Five core understandings CXOs need to deploy a successful conversational AI application.
Ruchika Drabla
May 29 • 4 min read
Companies that are quick to adopt technology adoption see significant growth and record-breaking profits. A brand new digital wave of conversational AI brought a lot of changes in the technology. Technology has the power to make or break an organization. Since 2000, almost half of Fortune 500 companies have failed. The reason behind this is the delay in realizing the potential of cutting-edge technology implementation.
One of the well-known examples that match the current situation of the pandemic is Netflix over Blockbuster. When everyone's at home, for the sake of not getting caught in a virus, all we think about is Netflix or any other streaming platforms. Whereas, Blockbuster was on the brink of success, but the failure at technological advancements ousted it.
Not only are there failure stories, but there are many success stories where CXOs took the initiative of technological advancement and boom, companies started making billions. One of the favourites is Wegmans, a grocery chain that quickly transformed into an online grocery store and made its promising customers comfortable at home. Especially in these COVID19 scenarios, CXOs who prioritized digital transformation played the market well.
To obtain or sustain a competitive advantage, AI is the key.
Chief executives are involved in making decisions that make or break an organization. In contrast, they are pretty much apprehensive about conversational AI. Nine out of ten enterprises believe that AI chatbots need to be more intelligent before they adopt them.
Embracing conversational AI is paramount to success. CXOs being a part of major corporate decisions always requires enhanced customer experience. Revolutionized CX and improved contact centre experience comes with the adoption of conversational AI.
Meeting end-to-end need of an enterprise
A chatbot requires to meet the requirements of end to end lifecycle management to achieve an enterprise's goals. It involves training, deployment, analysis and reinforcement. Enterprises sometimes allow the chatbot for particular channels. For instance, large banks can deploy a bot to mobile applications to provide their services. However, it is not available to customers using internet banking facilities.
Apart from making decisions relating to chatbot deployment, the chief executives also decide on testing the interaction and managing user experience, including latent learning and upgrading. Another important aspect is to analyze the engagement and successful reinforcement of the knowledge and CX offered by AI-powered chatbots.
Conversational interactions will become the face of the brand.
In traditional IVRs or customer support, human executives are considered the face of the brand. With the conversational solution adoption, the customer-facing point will change. So your brand name is in the hands of artificial intelligence. Whenever we hear a conversational bot, we think of Siri, Cortana, and other virtual personal assistants deployed by the tech giants. Your conversational AI must embody your firm's value and reflect the efficient skills in front of humans. The human touch of the bot will work as a cherry on the cake.
Gone are the days when a website was the face of your business. Now you must cope with the technology. Parallel to this, you must understand that your bot will portray an image, creating an impression on your potential customers.
Be informative
People confuse conventional chatbots and conversational AI solutions. The former provides pre-decided responses when a customer throws any query or concern. Rule-based chatbots are unable to understand the content and reply without an understanding of the issues. In contrast, customer experience solutions based on conversational AI are the future of today's consumer-focused market. Today's customers need a platform that understands the issue.
Conversational AI has deep integration into the information systems. They can have a conversation with humans across corporate channels like messaging, website, voice and social media. Hence, CXO must make a data-driven, informed decision with a clear idea of what is relevant for organizational growth.
Do they guarantee ROI?
CXOs need to keep in mind the successful implementation of bots as their implementation is correspondent with KPIs. The right approach is to boost KPIs that help in realizing ROI. A conversational bot powered by AI elongates various functions and offers endless customer services. There are many organizational goals to meet, which may vary for each. It can be cost-cutting, boosting employee productivity, implementing new digital strategies, or finding new service avenues.
ROI is identifiable by saving operational expenses. CXOs must understand the business requirements, which helps in understanding the extent of healthy and non-disruptive automation. Likewise, you must identify the measurements of success based on deployment.
Willing to pivot
CXO being one of the major in taking decisions, had to be sure about breaking what the firm had just built. It might be a possibility that the bot so formed is not as per your expectations. Or the firm's expectations. It might not be on the same page as you are. As it is the most visible aspect of your brand, you need to make the changes on priority. You must be willing to start again if it doesn't pop out the way you had in your mind.
As we have discussed the success and failure stories, it all depends on how the CXO plays the role. The winner will be the one who extends for the best CX and matches the market standards with AI. Being on the right track, AI will look like magic to the customers and make a unique brand image.
Hence, this massive digital transformation powered by AI requires assessment and technology capabilities.