Still on the fence about the potential of AI for customer success? Don’t be!
In this post, we'll break down 7 proven ways savvy businesses like yourself are using AI to smash customer success goals.
From streamlining support to predicting churn, you'll learn hands-on tips to take your customer relationships to the next level.
We’ll cover:
- An overview of using AI for customer success
- 7 proven ways to use AI for customer success
Let’s dive right in!
Using AI for customer success (an overview)
AI for customer success refers to the use of artificial intelligence technologies to improve customer support and all-around satisfaction.
This can involve using AI-powered chatbots for customer service, analyzing data to predict customer needs, or personalizing customer experiences through machine learning algorithms — among many other solutions.
1. Automate routine customer inquiries
Responding to the same old questions over and over again can drain the life out of your customer success team.
Here’s how AI can help:
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. Set up a chatbot to instantly respond to common FAQs like "What's your return policy?" or "How do I reset my password?". Your customers get quick answers while your team gets time back in their day.
- Automate your emails. For recurring inquiries like onboarding emails or feedback surveys, put AI to work. Use pre-written email templates with dynamic fields that automatically populate with customer info. Then, it’s just a matter of pressing send.
- Total ticket triage. Don't waste time manually sorting through support tickets to determine priority. AI can analyze ticket details to instantly flag urgent issues. Your team will know right away where to focus their efforts so the important stuff doesn’t slip through the cracks.
2. Personalize customer interactions
Nothing builds loyalty like making each customer feel like your only customer.
Here are a few ways to get personal with the help of AI:
- Know their name (and use it). Using AI and customer data, you can match names to email addresses and phone numbers. So when a customer contacts you, greet them by name. Saying “Hi [Name]!” is a simple way to personalize the experience.
- Get ahead of the game. AI can analyze customer data and interactions to determine common questions. So when a customer reaches out, you'll know what they're likely contacting you for. You can say something like: “Hi [Name], are you contacting us today about X?”
- Address their pain points. AI tools can comb through customer surveys, reviews, and social data to pinpoint common complaints or frustrations. Reach out to address these pain points proactively. A message like: “Hi [Name], we know long wait times have been an issue recently, so we've taken Y and Z steps to improve.”
3. Predict customer needs
How cool would it be if you could anticipate what your customers need instead of reacting to everything they say or do? Well, you’re in luck, because AI can help!
Here’s how:
- Dare to say “hi!” Have a chatbot greet customers and ask a few questions to determine why they’re contacting you. It can then predict what they need and route them to the right resource. For example, if a customer says they just received their product but it’s not working, your bot can help them out with basic queries or connect them to tech support.
- Use the past in your favor. You can use AI analytics to pinpoint trends in customer questions and the resources that best address them. If customers frequently ask how to assemble product X after purchasing, proactively email them assembly instructions within a day of their order shipping. Staying one step ahead of customers and providing helpful resources before they even ask will make them raving fans.
- Understand how (and how much) people use a product. AI can help you see how customers are engaging with your product in real-time. If a customer starts using one feature much more frequently, reach out and ask what they like about it or how you can help them out. Look for drop-offs in product usage as that can indicate frustration.
4. Improve customer support with chatbots
As we’ve established above, chatbots can be amazing for customer support. And there are a ton of benefits to deploying them that we haven’t mentioned.
They are:
- Round-the-clock coverage. Tired of fielding questions at 3 am? Chatbots don't sleep (they’re OK, trust us), so they provide total support at any hour. Customers get quick answers, and your reps get to sleep tight.
- They keep on learning. Chatbots get smarter over time by analyzing customer questions and responses. Their knowledge base expands, accuracy improves, and they can handle more types of inquiries. Mind you, humans are still needed for empathy, judgment calls, and creative problem-solving.
- Blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em hand-offs. For the best experience, chatbots hand customers over to human reps when needed. The bot explains it is passing the conversation to a person, then the rep picks up where the bot left off. Customers feel supported throughout the entire interaction.
5. Monitor customer health scores
AI can help you keep tabs on your customer's satisfaction.
Here’s how it can help:
- Easy-peasy pulse checks. AI can analyze massive amounts of customer data to create a personalized "health score" for each customer. This score can help you flag potential issues before they escalate into bigger problems.
- Keep the convo going. AI can proactively reach out to customers, checking in on their experience and gathering feedback. This shows you care and opens the door for them to share any concerns or suggestions.
- Data mining for insights. AI can sift through customer interactions, reviews, and social media chatter to identify trends and patterns.
- Quick actions for faster resolutions. When AI spots a dip in a customer's health score or picks up on signs of frustration, it can alert your team to take action. A quick response with personalized solutions can turn a frown upside down real quick.
6. Optimize customer onboarding
To really nail down customer success with AI, you need to put focus on onboarding. Onboarding is key to getting customers up and running with your product successfully.
Here are a few ways to optimize onboarding with AI:
- Get personal from the start. AI can personalize onboarding for each customer based on data you already have, like industry, company size, role, etc. Skip the generic “Welcome!” and send a tailored message highlighting the key benefits for that customer. Make them feel special right out of the gate.
- Help customers throughout their journey. If you know 50% of customers struggle with a certain feature in week 2, reach out at the end of week 1 with a helpful video or tip sheet on how to master it. Your customers will appreciate that you anticipate their needs.
- Deliver the right content at the right time. Rather than overwhelming new customers with resources upfront, use AI to determine optimal content delivery schedules based on customer attributes and behaviors. For example, sales reps might get an onboarding focused on advanced features, while casual users may prefer a slower, simpler ramp-up.
- Check in and gather feedback. AI-powered surveys and check-ins during onboarding help ensure customers are happy and engaged. Collect feedback on their experience so far and make adjustments as needed. For example, if several customers report a certain onboarding task as confusing, update your content or reach out to provide extra guidance.
7. Analyze feedback for continuous improvement
AI can track feedback from different sources, basically poring through it all to find patterns to improve.
Here’s how it can help:
- Read between the lines with sentiment analysis. AI can dig into customer reviews, surveys, and social media chatter to see how they really feel. It helps you spot what's working and what's making them frown, so you know where to focus your efforts.
- Uncover hidden gems in the data. AI can crunch massive amounts of feedback and find patterns that you might miss. This can help you spot trends, understand what customers really want, and make smarter decisions about your product or service.
- Get feedback in the fast lane. AI processes feedback in real-time, so you can react quickly to customer concerns. This agility helps you fix issues on the fly and keep improving your offerings based on the latest feedback.
Summing up
And those were 7 ways to use AI for customer success.
No major change is ever easy, and implementing AI may look like a huge hurdle to overcome.
But buckle up, hang on tight, and get ready, because the benefits are worth it, and any business worth their salt is going to be leveraging AI as much as possible.
So get out there, be bold, and let that AI-powered CX get to it!
Next steps
Tired of drowning in emails and support tickets? Time to try Lindy, the next-level AI tool that pretty much does everything.
Here's how Lindy levels up your customer success:
- Handles it all: Lindy tackles emails, support tickets, lead generation, sales, and more, so you can focus on the big picture.
- Quick and easy setup: Get Lindy up and running in minutes, no tech wizardry required.
- Works with your tools: Seamlessly integrate Lindy with your existing systems and data — among over 3,000 integrations.
- Always on duty: Lindy works 24/7, answering questions and qualifying leads, so you can finally get some sleep.
- Human backup: Lindy knows when to tag in a human for trickier situations.
- Stays on brand: Give Lindy the inside scoop on your brand voice, and she'll always communicate like a true team member.
- Converts leads: Lindy asks the right questions, scores leads, and collects contact info to help you seal the deal.
- Learns and adapts: Lindy gets smarter over time, learning from feedback to provide even better service.
