If You’re Not Treating AI Like an Agent, You’re Doing It Wrong

Customer service is evolving rapidly because of AI, but many teams are missing a crucial perspective: AI should be treated as another member of the team, not just a tool. This shift in mindset can revolutionize how brands approach customer service and dramatically enhance their capabilities.

Why You Should Treat AI Like an Agent

Traditionally, customer service teams have viewed AI as a separate entity—a tool to be used rather than a colleague to be nurtured. However, the former approach limits AI’s customer service potential. By treating AI as an agent, teams can:

• Improve AI performance with continuous training
• Create seamless collaboration between human agent and their AI counterpart
• Develop AI capabilities that truly align with brand voice and customer needs

Strategies for Training Your AI Agent

Now that you know AI is a member of your team worthy of your time and attention, it’s time to treat it that way. Take a page out of your agent onboarding playbook and get ready to apply it to your newest “employee.” You can start by using these strategies to effectively train your AI agent for customer service:

1. Schedule Regular AI Training Sessions

Just as you would with human agents, schedule regular training sessions for your AI. This could involve:

• Reviewing customer interactions to identify areas for improvement
• Updating the AI’s knowledge base with new product information or company policies
• Fine-tuning responses to better match your brand’s tone and style

2. Assign Your AI a Human Mentor

Pair your AI with experienced human agents* who can guide its development. These mentors can:

• Provide feedback on AI-generated responses
• Help refine the AI’s decision-making processes
• Ensure the AI is adhering to company values and guidelines

*Depending on how robust of a lift this is for your CX team, consider opening up a specific role for this workstream.

3. Use Real Customer Data

Train your AI on actual customer interactions rather than hypothetical scenarios. This approach:

• Exposes the AI to the nuances of real-world customer service situations
• Helps the AI learn from successful human agent responses
• Improves the AI’s ability to handle complex or unique customer questions and issues

4. Roleplay with Your AI

Create simulated customer service scenarios for your AI to practice handling. This will help you:

• Test the AI’s ability to apply learned knowledge in various situations
• Identify gaps in the AI’s training that need to be addressed
• Prepare the AI for handling difficult or unusual customer requests

By implementing these strategies, you can create a well-trained AI agent that enhances your customer service capabilities and adapts to evolving customer needs.

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Hire Gladly’s AI-Powered Agent

Gladly’s innovative Customer Service Platform gives you all the benefits of an additional agent in one efficient AI package. Our approach centers around:

1. A unified customer view: The Gladly platform aggregates all customer interactions into a single lifelong record, allowing both AI and human agents to provide more personalized service.
2. Seamless AI integration: By centering interactions around the customer rather than tickets, Gladly activates AI to provide more accurate, human-like responses.
3. Continuous improvement: AI within the Gladly platform is designed to learn and improve over time, much like a human agent would.
4. Quality control: Our platform includes features like configurable AI behavior and advanced hallucination detection technology, ensuring AI-generated content remains factual and on-brand.

By adopting a radically personal approach to both customer service and AI, Gladly has created a solution that not only enhances customer experience but also turns support into a strategic asset that drives growth and loyalty.

Welcome AI to the Team

The key to successful AI integration in customer service lies in treating AI as an agent rather than a tool. By implementing ongoing training, mentorship, and real-world learning experiences, brands can unlock the full potential of AI in customer service. Solutions like Gladly’s AI-powered platform demonstrate the transformative impact of this approach, paving the way for a new era of customer service excellence.

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