How the advancement of Generative AI is transforming customer relationships

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a novelty in customer service. However, the advancement of Generative AI is revolutionizing how companies engage with their consumers, opening a range of opportunities to provide increasingly personalized and efficient experiences.

What are Generative AIs?

Unlike traditional conversational AIs, which rely on predefined responses, Generative AIs can generate unique and contextualized responses using information provided during the interaction and learning from each new dialogue. This ability to generate original and human-like responses, similar to human interaction, has the potential to completely transform the customer service landscape.

Impact of Generative AI on customer experience:

Generative AIs can be used at various stages of the customer journey, from initial contact to post-sale support:

• Customer Engagement: Through chatbots and virtual assistants, companies can offer personalized 24/7 service, answering queries, providing product information, and even facilitating sales. Scalable personalization, driven by AI, allows each customer to feel unique and valued.
• Enhanced Self-Service: Generative AI enables the creation of more effective self-service systems capable of understanding complex queries and offering personalized solutions without human intervention. This leads to faster service and cost reductions for companies.
• Proactive and Preventive Support: With data analysis and machine learning, Generative AIs can identify patterns and predict customer needs, enabling companies to act proactively by offering personalized solutions before the customer even realizes they need assistance.

Success stories:

Innovative companies are already reaping the benefits of applying Generative AI to customer relationships:

• Instacart: The American grocery delivery startup uses Generative AI to offer personalized search capabilities to its customers. The tool responds to open-ended questions such as “What should I pack in my child’s lunchbox?” or “Are there gluten-free snacks?”, providing tailored suggestions and encouraging the discovery of new products.
• Wendy’s: The fast-food chain implemented a Generative AI tool to automate orders at the drive-thru. Developed in partnership with Google Cloud, the system efficiently handles customer orders, understands their requests, and can even customize them with special requests.

In addition to these international cases, Brazilian companies are also testing and advancing in this area. For example, Porto Insurance is testing Generative AI in broker support, while some airlines have similar initiatives in their project roadmap. The telecommunications sector, such as Vivo, has publicly discussed using Generative AI in its customer service chat.

The future of customer service:

Generative AI is constantly evolving and will soon become an integral part of customer service. It is essential for companies to prepare for this revolution by defining strategies to effectively and safely incorporate this technology.

The importance of strategy:

To fully harness the potential of Generative AI, companies must prioritize which customer service opportunities to focus on, which technological platforms to use, and how to develop internal capabilities to deliver excellent service. Risk management is also crucial to ensure that AI is used ethically and responsibly.

The advancement of Generative AI represents a unique opportunity for companies looking to build stronger and more lasting relationships with their customers. Companies that can leverage the power of this technology will be better positioned to thrive in an increasingly competitive market focused on customer experience.