Reducing Customer Service Costs With AI

Gladly Team

4 minute read

As 2023 winds to a close, business leaders are looking at next year’s budgets to see where they can cut customer service costs, especially with the use of AI. Using AI, your call center can provide customer-centric service at a fraction of the cost. Although AI may come at an additional cost now, the benefits of the technology can result in long-term cost savings. AI helps fill in budgetary gaps by optimizing workflows, empowering customer service agents, and offering customers independence over routine issues.

5 Steps to Reduce the Cost of Customer Service and Still Deliver Quality CX

3 Ways to Reduce Customer Service Costs With AI

Shrinking budgets and growing customer expectations have generated an apparent need for an affordable — yet still high-quality — customer service solution. Fortunately, AI creates new opportunities for CX leaders to reduce their customer service costs while boosting both agents’ and customers’ experiences.

1. AI supercharges agent productivity

Despite common misconceptions, AI is not a solution designed to fully replace customer service agents. In fact, if implemented effectively, it’s quite the opposite — Gladly’s customer service AI provides agents with resources that save them time and effort, which in turn saves your team and department money.

Learn more: Can Companies Implement AI In-House? An Expert Weighs In

Features like AI-assisted replies, summaries, and authoring empower your agents to provide faster, more efficient service to customers without any additional strain. With each interaction taking less time, agents can handle more cases without the risk of burnout.

Boosting human agent effectiveness

Speed isn't the only plus of adding AI into your agents' workflows. According to Nari Sitaraman, CTO of BARK, there are a variety of other AI-driven benefits that maximize agent efficiency, including trend forecasting and proactive sentiment detection.

2. AI-powered self-service puts less burden on your agents

Customer service solutions that leverage generative AI, like Gladly, provide customers with personalized self-service solutions to routine issues. Incorporating AI into your self-service channel boosts its effectiveness by combining the personal touch of an agent with the convenience of a self-service option. Plus, by removing routine tasks from your agents’ plates, you can increase their individual value to your team and allow them to offset their labor costs while providing more return on investment by handling complex issues.

For teams that need to scale their customer service efforts for busier seasons, AI also presents an opportunity to handle higher conversion volumes with less staff. Gladly can reduce seasonal hiring projections by up to 68% and cut down year-round hiring efforts by 51%. For example, JOANN uses the AI-powered customer service platform to increase their self-service efficiency to handle 25% more holiday conversations without increasing staff numbers.

Building human relationships alongside AI

Although AI is a powerful and valuable tool, the need for human relationships and empathy is still present in the customer experience. According to Maddie Friend, staff technical support manager at Gladly, maintaining empathy in an AI-driven world is key to your team's success.

3. AI turns customers into brand advocates

Combining agent-facing AI solutions with generative AI self-service allows your team to provide a better overall experience, which will lead to higher customer satisfaction. According to our Customer Expectations Report, 40% of Gen Z and 37% of millennial shoppers “fall in love” with brands that provide great service.

Through AI, your team has the chance to transform customers into advocates. Loyal brand advocates are more likely to recommend your brand to others, helping your team save on their customer acquisition and retention costs. This loyalty also increases your odds of repeat orders and increased order value, as customers feel more confident in the service your brand provides.

Optimizing your customer experience with AI

As customer expectations evolve, it's up to your team to adapt and meet these ever-changing needs. Peak Design was able to achieve a 98% CSAT score by integrating Gladly AI into their customer service — just one of the many ways they've used Gladly to empower their customers and human agents alike.

Gladly AI Is Your Customer Service Budget’s Best Friend

Through Gladly customer service AI, your customer service team can increase their cost savings while still providing the personalized, human-centered service your customers expect. Not only do these solutions amplify cost reductions for CX teams, but they also provide exceptional service that can improve your overall customer satisfaction. By investing in AI, you can slash customer service costs, empower your team, and create a human-centric customer experience that matches your shoppers’ rapidly evolving needs.

DEMO