Redefining the Contact Center with Jonathan Rosenberg

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This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:   

1. How can companies effectively balance customer self-service with personal interactions in high-stakes situations? 
2. How does AI contribute to transforming contact center agents into brand ambassadors? 
3. Why is empathy important in customer service interactions, and how can AI complement this human trait? 
4. How does the implementation of AI tools impact companies’ return on investment? 
5. How does generative AI reduce labor costs in contact centers while maintaining human involvement?

Top Takeaways

• AI is changing the way that contact centers operate. AI-driven tools can handle simple queries and support human employees in answering complex questions. It allows businesses to offer quick, precise help that reduces call and hold times while keeping human agents available for tasks requiring empathy and complex problem-solving. 

• Self-service options are growing more advanced and popular. Although AI can tackle straightforward and repetitive tasks, humans are necessary for high-stakes or complicated situations due to their ability to understand emotions and contexts more deeply.  

• AI isn’t about replacing human employees but empowering them. It provides agents with insights and recommendations in real time so they can focus on building stronger relationships with customers. With AI tools, agents can support customers more effectively, easily handle complex queries, and even seize upsell opportunities.  

• Great customer experiences can lead to loyal customers. With AI tools, employees can easily access customer’s history of interactions with the brand and get information from a broad knowledge base that can help them offer personalized solutions. When customers feel understood and valued, they are more likely to return and tell others about their positive experiences.  

• AI is quicker and more cost-effective to implement than ever, and the return on investment from AI in customer service is significant. AI can shorten call handling times and make each interaction more efficient, saving money for the business.  

• Plus, Shep and Jonathan discuss what happens to companies that are laggards when it comes to adopting AI. Tune in!

Quotes:

“Setting up and implementing AI has historically been expensive and prohibitive for businesses. Now, with generative AI, it is quick and easy to get started, and the cost of maintaining it is low.” 

“AI can never provide empathy because empathy is a fundamentally human characteristic.” 

“The experience you have when you talk to the contact center drives brand loyalty or disloyalty. When you nail it and deliver a great experience, you earn a customer for life.” 

“The role of the contact center agent in the future is to become brand ambassadors whose job is to create revenue and retain customers.” 

“A gauntlet has been thrown at the feet of the contact center industry. That gauntlet is a challenge for us to deliver experiences that people actually love.”

About:

Jonathan Rosenberg is the Chief Technology Officer and head of AI at Five9. He is responsible for the engineering and operational teams building Five9’s Genius AI portfolio.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.