How Do Agents Go From Problem-Solving To Relationship-Building?

How Do Agents Go From Problem-Solving To Relationship-Building?

During the recent younite CX 2024 event, Oliver Dippel from Telefónica Germany talked about how human CX agents can work more effectively with artificial intelligence (AI). Oliver’s presentation unpacked a bold new vision. Imagine AI handling the heavy lifting, while agents focus on empathy, deeper customer connections and driving sales with a more personal touch.

The power of Oliver’s presentation was that he was not making a proposal for an idea that might be useful next year. He was outlining how his team is already structured. His ideas demonstrate how we can leverage the power of AI while keeping a human in the loop - the best of both worlds.

What Oliver was really asking is, what is the role of the agent? When a customer is talking to a human on a support channel they usually need some questions answered. It means they have a problem with their account or a device. They need help.

Oliver is suggesting that this creates an opportunity to create a highly positive outcome. Not only can you help the customer to resolve the problem, but you can upsell or cross-sell something that helps them. It’s not creating an unnecessary sale - the point is to engage the customer in conversation, build a connection, learn how they are using the product and make some helpful suggestions.

The difference with the Telefónica strategy is that they focus on training the agents to offer help, to build empathy, to start conversations. They want agents that are highly skilled in building a relationship with the customer.

They don’t need to be technical experts. This is where the AI steps in. The agent does have about three weeks of product training before they start, so they do know the product range, but the AI knows every product and every question a customer has ever asked. This is the digital support offered to every agent.

So the role of the agent becomes less focused on technical support and more about building emotional support - show that the brand wants a relationship with the customer.

This is the personal human touch in action.

The AI offers each agent the technical knowledge they need to support all the products and services being used by the customers. It can suggest answers to customer questions in realtime. It can offer ideas and it has the experience of all those previous customer interactions - so there is very rarely a technical question that it will not understand.

This leaves the agent free to dive deeper into the conversation. To go beyond the immediate problem. To ask how the customer is using the product. Is there anything they might need? Is there anything missing? How can we help further?

By creating new conversations that go beyond the initial ‘I have a problem’ from the customer call, the agent can build trust and empathy and is highly likely to be able to suggest ideas for upgrades or new products that will help the customer to improve their experience.

As consumers we all know how selling feels when it is performed poorly. An agent suggests a product we don’t want and will not take the answer no. What the Telefónica approach does is to assume that many of their customers would be happy to buy additional products, if they are introduced in a helpful way when the customer is talking about what they need.

This strategic use of AI in the customer experience shows that keeping a human in the loop remains essential, because it builds empathy and connection, and this generates sales. The technical process of answering a support question can be more effectively handled by the AI, but it can’t create a meaningful conversation that emotionally connects to the customer.

Follow the link to Oliver’s presentation at the start of this article to see how agents can go from technical problem-solvers to relationship-builders.

For more information about the agile yoummday approach to twenty-first century sales and customer experience please check our website here…

Creative Commons Photo by: Neil Thomas