With ChatGPT, The Digital CX Revolution Is Now Accelerating Faster Than Ever
Expert View: Andrew Hall, Chief Commercial Officer at Quantanite
I recently wrote an article here about the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT. I noticed that the MyCustomer editorial team has asked ChatGPT to write an 800-word article since then. Although the article is legible and generally makes sense, it doesn’t have much spark – it’s certainly not going to replace professional journalists or writers anytime soon.
However, that’s not really the point is it? A year ago people would groan with dismay when asked to interact with a chatbot. Now Microsoft has launched their own bot, which is bundled with their Bing search engine and Google is launching Bard. Bots are now front and centre in the mainstream media.
Despite all this media coverage for ChatGPT (65 million news articles), I have spoken to several people in the customer service industry that have not tried it, or at least remain fairly unaware of what it can do. The general experience with bots for most people has been limited to asking Alexa to play some music or Siri to find directions while driving. We are all now entering a new era and it will reshape how brands interact with customers.
Here is an example. I asked ChatGPT a business question about a subject that interests me, the problems that fast-growing startups face when they can’t manage the volume of customer interactions as they scale up.
Question: What are the main problems hypergrowth companies face with their customer service?
Answer from ChatGPT: Hypergrowth companies often experience significant challenges with customer service due to their rapid expansion and increasing customer base. Some of the main problems faced by these companies include:
Scalability: Hypergrowth companies struggle to scale their customer service operations to meet the demands of a rapidly growing customer base. This can result in long wait times, frustrated customers, and a decline in customer satisfaction.
Consistency: As a company grows, it can be difficult to maintain consistent customer service standards across multiple locations, departments, and customer touchpoints.
Limited resources: With limited resources, hypergrowth companies may struggle to hire, train, and retain enough customer service staff to meet demand.
Technology limitations: Rapidly growing companies may find that their existing customer service technology is no longer adequate to support the increased volume of customer interactions. Upgrading technology can be costly and time-consuming, and if not done properly, can result in further disruption to customer service operations.
Keeping up with customer demands: As customer demands evolve, hypergrowth companies may struggle to keep up and provide the level of service that customers expect. This can lead to dissatisfaction and lost business.
To address these challenges, hypergrowth companies must invest in the infrastructure and processes necessary to support their growth and meet customer needs. This may include implementing technology and systems to streamline and automate customer service operations, providing training and support for customer service staff, and implementing clear and consistent customer service policies and procedures.
Additionally, it’s important for hypergrowth companies to continuously gather and analyse customer feedback to identify areas for improvement and to ensure that their customer service strategies are aligned with customer needs and expectations.
That’s quite a comprehensive answer, as it should be. This bot can draw on an enormous amount of literature. Imagine feeding thousands of manuals and all of Wikipedia into a system that can scan and summarise the data in a fraction of a second and you get the idea. What I find really impressive is that it is generative – it creates an answer each time it is asked. You can ask the same question and it will not repeat the same answer.
The robot company Ameca, based in Cornwall, is taking this advance in bot technology and creating human-like robots that are intended to be companions. The intention is that elderly people will no longer be alone if there is always a bot around to talk to and play chess. Writers from Isaac Asimov to Kazuo Ishiguro have long written about the idea of robot companions that would improve our lives, even educating and playing with our kids.
I mentioned in my earlier article the idea of a brand bot, perhaps named after the corporate founder. This already seems possible based on the ability of ChatGPT to scan enormous amounts of data and then to create a response in real-time. I think it will be really interesting once more people on corporate boards understand the possibilities of these tools.
Bots are now exciting. Bots are now writing jokes. In the past, stand-up comics could get an audience on their side recounting a story about a terrible chatbot experience. Now the bots are writing their punchlines.
For years, automated customer service has been seen as less effective than real humans helping customers, but now the tools are getting so powerful they can be used to dramatically augment what humans can do. All designers of digital CX need to be thinking about how these powerful tools can be engaged in a way that enhances and enriches the customer experience. I believe that digital CX is about to undergo a revolution and we all have front row seats.
Let me know what you think about how ChatGPT – and similar bots – could redefine the customer experience. Leave a comment here or contact me via LinkedIn.
Quantanite is running a free retail webinar; “Why brands need to build flexibility and agility to respond to change” https://uk-ccf.co.uk/event/9th-march-2023-webinar/
