobilize a vast amount of data to compose its responses. The intelligent chatbot can be textual or vocal, and is difficult to distinguish from a real agent for the tasks assigned to it.
Example 2: Ticket analysis via NLP
A ticket is a way of tracking individual problems. However, as the number of customers increases, so does the number of tickets a company has to manage, accentuating the risk of oversights and errors.
Thanks to automatic natural language processing (NLP), tickets are analyzed not by detecting keywords, as was previously the case, but by fully and deeply understanding the entire communication. This enables AI to determine not only the context, but also the sentiment of the caller. Thanks to NLP, tickets are processed automatically, but more efficiently.
Example 3: Intelligent routing of requests
The requests addressed to your company, whatever its size, are disparate. Some are even errors or unwanted messages that can quickly saturate your customer service department if not handled intelligently. Intelligence performs optimized routing of requests thanks to its deep learning capability. This makes it much easier for agents to deal with them, as well as to classify them in CRMs.
Example 4: automatic e-mail processing
How many e-mails a day do you process? Up to a few dozen, it's still possible to devote resources to this task. Beyond that, this time-consuming task also turns out to be costly if it mobilizes one or more agents. Thanks to AI, messages can be sorted and filtered efficiently. It provides unique responses to requests that can be processed automatically.
Automatic e-mail processing also enables you to qualify the entries in your database automatically, thanks to a reasoned extraction of useful information: name, address, profession, etc.
Example 5: voice assistants and self-service
Artificial intelligence considerably improves the quality of conversation with voice assistants. Forget robotic voices and pre-recorded answers. Your new voice assistants will respond to your customers in real time, taking the time to really listen. The language models that make up these responsive tools are in fact capable of understanding, thanks to the performance of the servers and the considerable size of the databases that serve as their learning base.
For customers who decide to obtain self-service assistance, i.e. without the intervention of an agent, artificial intelligence is an available guide to help them along the way. Help them quickly find the right answer in your FAQ, direct them to a forum section where the solution is presented, or communicate procedures directly to them using a chatbot.
How can it be integrated into customer service?
When we think of artificial intelligence, we think of the most famous, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini or Microsoft's Copilot. Of course, you can integrate them into your customer service, but not in the way they are presented to the general public. You also need to take into account new tools, an increasing number of which are dedicated to customer service.
Here are the steps to help you best integrate AI into your customer service :
Step 1: Conduct a needs audit
It's impossible to find the right solution without knowing exactly what you need. So it's important to carry out an audit. Keep in mind that artificial intelligence is not a miracle solution that can be implemented on its own. You need to adopt new processes to take full advantage of it. A preliminary analysis of your company in general, and your customer service department in particular, is essential!
Step 2: Choose the right tools or platforms
Once you've determined your needs, it will be easier to choose the right software, SaaS or CRM platform. Like a craftsman choosing his tools, you'll need to opt for the right solution to improve your customer relations. In addition to functionality, ergonomics and interface should also be taken into consideration.
Step 3: Encourage gradual deployment
Forced implementation is always counterproductive, despite the power of artificial intelligence. Integrate the chosen solution gradually. Identify any reluctance within your team. This will speed up the resolution of bottlenecks during implementation. Don't hesitate to form an integration team and set up a pilot project.
Step 4: Measure KPIs
Successful deployment requires follow-up to accurately assess the benefits brought by AI and any reorientations and adjustments that need to be made. By selecting relevant KPIs (requests processed, customers satisfied, calls handled per hour, incident resolved...), you will fine-tune the performance of artificial intelligence. The choice of these indicators will depend on your objectives.
Step 5: Optimize team training
Training is at the heart of AI implementation. Each agent is an integral part of the automation process, guaranteeing that every piece of information not resolved by the tool is processed at the end of the chain. This step will be an opportunity to reinforce ethics within your company, to reassure employees and communicate your CSR policy where appropriate.
7 software solutions to automate your customer service
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 Freshdesk |  Zoho Desk |  Service Cloud |  easiware |  Service Hub |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| For companies with 2 to 5000 employees | For all companies | For companies with 2 to 250 employees | For companies with 2 to 5000 employees | For all companies |
| See software | See software | See software | See software | See software |
| Learn more about Freshdesk | Learn more about Zoho Desk | Learn more about Service Cloud | Learn more about easiware | Learn more about Service Hub |
Freshdesk
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a customer service-oriented AI tool developed by Freshworks. It offers :
- simplified ticket management with automatic ticket closing,
- centralization of requests from different channels in a single interface,
- agent collision detection: to avoid duplicate work.
Salesforce Starter
Salesforce's Starter Suite is an extensible CRM that focuses on customer and lead management. It integrates artificial intelligence, but also pre-refines data to improve the tool's ability to manage its tasks:
- e-mail management,
- customer support,
- lead analysis,
- sales team dispatching, etc.
Service Cloud
Service Cloud
Published by Salesforces, Service Cloud specializes in task optimization for agents. Your team members will benefit from :
- a unified interface for multi-channel communication,
- request routing
- the generation of high-quality automatic responses on the appropriate channels (SMS, Messenger, Whatsapp...).
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is an integrated service that centralizes a long list of functions such as:
- ticket management ,
- automated response writing,
- interface customization tools,
- automated workflow, taking into account multiple communication channels (including call routing to the available agent).
Mobile Service Cloud
Mobile Service Cloud is a SaaS offering with integrated AI that :
- optimizes the conversion of multi-channel communications on a unified interface,
- integrates easily with popular frameworks such as Magento and Shopify
- integrates easily with CRM or ERP systems.
Easiware
easiware
Founded in 2008, Easiware is a SaaS company that has enhanced its customer relationship management tool with Mistral. The application offers:
- a summary of exchanges with the customer (whatever the channel used)
- automated responses
- real-time reporting and analysis
- interface customization
- integration with CRM, ERP or telephony tools
Service Hub
Service Hub
Developed by American company HubSpot, Service Hub connects multi-channel communication information with sales and marketing data. This solution integrates :
- ticket management,
- omnichannel messaging,
- Process automation,
- Conversation analysis with AI,
- Native integration with HubSpot CRM.
What are the challenges of using AI in customer service?
Some factors require human intervention
Customer service AI solutions significantly improve the workflow for processing data and communications. Some tasks, however, will remain the responsibility of agents, whose ability to analyze goes far beyond algorithms. Empathy, cultural heritage and experience are among your team's irreplaceable assets. AI is a first-level tool that will optimize your workflow. The agent acts as a control element to handle the most complex cases.
Ensuring data protection
Personal data must be protected by law. This also applies to customer service AI. Only consented information can be used to enrich and serve artificial intelligence. The software solution selected must guarantee the protection of this sensitive data.
Dehumanizing the relationship between supplier and customer
Artificial intelligence is powerful and can simulate a human attitude in many respects, thanks to deep learning. This raises fears of a dehumanization of the customer relationship as solutions develop. It's up to your company to determine the place given to the human element, but it's important to bear in mind that the general public today is looking for authenticity. This parameter must therefore be taken into account when determining the proportion of automation.
Lack of algorithm transparency
AI algorithms are complex, making it all the more difficult to understand their operating model. What's more, designers are rarely transparent about how the information used for deep learning is collected. In the near future, the stakes will be both ethical and regulatory to ensure greater transparency.
Towards a customer relationship enhanced by artificial intelligence
Customer service is undergoing a metamorphosis with the arrival of AI in data processing and workflows. To make it an effective customer relationship management tool, we need to take the time to understand the various issues at stake. This will make it easier to identify the best solution for your business.
But beyond the technology, the main issue remains the human: AI must be designed as a lever to improve the quality of interaction, not to replace it. By combining artificial intelligence, active listening and personalization, companies can build smoother, more responsive and engaging customer experiences, while optimizing the resources of their support teams.
FAQs on AI in customer service
Which KPIs should be monitored to measure AI performance?
Here are the KPIs to focus on to validate the effectiveness of customer service AI:
- Response time ;
- Resolution time ;
- Team occupancy rate for problem resolution;
- Number of tickets processed;
- Satisfaction rate;
- Cost per resolution.
There are many other indicators to evaluate. The choice will depend on your objectives.
How long does it take to deploy a functional AI solution?
There are no predefined rules for a company's AI transformation. Some solutions can be deployed in a matter of days, but require several months of training. Other software can be programmed progressively over several weeks. It all depends on the complexity of the project.
Can AI adapt to my multi-channel flows (email, chat, telephone...)?
AI can be adapted to your multi-channel flows. In fact, that's one of its main advantages.
How is AI transforming contact centers?
AI benefits customers and agents alike. For the public contacting the company, availability is optimized, as is problem handling. For your teams, the workload is relieved of time-consuming and often taxing tasks.
Article translated from French