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Are chatbots the must-have customer service channel for 2023?

Last updated 11 April 2024
Events

We wrap up the key takeaways from this year’s AI in Financial Services summit in London

The AI in Financial Services conference returned to London in September 2022. Spread over two days of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and networking, attendees from leading financial institutions - and adjacent suppliers and vendors - gathered to discuss the current state of artificial intelligence in the financial sector.

Among the trends that emerged from the event, two key themes stood out:

  • The impact of AI - and how to best deploy it - on the financial services business model in the present and future, and;
  • Getting the adoption, deployment, and implementation of AI right, with a focus on internal and human processes

During the conference, boost.ai’s VP of Sales, EMEA, Sanjeev Kumar, participated in a panel discussion titled ‘Are Chatbots The Must-Have Customer Service Channel In 2022’ alongside panelists from Lloyds Banking Group and GlobalData.

The discussion centered around whether chatbots and conversational AI could be considered viable customer experience tools for financial institutions looking to scale service and support.

We’ve gathered the key takeaways from the panel to share with you below:

On clunky vs. non-clunky chatbots

A bad chatbot implementation can do more harm to your brand than good. It’s important to consider whether the channel is actually meeting the needs of customers or driving them away.

Implementation is key. Divide customers into personas and work out which channel suits which persona best. Some interactions lend themselves better to chatbots than others.

Whether customers truly use a chatbot is a good determining factor if it is clunky or not. An omnichannel approach is the end goal, but successful automation needs to start with high-volume, repetitive conversations.

On the best queries for chatbot usage

Non-complicated FAQs can be automated at high volumes to enhance customer experience.

Dealing with money issues/ health issues/ bereavement/ etc. should be directed to a human agent that can be handled emphatically as opposed to a chatbot.

Transactional queries are a great use case for conversational AI. A chatbot can interface with customer data (via logged-in account) and as the model becomes more sophisticated, the bot can begin to handle more complicated questions and transactions.

On keeping your chatbots current

Code-heavy chatbots present a challenge in development and beyond. The aim should be in giving power to the user and moving to a no-code platform so that companies can continue building on top of the original framework.

Keep focus on building to the original scope of the project. You can continue to build out the model, but if it isn’t doing what was originally intended then you are not achieving the originally desired goal. Never forget the outcome.

On what’s next for chatbots

The next stage will be to increase the scope of chatbots. Supporting multi-level functionality, scenarios and contextual answers.

Get the chatbot/conversational AI to be seen among employees as a digital colleague, rather than as a machine or tool.

If you can define the use cases of who and what your organization needs, then you have a starting point for where to take your chatbot next. You can then make a data-led evaluation.

Learn more about how boost.ai can strengthen your customer service

Boost.ai is a leader in conversational AI platforms for enterprise organizations. Our technology integrates with existing technologies and platforms, making it easy to scale up your customer service technology when and where you need it most. Our solution can help your company keep up with customer demand and provide personalized, efficient, and memorable customer service experiences…

Learn more about how our innovative technology can improve customer service by exploring the following resources:

- Service at scale, simplified - conversational AI for financial institutions

- Guide: The complete guide to chatbots for banking

- Webinar: How to drive customer satisfaction in today’s digital world

Want to learn more about how conversational AI can transform your customer service for your business? Connect with one of our experts today!