Pre-configured content and messages, more efficient target segmentation, more detailed knowledge of needs, new working methods... Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, customer relations have been transformed. Artificial intelligence (AI) is helping to improve and personalise the customer experience. For example, by analysing the customer's voice in a targeted and extended way. So what does analysing the voice of the customer with AI involve? What are the benefits for the company? Which tool should you use? José Zullo, consultant and trainer in interpersonal communication and relational intelligence, explains.
Is it a revolt?
No, it's a revolution, Sire.
This was the response of the King's advisor to the question put by Louis XVI.
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionise many sectors. And companies, particularly in France, are making no mistake: 30 % of them say they are devoting a budget of more than €1 million a year to AI-enabled technologies. What's more, 70 % of these companies are preparing to invest more in AI over the next few years.
AI, customer relations, what exactly are we talking about?
AI is an innovative technology that makes it possible to process large quantities of data, understand natural language, interact with users and make decisions, sometimes complex decisions, adapted to the context. For example, adapting a product or service, or reviewing a customer journey, if not in real time, then at least in less time than is usually the case. AI is used in many areas, including customer relations, where it offers considerable advantages.
AI makes it possible to improve and personalise the customer experienceThis is achieved by offering services that are accessible 24/7, advice tailored to the needs and preferences of each customer, and fast, effective solutions to any problems encountered.
Thanks to AI, companies can optimize their internal processes by detecting opportunities and risks, and helping employees to make the best decisions, while optimising the quality of service and relationships. This makes it possible to :
automate certain processes ;
Example
Automatic generation of customer e-mails at the end of the call, automatic summary of the telephone exchange with the customer and integration of this into the CRM.
analyse documents ;
Example
Semantic analysis of key elements contained in an e-mail, letter or customer review.
Analyze the voice of the customer to chart the course
As part of a customer-focused strategy, it is essential to to listen and act accordingly. This means anticipating or resolving the obstacles and pitfalls that are bound to obstruct the customer journey.
A growing number of companies are taking an interest in the voice of the customer in order to understand their expectations and take them into account when developing their offerings.
Listen to the customer's voice (and not just hear it)
Listening is not just about hearing, it's about understanding better. Better understanding means better service. To serve better in order to satisfy. Satisfy to build loyalty.
Attention to the voice of the customer must be at the heart of all customer experience programmes.
Unlike traditional methods of gathering information, it can now be processed automatically and in real time using feedback-gathering software. These semantic analysis tools make it possible to analyse written and verbal customer feedback on the fly, and to present it in daily-generated dashboards, thereby promoting better customer knowledge.
Examples
La Banque Postale to advise its customers on new financial products
Orange to offer more tailored services
Yellow Pages to better understand the causes of customer attrition
The results provide valuable information about a company's reputation, strengths, weaknesses, competitive opportunities and market position.
Analysing the voice of the customer therefore enables companies to rapidly adapt their strategy to changing consumer expectations, by defining the actions to be taken to improve the customer experience.
Speech analytics: at the heart of the Voice of the Customer (VoC) analysis reactor
What better way to analyse the voice of the customer than with speech analytics? This analysis tool is a word tracker. It collects a wealth of semantic data from interactions between customers and companies: telephone calls, e-mails, satisfaction surveys, opinions on social networks, etc.
Speech Analytics to measure the volume of dissatisfied/very dissatisfied customers based on the number of incoming calls per month.
Speech analytics cultivates lexical fields to develop better customer knowledge. This AI makes it possible to offer customers a more pleasant experience and solutions that meet their needs. All you have to do is configure the lexical categories you want to capture: reasons for dissatisfaction, repeat business, potential churn, etc. For example, are the irritants due to the sales promise, product performance or return on investment? Or what changes are needed to increase customer loyalty?
Example of Speech Analytics to analyse the language of customer attrition.
But customer relations aren't just about words, they're also about the heart. And emotions are never far away. That's why speech analytics is increasingly being accompanied by emotion analytics.
This tool measures the customer's emotional experience and makes it easier to identify fragile customers, in other words those who remain loyal but express strong verbal or written dissatisfaction. These are the churners of tomorrow. By associating call patterns with strong anger, companies can identify the levers on which to prioritise action. The new analysis tools are able to detect "very angry" customers on the basis of the tone, volume and flow of the customer's voice. And when these are matched with recurring reasons for dissatisfaction, the first levers on which to act become obvious.
The "augmented" agent
This technology can go even further when combined with quality management. This involves analysing the advisor's voice as well as that of the customer. In this way, quality and compliance checks on interactions can be automated.
For example, do employees:
respected the framework of the speech?
promoted and offered the post-call satisfaction survey to customers?
ensured that it met the customer's initial requirements?
Speech analytics: what are the other benefits?
Reduced time spent by advisers and supervisors on low value-added calls;
improved productivity with an optimised quality process;
Save time on better-targeted training initiatives.
And this list is obviously not exhaustive.
Speech analytics is not only a tool for improving customer knowledge, it is also a way of better hearing what the customer is saying in order to understand them better and serve them better.
Confucius summed it up perfectly in a visionary aphorism: "Without a common language, business cannot be done"..
AI represents a veritable revolution. Some are even talking about a tsunami, as AI is now sweeping through everyday objects. AI promises to be everywhere: Cars, washing machines, headphones, smartphones, cameras, loudspeakers, mobility devices, medical equipment, televisions... Combined with tools for analysing the voice of the customer, these new predictive or object-connected (IoT) technologies seem to be shaping even more advanced customer experiences and opening up even wider fields of possibility.
