AI Customer Service - Live Chat & Email

AI Customer Service - Live Chat & Email

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jonamv8

Original Poster:

3,229 posts

181 months

Tuesday 12th November 2024
quotequote all
Hi All,

Got an ecom business running WooCommerce on WordPress.

It handles a lot of basic customer service requests on email, basic questions that we could teach AI to answer. Can we have these emails responded to automatically in an effective manner - Would like to introduce LIVE CHAT via AI also.

Ideally would want solution to be able to deal with specific customer questions relating to their order, was it sent, when etc etc. All this info is in the WooCommerce Database and currently a human is searching finding info and relaying to customer.

Anyone know/use an AI system that could automate this? Googling throws up some options but interested in anyone's real-world experience of actually integrating one and were they any good?

Cheers - Jon

BGARK

5,621 posts

261 months

Tuesday 12th November 2024
quotequote all
jonamv8 said:
Hi All,

Got an ecom business running WooCommerce on WordPress.

It handles a lot of basic customer service requests on email, basic questions that we could teach AI to answer. Can we have these emails responded to automatically in an effective manner - Would like to introduce LIVE CHAT via AI also.

Ideally would want solution to be able to deal with specific customer questions relating to their order, was it sent, when etc etc. All this info is in the WooCommerce Database and currently a human is searching finding info and relaying to customer.

Anyone know/use an AI system that could automate this? Googling throws up some options but interested in anyone's real-world experience of actually integrating one and were they any good?

Cheers - Jon
yes we are building exactly this and a lot more, using www.make.com


Redarress

714 posts

222 months

Tuesday 12th November 2024
quotequote all
We use this for clients Wordpress websites

https://www.tidio.com/.

Easy to instal and very easy to program the AI to answer site visitors questions

wheelerc

228 posts

157 months

Wednesday 13th November 2024
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A client is currently setting up https://www.intercom.com/ and I'm helping integrate it a bit deeper into the CRM system. Looks reasonable.

DSLiverpool

15,491 posts

217 months

Thursday 14th November 2024
quotequote all
jonamv8 said:
Hi All,

Got an ecom business running WooCommerce on WordPress.

It handles a lot of basic customer service requests on email, basic questions that we could teach AI to answer. Can we have these emails responded to automatically in an effective manner - Would like to introduce LIVE CHAT via AI also.

Ideally would want solution to be able to deal with specific customer questions relating to their order, was it sent, when etc etc. All this info is in the WooCommerce Database and currently a human is searching finding info and relaying to customer.

Anyone know/use an AI system that could automate this? Googling throws up some options but interested in anyone's real-world experience of actually integrating one and were they any good?

Cheers - Jon
Only one serious solution right now is Gorgias - spend time setting it up and it’ll do more than you need. Funnily enough we’re looking at creating a AI cheaper version for smaller retailers - not sure I can be motivated anymore.

But Gorgias is what you need.

cashmax

1,329 posts

255 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
In this crazy world of alienating customers with automated systems, AI chatbots and multiple submenus all to try and avoid having to directly interact with customers, I wonder how long it will be before businesses start to understand that the real differentiation will be companies that can simply answer the phone and engage directly with the people paying their wages.

I'm shocked on a daily basis that a business will allocate a significant spend to marketing activities to attract new customers, but doesn't understand the benefits of actually responding/interacting directly with them.




rustyuk

4,705 posts

226 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
I worked on implementing a solution for one of the Big 6 energy companies. The license cost for the AI agents ended up costing more than hiring a couple of staff members to reply to emails.

Self service and improving customer comms is the best solution for simple questions, with the later eliminating the need to contact you in the first place.

Also, I've often found that when automated workflows are recommended as a solution they are just masking poor or outdated processes.

22s

6,452 posts

231 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
wheelerc said:
A client is currently setting up https://www.intercom.com/ and I'm helping integrate it a bit deeper into the CRM system. Looks reasonable.
My experience is that Intercom is ridiculously expensive for what it does. It's okay for complex enterprise use cases but for a smaller ecom player it's a rip off. I found it to be like Hubspot - they tempt you in with a semi reasonable price, but as soon as you add on the functionality you actually want it becomes expensive very quickly.

Tidio is good, cheap and easy to use. This would be my choice.

Gorgias not used so can't comment.

The Make solution sounds interesting but probably very laborious to set up so intrigued to know why it's being set up that way.

I'm not sure how "AI " any of the solutions really are - it's more like "if this then that" smart conversation flow management with maybe a basic LLM/GPT wrapper to try to and understand what the user is asking.

But as per the other poster, I think most consumers just want to speak to someone. Whenever I use a chatbot I almost instantly just type "agent" or "advisor" to get put through to a team member.

If you're doing any kind of volume and sell globally, the best option would be Tidio + some CS agents in the Phillippines or South Africa who can manage CS 24/7 for a few dollars an hour.

Dingu

4,885 posts

45 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
cashmax said:
In this crazy world of alienating customers with automated systems, AI chatbots and multiple submenus all to try and avoid having to directly interact with customers, I wonder how long it will be before businesses start to understand that the real differentiation will be companies that can simply answer the phone and engage directly with the people paying their wages.

I'm shocked on a daily basis that a business will allocate a significant spend to marketing activities to attract new customers, but doesn't understand the benefits of actually responding/interacting directly with them.

You’ll probably find that it makes little tangible difference. It’s one thing saying you prefer something and another paying more for it.

DSLiverpool

15,491 posts

217 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
Good AI helping with order enquiries/ return process and restock etc is a far better solution than people doing it.


I’m attached to an astonishing AI abandoned basket recovery project launching next year. It’s free based on a % of sales it recovers.

Terminator X

17,787 posts

219 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
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O/T but the inability to get to a human pisses me off big time. No end of frustration with automated voice calls today and imho AI will be the next level of annoyance.

TX.

22s

6,452 posts

231 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
Good AI helping with order enquiries/ return process and restock etc is a far better solution than people doing it.
That is definitely true. But anything that doesn't fit into the box of:

- Where is my order?
- How can I return my order?
- Other generic question, etc

Is generally better addressed by a human (even if they can't immediately answer it).

BGARK

5,621 posts

261 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
22s said:
That is definitely true. But anything that doesn't fit into the box of:

- Where is my order?
- How can I return my order?
- Other generic question, etc

Is generally better addressed by a human (even if they can't immediately answer it).
All of these questions can easily be answer by AI, drafted into a response, for a human to cast their eye over and press send. After some corrections in training it can fully automated.



mikef

5,627 posts

266 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
“Please tell us in a few words what your call today is about”

“You sent me a letter asking me to call this number. Do you want the reference?”

“Please tell us in a few words what your call today is about”

“Could I speak to a customer service representative?”

“Please tell us in a few words what your call today is about”

Yes, American Express, I’m talking about you…

jonamv8

Original Poster:

3,229 posts

181 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
Good AI helping with order enquiries/ return process and restock etc is a far better solution than people doing it.


I’m attached to an astonishing AI abandoned basket recovery project launching next year. It’s free based on a % of sales it recovers.
Exactly, simple stuff, like I've not received my order, what's your order number, confirm your postcode and the AI bot getting the date/time/tracking of the order for customer instantly is better than waiting for an hour for a human response.

Anything in the pre-order process IMO is better handled by a human.

Q. How does the AI Abandoned Basket differ from the likes of MailChimp et all who have been doing it for a while Dave ?? We've used that with a decent success rate tbf

Rick101

7,069 posts

165 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
Horrible to use. I will try to avoid any company that is unable to answer the phone.
You achieve far more in seconds with a real person that you do pissing about trying to computer says no.

Just put some decent tracking on the website along with a useful FAQ and that will satisfy the majority of customers.

jonamv8

Original Poster:

3,229 posts

181 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
Rick101 said:
Horrible to use. I will try to avoid any company that is unable to answer the phone.
You achieve far more in seconds with a real person that you do pissing about trying to computer says no.

Just put some decent tracking on the website along with a useful FAQ and that will satisfy the majority of customers.
Our website has a very to use FAQs with all our repeated questions on there. It's short, simple to navigate, hardly anyone uses it and just emails instead. Sometimes takes us a few hours to respond, AI could respond immediately to these types of questions.

I'd prefer to get my answer immediately

DSLiverpool

15,491 posts

217 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
jonamv8 said:
Q. How does the AI Abandoned Basket differ from the likes of MailChimp et all who have been doing it for a while Dave ?? We've used that with a decent success rate tbf
I’m a sceptic but it’s astonishing, our strategy is to kick in after the clients abandoned basket prices has failed, so in effect the retailer has lost the customer.

We have a AI strategy that even identifies intent / mood and will exit if it detects the contact isn’t working. We’re working on a demo based around a test clients site as it needs training but it also scans the site for specific product answers.

Looking at a reduced implementation circa £500 then an agreed % of recovered sales.

cashmax

1,329 posts

255 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
Dingu said:
cashmax said:
In this crazy world of alienating customers with automated systems, AI chatbots and multiple submenus all to try and avoid having to directly interact with customers, I wonder how long it will be before businesses start to understand that the real differentiation will be companies that can simply answer the phone and engage directly with the people paying their wages.

I'm shocked on a daily basis that a business will allocate a significant spend to marketing activities to attract new customers, but doesn't understand the benefits of actually responding/interacting directly with them.

You’ll probably find that it makes little tangible difference. It’s one thing saying you prefer something and another paying more for it.
I know from experience it makes all the difference in the world. In my business we took every single opportunity to talk to customers.

Caddyshack

12,520 posts

221 months

Saturday 23rd November 2024
quotequote all
cashmax said:
In this crazy world of alienating customers with automated systems, AI chatbots and multiple submenus all to try and avoid having to directly interact with customers, I wonder how long it will be before businesses start to understand that the real differentiation will be companies that can simply answer the phone and engage directly with the people paying their wages.

I'm shocked on a daily basis that a business will allocate a significant spend to marketing activities to attract new customers, but doesn't understand the benefits of actually responding/interacting directly with them.

Totally agree, I switch off with AI and chatbots. I imagine it takes a business that only cares about huge volume and doesn’t care about fall off where people want service.

AI bots just cause frustration before the customer gets to speak to a real person.