4 organizations that took chatbots to the next level

Conversational AI has developed at break-neck speed since the world’s first voice assistant launched in 2011. Just three years later, the term generative AI was applied to more advanced tools and models capable of generating novel content by sourcing new data, rather than simply analyzing or acting on existing data.

Based on natural language processing (NLP), generative AI has exploded in popularity since the end of 2022 thanks to that latest release of OpenAi’s Chat GPT, a tool that is already being put to work by CX leaders and practitioners.

In this article, CX Network takes a look at four chatbot deployments that elevated the standard of CX across industries and geographies.

William Hill: Meeting customer demand with emotional intelligence

International gambling company William Hill sees huge spikes in urgent customer demands during major events such as the FIFA World Cup. These demands cannot be reasonably staffed by human agents, so the firm turned to chatbots.

It embarked on its first deployment in 2020 as part of a channel expansion strategy, starting with an FAQ bot that could assist with basic queries, including deposit information. In less than a year it had developed an advanced chat estate that could leverage customer data to personalize the conversation and liaise with other bots to solve queries around checking payment methods; knowing when and how to obtain anti-money laundering paperwork for larger deposits; and using pattern recognition to monitor word groupings and identify behavior that could signal a customer requires immediate support.

William Hill head of self-service Chris Coyle says: “It can be a very serious situation if somebody has done something they should not have done in terms of losing money or spending money they don’t have. We need to be very articulate in terms of how we spot that.
“We have seen chatbots in the past with dead ends and a lot of chatbots in other sectors and markets that make finding a person for support extremely difficult. It is understandable that the volume of customers can impact this, but our bot is very much geared to get a person to that customer straight away,” he adds.

The chat channel has been so successful, the business is turning away from email and voice communications to become fully message based. It has made significant financial savings and is now deploying the technology across its operations in Spain, Denmark, Italy and Sweden.

Become a CX Network member and gain exclusive access to our upcoming digital events, industry reports and expert webinars

Cash App: Self-service with sentiment analysis

A similar approach was adopted by mobile payment and crypto service Cash App. Its customer support bot is available to allow customers to self-serve and is augmented with sentiment analysis capabilities to understand a customer’s mood. It does this by analyzing sentence structures and verbal cues, allowing enquiries to be prioritized in a way that provides a convenient and empathetic response for customers at any time of day.

Joshua Tye, CX Network Advisory Board member and senior customer operations lead for Cash App, says: “Our support bot utilizes a human-centered design process when customers are reaching out, particularly outside of normal business hours. The bot will field the enquiry and [using sentiment analysis] will assess the pain points and sentiments behind that enquiry, understanding the emotional state the customer arrives in.”

The support bot analyzes the level of emotional volatility for each customer to determine who is most in need of support. It then prioritizes the enquiries to ensure customers receive support as quickly as possible.

RELATED CONTENT: Understanding the Asian customers’ digital buying journey

IDES: AI executes millions of unemployment enquiries during pandemic

Chatbots came into their own during the Covid-19 pandemic, as live service centers in both private and public sector organizations remained shut at a time of intense demand.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) saw a surge in inbound unemployment claims from those seeking help to access Federal and State pandemic assistance over this time.
To automate and streamline the demand it experienced, the decision was taken to utilize chat and telephony virtual agents to answer more than 35 common queries on state and federal unemployment benefits.

IDES deployed Quantiphi’s Rapid Response Virtual Agent on its website, which in its first two weeks effectively assisted citizens with 3.2 million inquiries. Within four weeks it had been trained in more than 100 further customer intents. The virtual agent was also integrated with a content management system for easy update and modification of intent responses by IDES staff.

It is estimated the state will save US$100mn a year through the efficiencies delivered by these tools

RELATED CONTENT: The lowdown on ChatGPT and what it thinks of CX

ASOS.com: AI drives customer service scores

ASOS.com executed a number of market-leading conversational AI deployments, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing it to build a reputation for innovative, hyper-personalized experiences.

It was an early pioneer of the “gift-guiding” chatbot, which was launched for Christmas 2017 to assist shoppers in navigating its vast catalog through a series of questions.

The following year its proactive fashion bot Enki debuted to help personalize browsing based on a customer’s previous interactions and purchases. Powered by Google, Enki was also available on Google Assistant, making ASOS one of the first fashion retailers in the UK to sell to customers through a voice assistant.

When similar technology was applied to the ASOS customer service function in 2020 it significantly moved the needle on customer satisfaction. ASOS chose to streamline its service channels by introducing a single point of entry via live chat. This led ASOS to deploy a virtual assistant to work alongside front-line advisors and tackle the customer care workload.

According to Joseph Vassie, head of insight and analytics at ASOS, live chat was “evidently the space in which ASOS could create the best customer service experiences”. In the first 24 months after deployment, ASOS added 50 points to its NPS, saw attrition “reduced significantly” and saw improvements in resolution rates and waiting times.

Discover how Irish Life, Pendragon and NICE are driving innovation in self-service

Unlock potent CX strategies from Irish Life, Pendragon, and NICE. Dive into data-driven self-service insights to enhance client satisfaction while reducing operational costs. A must-read report!

Learn More