Artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly important for small businesses looking to make workflows more efficient and improve the customer experience (CX). AI has an incredible ability to process large amounts of data quickly and identify key customer insights, making it valuable for small business owners in need of extra tech support.

There are many platforms with AI capabilities, including Podium. Podium is an all-in-one communication platform for small businesses that want to compete in the digital era. Podium handles text, reviews, payments, phone calls, and more. Its AI Employee helps improve the customer experience across all these communication channels to drive growth.

In a time where the customer experience is valued more than customer service, harnessing the potential of AI customer support is crucial for businesses aiming to stand out in a competitive small business landscape. By partnering with Podium and leveraging our AI-powered solutions, you can enhance customer communications and deliver personalized experiences that resonate with your customers.

What is AI for customer experience?

In today’s fast-changing business world, using artificial intelligence can make all the difference in helping small businesses keep up with the modern customer experience. AI can help you improve your work processes and provide great customer experiences, both of which grow your business.

By using AI-based customer support, you can analyze large amounts of data and get valuable information related to your customers and local business market. This gives you a chance to transform how you interact with your customers.

Numerous industries can benefit from implementing AI in customer experience. Some prominent examples include:

Ecommerce: AI-powered recommendation systems can analyze customer browsing behavior and purchase history to provide personalized product recommendations, improving cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
Retail: AI customer support chatbots can handle customer inquiries, assist with product searches, provide real-time support, and give personalized recommendations, enhancing customer service and reducing response times.
Finance: AI can be used for fraud detection and personalized financial recommendations, enabling businesses to provide tailored services and enhance security.
Healthcare: AI can assist in patient engagement and personalized healthcare recommendations, improving patient outcomes and optimizing healthcare delivery.
Travel and Hospitality: AI-powered virtual assistants can handle booking inquiries and provide travel recommendations, enhancing the overall travel experience for customers.
Telecom: AI can automate customer service interactions and analyze call center data for sentiment analysis. It also can offer personalized offers and promotions to customers.
Automotive: AI is trending in the automotive industry customer experience. It can power voice-controlled interfaces to deliver personalized in-care experiences and also be used for predictive maintenance, enhancing the driving experience and customer satisfaction.

These are just a few examples, as customer service AI has the potential to revolutionize customer experience across various industries by improving efficiency and offering hyper-personalization that results in higher overall customer satisfaction.

Why businesses should leverage AI to improve customer experience

In today’s competitive small business landscape, delivering an exceptional customer experience is critical to your success. To meet the growing expectations of customers, your business needs to leverage AI-based customer support.

Using AI can greatly improve how you interact with your customers and boost your business in many ways. It allows you to personalize interactions, offer real-time help, use predictive analytics to make smarter decisions, give better recommendations, and automate tasks.

By using AI-based customer support, you can make your customers happier and keep them coming back, which will increase your profits. This can be done in several different ways, like:

1. Personalization

Customer service AI enables businesses to deliver highly personalized experiences by analyzing customer data and preferences. By leveraging AI, businesses can tailor product recommendations and marketing campaigns to each customer and even customize customer interactions based on individual customer behaviors and needs. This level of personalization enhances customer satisfaction and increases engagement, which fosters long-term loyalty.

2. Real-time Assistance

AI customer support chatbots and virtual assistants allow businesses to offer immediate and round-the-clock customer support. These intelligent tools can handle common inquiries and resolve issues in real-time, ensuring prompt and efficient customer service. By leveraging AI tech support for real-time assistance in the support queue, your business can improve response times (which will enhance the customer’s experience) and alleviate the burden on human customer service agents.

3. Predictive Analytics

AI enables businesses to leverage predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and behavior. By analyzing historical data, AI algorithms can identify patterns and trends, as well as potential customer preferences, allowing businesses to proactively address customer needs. Predictive analytics also improves forecasting for better inventory management and more accurate anticipation of customer demands, leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and improved operational efficiency.

4. Enhanced Recommendations and Product Discovery

AI-powered recommendation systems use customer data and machine learning algorithms to deliver highly accurate and relevant product recommendations. These systems consider a customer’s browsing history and purchase behavior to determine their preferences and then suggest products or services that align with their interests. Using customer service AI for enhanced recommendations and product discovery allows businesses to increase engagement and cross-selling and upselling opportunities, both of which help increase your ROI.

5. Workflow Automation

AI tech support can save you time and effort by handling repetitive tasks for you. This way, you can concentrate on important things that add value to your business. For example, AI can take care of tasks like entering data, qualifying leads, processing orders, etc. which can streamline your operations and prevent mistakes.

By using AI for these tasks, you can work more efficiently and give your customers better experiences because your employees will have more time to focus on serving them well.

By implementing customer service AI, your business can gain a competitive edge and foster customer loyalty. AI also helps you serve your customers by providing instant help and predicting what they need.

By using AI technology, you can understand how your customers feel about your business. Plus, it automates tasks, making things easier and more efficient. All of this leads to satisfied customers and greater success for your business.

9 ways AI can improve customer experience

As a small business owner, leveraging AI technology can significantly enhance your customer experience and propel your business forward. Let’s explore several ways AI can be leveraged to improve customer experiences and how Podium’s products harness the power of AI to provide exceptional results.

1. Chatbots for Instant Support

AI customer support chatbots, like Podium’s Webchat, offer instant support and engage customers in real-time conversations. These AI-powered chatbots can answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) and assist with basic inquiries, ensuring immediate and efficient customer support.

2. Intelligent Routing

AI-driven intelligent routing systems, such as Podium’s AI-powered platform, can analyze customer needs. By automatically directing customers to the right person, you can streamline the support process and reduce wait times, ensuring customers receive prompt and accurate assistance.

3. Sentiment Analysis

AI-powered sentiment analysis tools can automatically analyze customer feedback given via online reviews and social media mentions to gauge sentiment. By understanding customer sentiment in real-time, you can proactively enhance customer experiences by identifying areas for improvement and addressing concerns promptly.

4. Voice Recognition and Natural Language Processing (NLP)

AI-driven voice recognition and NLP technologies enable businesses to offer seamless and intuitive customer experiences. AI-powered systems can understand and interpret natural language, allowing customers to interact with your business using voice commands, enhancing convenience and accessibility.

5. Predictive Analytics

By leveraging predictive analytics in AI customer support, you can anticipate customer behavior, preferences, needs, etc. Podium’s AI-enabled solutions help you communicate with your customers easily enabling you to provide tailored experiences that delight your clients.

6. Virtual Assistants for Self-Service

AI-based customer support can take several forms, including virtual assistants like Podium’s AI Employee which empower customers to find answers and solve problems independently. These assistants can guide customers through self-service options and provide step-by-step assistance, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing the need for direct support.

7. Efficient Email and Text Management

Customer service AI can automate and streamline email and text management processes. Podium’s AI-powered communication platform helps analyze, prioritize, categorize, and respond to customer emails and texts, ensuring timely and efficient communication while reducing manual effort.

8. Continuous Improvement Through Feedback Analysis

Customer service AI can analyze customer feedback at scale, helping you uncover insights and identify trends so you can make data-driven improvements. Podium’s AI Employee automatically provides phone call summaries so you’re able to review conversations and drive continuous improvements across your business.

9. Human Error Reduction

AI can minimize human error by automating repetitive tasks and ensuring consistent and accurate information. By leveraging AI in customer care, you can reduce communication problems and the risk of errors in order processing and data entry, enhancing the reliability and quality of your customer experiences.

These are just a few examples of AI applications in CX. By embracing AI in these various ways, you can elevate your customer experience to new heights. Podium’s suite of products, like Webchat, can help you leverage the benefits of AI and deliver exceptional customer experiences that set your small business apart from the competition.

How to Leverage AI in Customer Experience in 6 Steps

As a small business owner, harnessing the power of AI for customer experience can be a game-changer. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you leverage AI-based customer support effectively and enhance your customer experience.

1. Analyze your customer experience strategy.

Begin by assessing your current customer experience strategy. Identify your goals and customer touchpoints. Determine how AI customer support can help you achieve your objectives and address customer needs more effectively. Consider where AI can make a significant impact like personalization and real-time support.

2. Create user and customer journeys.

Develop comprehensive user and customer journeys to understand your customers’ interactions and experiences at each touchpoint. Map out the steps customers take and opportunities for improvement. Identify stages where customer service AI can enhance current workflows. This step will provide a clear roadmap for integrating AI solutions into your overall strategies for CX.

3. Identify opportunities and pain points.

Analyze your customer data and leverage AI tech support tools to gain insights into customer behaviors and pain points. Use AI-powered sentiment analysis and data analytics to understand customer sentiment and identify trends and specific areas for improvement. This will help you uncover opportunities to leverage AI effectively, such as deploying chatbots for instant support or leveraging predictive analytics for personalized recommendations.

4. Implement AI solutions.

Based on your analysis, identify opportunities where you can implement AI customer care solutions tailored to your business needs. This may involve integrating AI-powered chatbots, virtual assistants, sentiment analysis tools, or other AI-powered software into your CX operations. Leverage platforms like Podium which offers a Webchat and an AI Employee to help automate customer communications and provide AI customer support.

Train your AI customer support systems using historical customer data to improve accuracy and ensure seamless customer interactions. By feeding the AI large amounts of past customer interactions, it learns patterns and trends, enabling it to make accurate predictions and provide better responses in real time. This training process helps ensure that your AI tech support becomes more capable of delivering smooth and personalized customer experiences, leading to higher customer satisfaction and improved business outcomes.

5. Track and measure AI impact.

Regularly monitor and measure the impact of AI in CX. Track metrics such as response times, customer satisfaction scores, conversion rates, and customer retention. Analyze the data to understand how AI is enhancing customer experiences and driving business outcomes. Use this information to iterate and refine your AI-based customer support implementations to continuously optimize the customer experience.

6. Evolve and adapt.

As AI and customer expectations evolve, it’s crucial to continually assess and adapt your AI customer support strategies. Stay updated on the latest AI advancements and trends in CX. Seek feedback from your customers and make iterative improvements to ensure that your AI customer care solutions align with their evolving needs and expectations. Embrace a culture of continuous learning and improvement to stay at the forefront of AI-driven customer experiences.

By following these steps, you can effectively leverage AI to enhance your customer experience and drive business growth. Remember, solutions like Podium’s AI Assistant provide you with the tools and insights necessary to succeed. Embrace the power of AI and watch as it revolutionizes your customer experience, setting your small business apart from the competition.

As a business owner, taking your customer experience to the next level is crucial for success, and leveraging AI in customer support can be a game-changer. Podium’s suite of products has helped thousands of businesses across various industries transform their CX strategies and achieve remarkable results. By harnessing the power of AI, Podium has developed top-of-the-market solutions that deliver exceptional customer experiences while driving business growth.

10 Best AI Customer Experience Tools

Podium

Podium’s AI Employee is the premiere AI customer care tool on the market today. Utilizing conversational AI, our AI Employee can provide seamless communication and support for your customers at any time of the day while sounding as human as you do. Faster response times and personalization in messaging will set you apart from the competition and give you the ability to deliver an excellent customer experience every time. The AI Employee can be added to any Podium plan. Podium pricing starts at $399/month.

Hiver

Hiver is designed to provide AI customer care throughout the entire customer journey. Its standout feature is its email management tool, which includes an AI chatbot that can summarize emails, as well as suggest responses and automatically respond to emails. Pricing for Hiver starts at $19/month for up to 10 users.

Churn360

Churn360’s Eddy is an AI chatbot designed specifically for B2B SaaS companies. It analyzes large datasets to look for patterns and signs of churn, generating 360° reports of customers and flagging those with a high risk of canceling so businesses can intervene promptly. Pricing for Churn360 starts at $299/month.

Freshdesk

Freshdesk’s Freddy AI provides several AI-based customer support options, including chatbots to assist with questions and scheduling. It also has tools for sentiment analysis to help prioritize tickets and automatic ticket routing to shorten response times by sending tickets to relevant teams automatically. Freshdesk does offer a free plan, and paid plans begin at $15/month per agent.

Kustomer

Kustomer AI is an add-on to the traditional Kustomer CRM platform. This customer service AI helps automate tasks for support reps and field simple inquiries from customers. It also analyzes customer interactions to provide key insights to help reps respond more efficiently. Pricing for Kustomer starts at $89/month per user.

Tidio

Tidio specializes in providing real-time AI customer support via live chat and email marketing. In addition to its AI-powered features, it offers an AI virtual assistant, Lyro AI, and rule-based chatbot options. Pricing for Tidio with Lyro AI starts at $39/month.

Zoho Desk

Zoho’s customer service AI assistant, Zia, is a chatbot with sentiment analysis capabilities. It analyzes incoming tickets and auto-assigns tickets to agents with the best skill set to help. Zoho Desk does offer a free plan, followed by four different pricing plans starting at $7/month per user.

Intercom

Intercom’s chatbot, known as Fin, is an AI-powered tool for answering customer queries. It’s best for businesses with a robust help center as Fin draws its answers from help center articles and content. Pricing for Intercom’s Fin starts at $39/month per seat.

Zendesk

Zendesk AI is ideal for optimizing workflows and increasing efficiency in a multi-channel support model. It centralizes all data and customer interactions in one place and includes a chatbot capable of answering routine requests autonomously. It cannot be used as a standalone product, only as an add-on to the Zendesk Suite. Pricing to add Zendesk AI starts at $50/month per agent.

Nextiva

Nextiva is a cloud-based software designed to respond to calls using conversational AI. This branch of AI technology specializes in mimicking human conversation, so unlike a simple chatbot, Nextiva is capable of two-way dialogue with customers. Pricing for Nextiva starts at $18.95/month per user.

Use AI and take customer experience to the next level

Podium’s all-in-one communication solutions leverage AI to provide comprehensive tools for businesses aiming to excel in customer communication and relationship management. With Podium’s CRM that’s specifically designed for small businesses, you can streamline customer interactions, track conversations, manage leads, and more all in one place.

By integrating AI capabilities, CRM enables your business to leverage data-driven insights to automate workflows and personalize customer interactions. Using AI technology, Podium offers all-in-one solutions that streamline customer communication, automate workflows, and provide data-driven insights to drive growth. Take advantage of Podium’s solutions, such as their integrations with CRM and AI Employee, to revolutionize your customer experience and propel your business to new heights.

AI in Customer Experience FAQs

Q: How does AI help customer support?

A: AI helps customer support by providing instant and efficient assistance to customers. AI customer support chatbots and virtual assistants can handle routine inquiries in real time and offer personalized recommendations. By automating repetitive tasks, AI frees up human agents to focus on more complex and value-added interactions, improving response times and overall customer support efficiency.

Q: How can AI increase customer satisfaction?

A: AI can increase customer satisfaction by delivering personalized experiences and streamlining customer interactions. Through AI-powered analytics, businesses can gain insights into customer behavior patterns and pain points, enabling them to personalize offerings and anticipate needs more accurately, as well as provide targeted recommendations. AI also enables faster response times with efficient issue resolution, which contributes to enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Q: How is AI used for customer experience?

A: AI is used for customer experience in various ways. It can be leveraged to provide real-time support through chatbots and virtual assistants, ensuring prompt and personalized assistance. AI-powered analytics and sentiment analysis enable businesses to understand customer feedback more deeply and make data-driven improvements to their products and services. In customer service, AI also powers predictive analytics, allowing businesses to anticipate customer needs and deliver tailored experiences with more accurate recommendations.

Q: How can businesses ensure the ethical use of AI in customer experience?

A: Ensuring the ethical use of AI in customer experience requires transparency, accountability, and a customer-centric approach. Businesses should clearly communicate when AI is being used and how it impacts customer interactions. They should also prioritize data privacy and security, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations.

Regular audits and monitoring of AI tech support algorithms are essential to detect and mitigate biases. By focusing on customer well-being and transparency, businesses can build trust and ensure the ethical deployment of AI in customer experience.

Streamline Your Entire Business

By addressing these frequently asked questions, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of how AI can positively impact customer support and the customer experience overall. Implementing AI-driven solutions like Podium with a customer-centric approach will enable businesses to unlock the full potential of AI, streamlining business operations and delivering exceptional customer experiences.