Ask these questions before using A.I. in customer experience

Following these lessons can save the organization millions

There is a scene in the original Jurassic Park movie where Ian Malcolm (a character played by Jeff Goldblum) claims that the scientists “got so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” This same test needs to be applied when companies decide to incorporate new technology like A.I. in the name of customer experience.

Artificial Intelligence technology will do groundbreaking things to improve the customer experience. However, customer experience professionals are too often excited about what the technology can do and have blind spots to whether it will actually improve anything for the customer. If not, the technology (which is not cheap) can waste resources that could have a greater impact elsewhere.

Unfortunately, this was a lesson learned first-hand. A company I was with many years ago invested a large sum of money to build a new customer feedback reporting tool. As natural language processing was starting to emerge, it was looked at as a way to have better insight into combining, summarizing and reviewing millions of comments. Used correctly, the tool provided insights and direction into exactly how to improve the customer experience in each of the organization’s departments. The tool was impressive, technologically advanced and could have been a difference maker. But it was a failure.

In this example, the issue wasn’t whether the technology worked or whether it was an improvement from what existed. The reason it failed was that it didn’t address the right problem. Nobody used the new technology tool because people didn’t even use in the tools it replaced. There was no culture aligned with the customer experience. Employees were not held accountable to the data so they were generally indifferent to any customer feedback. Therefore, they were not interested in a tool that allowed them more insight into the data.

The organization got caught up in how it could use the emerging technology and failed to properly evaluate whether it would truly be the right investment into improving the customer experience. Had the company been aligned with the customer feedback, resources would have been directed elsewhere to solve more crucial customer pain points.

With the accelerated development of A.I., there is excitement to find ways to use the technology to improve the customer experience. There will certainly be innovative ways that artificial intelligence can be beneficial. However, companies need to be careful to ensure that they are investing in customer experience A.I. because they should, not because they can.

There are four main questions companies need to ask themselves before developing A.I. tools for the purpose of improving the customer experience.

Will the technology solve a main customer need, or is it being used to impress them?

In the customer experience world, too much emphasis is placed on delivering a “wow” moment instead of solving priority rational and emotional needs. Companies invest in a great deal of technology that can be flashy or memorable, but does very little to make a meaningful impact on the overall customer experience. Flash is fleeting.

What customers really care about is solving their rational and emotional needs. Any A.I. technology needs to make the customer’s life easier in one of the 4Ps of Customer Experience™. Identifying the real pain points requires a detailed examination of the customer feedback.

The customer feedback will help the customer experience professional know what problem to solve. For example, if the data shows problems in the environment, or rude and dismissive employees, A.I. might not be where to start investing. On the other hand, if problems are identified where A.I. will help solve the issue, then A.I. is a consideration.

An example that is happening today in many healthcare companies is to integrate A.I. into call centers. There is nothing wrong with utilizing the technology to improve the call experience. The problem is that most companies are pushing technologies like an A.I.-powered symptom checker for patients on the phone. This does have value for both patients and caregivers. However, when it comes to the patient experience, the majority of calls to the healthcare call centers are related to frustrations with password problems using the health system’s portal.

The symptom checker is more innovative and fun for developers, so it gets attention. But better login systems will improve the overall patient experience more. Solving needs like password problems is a better place to start with limited resources. It can reduce calls, which save money for companies, likely uses less resources to develop and has a larger impact on patient satisfaction. The symptom checker is worth pursuing as a way to improve outcomes and profit, but shouldn't be done in the name of improving the patient experience.

Is the technology for the company’s benefit or the customers?

There are many useful technologies that help businesses reduce costs and pass on benefits to customers in the form of cost savings. But with every change, there can be unintended consequences. We see this with many new technologies that help the business, but worsen the customer experience. The loss in customer experience can be a larger deterrent to a customer returning than higher costs.

An example of this is found in asking the restaurant customer to scan a QR code for a menu. It does help the restaurant reduce the cost of updating menus and allows for adjusting prices as needed. However, this makes the customer do more work and spend more energy for arguably the same thing as they are used to getting with no effort (even with a simple paper menu that can also be adjusted cheaply).

It is a very different experience in viewing a menu on a phone as opposed to being presented with something branded and tangible. With a traditional menu, eyes can flow across the options better. Servers can point and highlight recommendations. There is a negative impact on the customer experience for very little customer value. Menus are not the place to start using technology to save money.

An emerging A.I. menu example is the concept of having dynamic pricing on fast food menus. This is similar to Uber’s surge pricing where the price of the food will change based on the demand or availability. It certainly helps the company profit more. But there is no doubt it can reduce the customer experience and create frustration. Customers are people and humans are wired to crave certainty and predictability. A restaurant might argue that it can create a benefit to customers by lowering the price at certain times and provide a deal. But what if that deal isn’t available when it usually is? There will be disappointment.

That is not to say that A.I. technologies need to only be limited to customer benefits. There are plenty of ways the technology can, and should, be used to help reduce costs for the company. The important question to ask in that scenario is how those internal benefits impact the experience for the customer and whether it will impact the likelihood of them being loyal to return. Companies need to weigh the costs of losing customers (and implementing the technology) with the increased revenue or savings.

Is the technology more than the customer is ready for or finds necessary?

Technology can be impressive and entertaining, but can come at the cost of being more complicated than the traditional experience. That means more mental or physical energy for customers. That decreases the customer experience.

Amazon Just Walk Out is a growing technology that allows customers, after signing up on the app, to skip the checkout line by using a system of A.I. tools, cameras and sensors. Amazon has created Amazon Go as a convenience store that uses the technology. It is impressive technology, but many people don’t find grabbing a beverage at a typical bodega that challenging or burdensome. There is a mental hurdle of learning new steps and processes and it might not be worth it for many potential customers (however, this might be worth learning and practicing if it saves 20 minutes at a sports event that a customer frequents).

This is an example of how technology can be helpful, even to customers, but companies need to have patience with adoption and might not see immediate customer loyalty or engagement after implementing it. In general, customers like to take small steps into new technology. As industrial designer Raymond Loewy taught us, most people are interested in new things, but prefer familiarity. Just think of the success of movie sequels or how parents tend to name their children popular names. There is an evolutionary reason for this: if you recognize an animal or plant, then it probably hadn’t killed you and was safe.

The key with new customer technology is to use a familiar process, but improve the system. Want to get someone to try a new food? Prepare it similar to something they have had before and liked. If you want customers to utilize a new technology system, try and have it as part of a familiar process. People can handle a little change if it is wrapped in something they are used to. Most customers will engage with something like Apple Pay (which can more convenient, safer and quicker than paying with cash or credit cards) before they will go through the mental changes required with Amazon Just Walk Out. This is because Apple Pay still uses the traditional process that people are familiar with and it still provides new benefits to them.

With any technology change, there will always be customers that are early adopters and some that will never change. What is helpful with integrating new technology like A.I. is to consider this range and not force customers to move more quickly into adoption faster than they are reasonably ready. It might mean having multiple options before sunsetting old processes.

Is the technology being used to support employees in delivering a better customer experience or is it designed to replace the employees?

One trend in companies implementing technology is to work to eliminate humans that interact with customers in an effort to save money. We see this in chat bots and automated call centers. The justification from companies is that they save money by eliminating operating staff or can, in theory, speed the process up by letting customers self-serve and not wait for the limited staff availability.

Replacing customer-facing employees with computers can often save money, but reduce the customer experience. But if costs, time and effort are equal, there are few customers that prefer to do things themselves instead of having a person dedicated to serving their needs. White glove, concierge service has a luxury image for a reason. Customers are human and they ultimately want to be seen and understood. They want people to care about them. Robots are incredibly efficient with tasks, but they don’t care. Customers don’t like interacting with them. Misusing A.I. to replace humans in the experience can reduce the customer experience.

The problem is that the cost is too high for every customer to have a dedicated helper without waiting for them. So, customers are willing to make a trade off to an extent. A person might find it is easier and cheaper to purchase their own airplane ticket. Their own brain might move quicker through the choices than trying to explain it. But most people find it easier to quickly hotel staff where a room is rather than being told to figure it out on a kiosk. Unfortunately, companies are often taking away more than customers can handle while still having a satisfying experience.

The sweet spot is using A.I. to prioritize supporting employees to be more efficient and more effective in customer experience. First, instead of shifting the work and effort to the customer, A.I. technology can be used to work on the back end in a way that reduces work for employees. Things like data entry, research or problem solving can efficiently support those who interact with customers. A.I. can also help make customer experience more personal. Like any good CRM (a database for managing customer information), A.I. can remember things about the customer to help employees connect with them. But the advantage A.I. has over a CRM is that it is more advanced and can make suggestions or “read the room” in a way to help employees guide the experience or course correct.

A.I. should be looked at as a helpful colleague for employees in the experience with customers. The cost savings in making employees more effective and efficient, while building customer loyalty, is a win for companies. Meanwhile, the preservation of real human interactions is a win for customers.

In the end, it is about tradeoffs

Artificial intelligence has the power to help companies in many ways. It can help them improve processes, increase efficiency and save money. It can also empower customers with new tools to enhance the experience. Companies will need to continue to explore opportunities with A.I. to stay ahead.

But for any company investing in A.I. technology, there needs to be a consideration about the impact to the customer. That is not to say that all A.I. needs to be a customer benefit or that using A.I. to improve the business without helping the customer is wrong. Instead, companies need to consider how a new A.I. initiative will impact the customer experience. If those considerations are ignored, the company can experience financial harm by frustrating customers.

It should also not be assumed that developing A.I. for the purpose of enhancing the customer experience will have that result. If a company ignores these four questions, it can end up wasting a lot of money.

Michael Pearce is a managing principal at Hundred Ten, LLC