Recently we attended the Customer Engagement Summit in London hosted by Engage Customer, where top brands in the industry shared their insights into customer engagement, AI technology, and customer service. In this blog we outline the top five takeaways from the event that businesses can learn from to boost their customer engagement.
One of the key takeaways from the event was the emphasis on providing an excellent customer experience. Engaging customers is more than simply providing customer service, it is a holistic effort to understand and anticipate the needs of customers. To build strong relationships with customers, empathy is critical. AI technologies can be used to enhance empathic service, creating personalised experiences that cater to the unique needs of each customer. By fully understanding each customer’s issues, businesses can provide more effective support and build longer-lasting relationships.
AI technology can play a critical role in improving customer engagement. By automating some processes, such as providing real-time product recommendations or predicting customer needs, AI can help to increase the efficiency of customer service and enhance personalisation. According to event speakers Matthias Goehler from Zendesk and Ian Hunt from Liberty London, results from implementing AI in CX have revealed reduced response and resolution times, along with increased customer satisfaction.
It's essential to have a plan when implementing AI in customer service. Several key speakers across the event suggested focusing on a specific AI application such as chatbots or predictive analytics initially and expanding from there. Monitoring, evaluating, and learning from the initial implementation is critical during these early stages. As a result, businesses should have a flexible and adaptable plan that can accommodate changes when necessary.
While automation provides a range of benefits for customer service, businesses cannot overlook the importance of human interaction. AI technologies should be used to enhance, not replace, human interaction, making it more effective. Customer service agents should be trained to use AI technology to provide a personalised and efficient service.
As well as attending speaker sessions at the event, we delivered our talk to discuss how Columbus supported Watson-Marlow, a leader in fluid technology solutions, with a global CRM implementation project. The core message from our speakers Toby Mankertz and Steve Lyon from Columbus and Andrew Jones from Watson-Marlow is the significance of user engagement and adoption in the project's success. This underlines the necessity of a people-centric approach, early user involvement, and open communication channels to achieve desired business outcomes. The session highlighted the value of change ambassadors and peer-to-peer collaboration in facilitating digital transformation. The new platform achieved high adoption rates across 38 countries, illustrating how prioritising user experience can lead to transformative results. Indeed, the people, not just the technology, are the drivers of successful digital change.
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The Customer Engagement Summit 2023 provided valuable insights into the ever-changing world of customer engagement. Understanding customer needs, effectively implementing AI technology, and maintaining a balance between automation and human interaction were key takeaways. With these findings in mind, businesses can look to improve their customer engagement efforts and build strong, long-lasting customer relationships.