Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is critical to upholding a brand’s reputation; an unhappy customer can be lost to a competitor or can create negative reviews. It is therefore important that if a customer needs to contact your company they have multiple options for doing so. All customers are different and prefer communication via different means. However, over recent years with the digital transformation happening Social Media has arisen as a preferred contact method.
Marketing departments have found themselves adjusting to the popularity of these platforms, while racing to keep up with an overflow of messages from customers. Making yourself available on a channel is only part of the story. If you are unable to service that it could do more damage.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has recently hit headlines in its search for a solution to managing its customer service on Social Media.
With 100,000+ mentions per week on its Social Media platforms, KLM has a dedicated team of 235 Social Media service agents, who personally engage in over 15,000 conversations per day. KLM also use bots for queries that need an urgent response.
These statistics show the clear need for a solution to revolutionise the current methods used for electronic Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM), especially on Social Media. Its agents needed a solution that would make customer interactions quicker, smarter and more personalised. While bots are good for simple responses they cannot replicate human behaviour or conversation that is required for excellent customer service.
The digital transformation has helped make technology smarter enabling it to assist people in their daily interactions, specifically Artificial Intelligence (AI). KLM has now partnered with DigitalGenius to provide an AI layer for the brand’s Social Media contact centres.
KLM recognises the need for both human and technological intelligence. In order to provide excellent customer service, personalisation is crucial. AI helps to facilitate this and is an example of how AI can enhance our lives – in this case improving the customer experience and thereby strengthening the brand.
KLM has always been innovative with its use of Social Media. Now it is going beyond that realising it is not only about being present on the channels, it is about executing them to the highest standard.
With the help of AI, KLM’s agents now have time to deal with more queries and can deliver smarter answers than ever before. Bots similarly can now respond with urgent information within minutes with a more personalised touch.
AI is used for a variety of functions in a number of different industries and it is now proving to be a useful tool for marketers. Brands struggling to perform strongly on their Social Media platforms can now use AI to help better service them. As AI becomes smarter and more advanced it will find even more ways to add further value to people’s lives. For now, the prospect of using it to enhance marketing offerings is an exciting one.