The Power of Human-Applied AI with Verizon CXO Brian Higgins

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

1. Will AI replace human employees? 
2. How can AI and human employees work together to enhance customer service? 
3. Why should companies prioritize customer experience? 
4. What is the role of AI in improving the interaction between employees and customers? 
5. In what ways can AI personalization impact customer loyalty and retention?

Top Takeaways

• The customer experience is essential for any business. It plays a role in attracting and keeping customers. It affects how customers perceive the brand, its products, and pricing. An exceptional experience keeps customers coming back and builds brand love.  

• Technology is transforming customer experience. Companies use AI to provide employees with real-time information, helping them better assist customers and enhance the overall experience. 

• Instead of replacing jobs, AI empowers employees by working alongside them. This allows them to focus on interpreting and sharing information with the customer in a way that best suits their needs, whether empathetic, energetic, enthusiastic, detailed, or simplified.  

• Digital interactions are crucial for enhancing the customer experience, but they must be organic. Brands need to ensure that their customers want to interact with them digitally, and when they do, it needs to be seamless.  

• The employee experience is closely linked to the customer experience. If the employees are unhappy and don’t feel they have the right policies and tools, your customers will not have a good experience. 

• AI can simplify complex business interactions and lead to a more customer-centric experience. By using predictive and generative AI, businesses can anticipate what customers need, offer relevant deals, and make complex information easier for employees to understand and relay to customers. 

• Brands must prioritize creating a positive impact in every interaction, keeping in mind that it may be the customer’s only interaction with you in a long time. The role of every employee is to prioritize each interaction as a key moment, recognizing that it can significantly impact the brand and Net Promoter Score. By focusing on delivering amazing experiences every time, employees can play an essential role in building brand love and long-term customer relationships. 

• Plus, Shep and Brian discuss how Verizon continuously monitors and mitigates pain points at every stage of the customer journey. Tune in! 

Quotes:

“Empowering your employees to quickly and correctly address any breakdown in the customer experience is crucial. Ensure you provide them with the tools to engage with customers effectively.” 

“AI is a powerful tool that should complement, not replace, human interactions. Human-applied AI leverages the capabilities of artificial intelligence to empower employees who engage directly with customers, elevating the customer experience to a superior level.” 

“Treat every interaction like it could be the customer’s only interaction with you over the next three years. Handle each interaction like it is the one moment that can greatly impact your brand.” 

About:

Brian Higgins is Verizon Consumer Group’s Chief Customer Experience Officer. He ensures that Verizon employees have the right tools, capabilities, and resources to excel at delivering amazing customer experiences.  

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