Customer Service, Sales Make Top GenAI Use Cases

According to new research from SparkOptimus, customer services and sales are two of the domains that will benefit the most in the coming two to three years.

Generative AI is expected to bring about big changes in many business functions in the years to come, though the technology is already here and already delivering tangible results. While some use cases still are three to five years away still, customer service and sales desk operations are already being boosted by Generative AI.

For example, 80% of companies that participated in the SparkOptimus benchmark are already using GenAI in call logging and summarisation. This can boost customer services and sales efficiency by creating more comprehensive and searchable records.

That often goes hand-in-hand with GenAI-boosted internal knowledge searches, which help customer service agents find the information they need, when they need it, reducing call times and increasing resolution rates.

“Generative Al effectively automates mundane customer service and sales tasks, reducing resolution times up to 20%. The most effective players recognize that these efficiency gains contribute to their goal of Generative Al’s genuine value: addressing customer needs better, faster, and cheaper,” said Matti van Engelen, Associate Partner and Lead of the Data & AI Practice at SparkOptimus.

When it comes to emails and chatbots, GenAI-powered replies to frequently asked questions can also save a lot of time. These tools can use existing documentation to automatically generate answers for FAQs, saving time and energy.

Up to half of companies surveyed saw an average 20% reduction in escalation with AI-powered chatbot conversation flows, and a 10% improved cross-and upsell rate after adopting real-time transcriptions to identify opportunities for sales.

Around 10% of companies noted that GenAI tools have helped them to boost their quality control. Call and chat analysis can help to ensure compliance with internal and external guidelines.

When it comes to pro-active risk alerting, some companies noted a 5% decrease in churn and payment issues thanks to GenAI tools that help to analyze chat logs and identify potential issues. Similar techniques can also be used to combat fraud, which is a major concern in many industries.

“Successful players acknowledge Generative Al’s strengths in leveraging unstructured data and have actively taken efforts to utilize its potential,” noted Van Engelen.

This involves making use of existing data sources [such as chatbot logs], while continuously updating unstructured data [for example: customer service manuals]. These companies leverage data and Generative AI to identify new opportunities like developing new products, enhancing customer experiences, or streamlining internal processes.