6 Ways to Apply AI to Technical Support
Support has been relentless in the pursuit of continuous improvement, yet the function of Support has remained fundamentally unchanged for decades. The logical evolution of Support is to focus more effort on developing and sustaining long term profitable customer relationships.
Many Support organizations want to be more customer-success focused, but few have the capacity to change. To make this transition, Support resources need to focus on high value activities such as helping customers adopt and succeed with the products they purchase. AI is a critical catalyst to enable this inevitable Support transformation. Consider the following scenarios for AI in Support:
1. AI Enabled Self-Help
Known issues are resolved through intelligent automation that will match customer needs to available knowledge. When new customer issues are identified they are flagged and prioritized based on need for addition to the knowledge base.
2. Intelligent Resource Allocation
As customer issues are identified during a knowledge base search or new online ticket creation, issues will be triaged and directed to the most appropriate resource for resolution.
3. Skills Enhancement
Intelligent monitoring of service interactions will result in recommendations for skills development for both customers and service staff.
4. Relationship Development
Analysis of customer behaviors and sentiment will identify opportunities to sustain and enhance relationships. Resources can be directed to head-off potential issues that will negatively affect relationships. Targeted engagements will help to deliver value-added services to expand relationship value.
5. Product Quality Improvements
Analysis of customer issues provides the foundation for prioritizing corrective actions and product enhancements. Issues that otherwise may cause customers churn can be addressed before they defect.
6. Proactive Issue Resolution
Deep data analytics will monitor product performance and usage telemetry to identify potential issues and apply corrective actions.
Login for Access
If you don’t have an account, create a free* membership.
Featured: AI – A Catalyst for Support Transformation
Support has relied on training, technology, and self-help to achieve efficiency gains, yet the potential of AI offers so much more. Through the introduction of intelligence afforded by AI-enabled systems, we are not just streamlining the way we provide Support, we introduce the means to fundamentally change the strategic role of Support. Learn how AI can transform technical support.
Login
*Membership level determines your access to ServiceXRG research and other member services. Paid memberships include access to research and playbooks. Free memberships include access to some reports and discounts to others. Please visit our membership page for a list of available membership programs.
Related Articles
Segment your Customers
Your customer base contains a diverse population of customers each with distinct needs and expectations. Implementing an effective service segmentation strategy will improve service sales, increase customer retention rates and create opportunities to offer new and expanded services. Here are tips for developing a service segmentation strategy.
What Support Professionals Need to Know About AI in Support
Artificial Intelligence is not a silver bullet it is a tool. This tool however holds the key to fundamentally changing the way support is delivered. With the right application of AI fewer resources can handle more interactions and potentially in a more proactive and productive way. This article introduces the general concepts of Artificial Intelligence and presents ways that AI can be used within Support.
How IBM Support Uses Watson
The Service Innovation Series highlights examples of innovative approaches companies take to achieve service excellence. In this Service Innovation profile, we feature IBM’s use of its own Watson technologies as a platform to deliver a new approach to service delivery – Cognitive Support.
Read on to learn about IBM Cognitive Support.
Webinar AI – A Catalyst for Support Transformation
Robert Johnson, CEO of TeamSupport and Tom Sweeny, CEO of ServiceXRG discuss the opportunities and implications of using AI in Support. This webinar explores some of the ways that AI will act as a catalyst to drive transformation of the support operating model. A link to the recorded webinar is provided below.
AI – A Catalyst for Support Transformation
Support has been relentless in the pursuit of continuous improvement, yet the function of Support has remained fundamentally unchanged for decades. The logical evolution of Support is to focus more effort on developing and sustaining long term profitable customer relationships. Many Support organizations want to be more customer-success focused, but few have the capacity to change. To make this transition, Support resources need to focus on high value activities such as helping customers adopt and succeed with the products they purchase. AI is a critical catalyst to enable this inevitable Support transformation.
Seven Critical Steps for Successful Service Delivery Automation
This article introduces seven critical steps for successful service delivery automation and examines the intricacies and challenges associated with automating service processes.