Improving Customer Experience with AI
Customers remember waiting and repeating themselves, not much else.
What is customer experience?
Improving customer experience with AI means reducing the two things customers actually complain about, waiting and having to repeat themselves, while recognising that automation applied badly makes both worse.
Ask customers what annoyed them and the answers are consistent across every sector: they waited, and they had to explain the same thing three times to three people.
Automation can fix both. It can also make both worse, and frequently does, by putting a system in front of somebody that cannot help and will not let them past.
The distinction is whether the automation resolves or merely delays. A system that answers the question is an improvement. A system that collects information and then hands the customer to a queue has added a step to an experience that was already too long.
Why we argue against deflection targets
Duara works on customer experience in Kenya where the measure is the customer experience rather than the contact centre cost.
We treat deflection as a poor measure and say so. Counting contacts that did not reach a person rewards a system that traps people, and the client who optimised for deflection usually has worse customer satisfaction and does not know why.
Who this is for
- Customers wait too long for answers
- People repeat themselves between channels
- A previous chatbot made things worse
- You measure contact centre cost rather than experience
Industries we serve
- Financial services
- Telecommunications
- Retail and ecommerce
- Insurance
- Utilities
- Healthcare providers
Problems this solves
These are the specific failures customers actually report, as distinct from the ones organisations measure.
- Waiting for an answer. The single most common complaint in every sector, and the one most organisations measure least directly.
- Repeating the same thing. A customer explains their problem to a system, then to an agent, then to a second agent, and each repetition is remembered.
- Systems that will not let you past. An automated layer that cannot help and cannot be escaped is worse than no automation at all.
- Measuring cost instead of experience. Contact centre metrics reward deflection, which is not the same thing as a customer being helped.
What we deliver
Answering rather than deflecting, carrying context so nothing is repeated, an obvious route to a person, and measurement based on whether the customer was helped rather than whether contact was avoided.
Questions answered rather than routed
Context carried so nothing is repeated
An obvious and immediate route to a person
Measurement of resolution rather than deflection
Consistent answers across every channel
Reporting on what customers could not get answered
Features
- Resolution, not deflection. Counting contacts that did not reach a person rewards a system that traps people, and satisfaction falls while the metric improves.
- Context carried across the handover. A customer who explained the problem once should not explain it again to the person they are passed to.
- A visible way out. The route to a person is offered rather than buried, because a system that will not let somebody past is worse than no system.
- Consistent across channels. The same question answered differently on WhatsApp and on the phone teaches customers not to trust either.
- Unanswered questions reported. What customers asked and could not get answered is the most useful output and it is usually discarded.
Benefits
- Shorter waits on the questions that repeat. The routine majority get answered immediately, which frees staff for the ones that need judgement.
- Customers stop repeating themselves. Carried context removes the complaint that survives longest in memory.
- Fewer people trapped. A visible route to a person prevents the failure that turns a small problem into a complaint about your company.
- You learn what you cannot answer. The unanswered question report usually points at a gap in your own information rather than a system failure.
Technologies we use
- Grounded answering. Responding from your own information so the answer resolves rather than routes.
- Context handover. Passing what the customer already said to whoever takes over.
- Escalation design. Making the route to a person visible and immediate rather than technically present.
- Channel consistency. Ensuring the same question receives the same answer across every route in.
- Resolution measurement. Measuring whether the customer got what they needed rather than whether contact was avoided.
Deflection rate is the metric most commonly optimised and the one most likely to damage the thing it claims to measure. A system can achieve excellent deflection purely by being difficult to escape.
How the process works, step by step
Experience work usually takes five to nine weeks, and it starts by finding out what customers actually complain about rather than what is measured.
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Step 1
Free experience review
We look at what customers actually complain about, which is usually waiting and repetition rather than the things being measured.
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Step 2
Measures agreed
Resolution rather than deflection is agreed as the target before anything is built.
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Step 3
Answering the repeating questions
The routine majority are answered directly, which is where waiting genuinely reduces.
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Step 4
Handover built properly
Context carrying and a visible route to a person are built rather than added afterwards.
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Step 5
Measured on resolution
We report whether customers were helped, including the questions that could not be answered.
Quality assurance and how we work
The commitments attached to systems standing between you and your customers.
- We will not optimise for deflection. It rewards a system that traps people, and clients who optimised for it usually have worse satisfaction without knowing why.
- A route to a person is always visible. Buried escalation is the failure that turns a small problem into a complaint about your company rather than about the query.
- Context is carried across handovers. A customer who explained the problem once should never explain it again to the person they were passed to.
- We report what could not be answered. Those questions usually reveal a gap in your own published information, which is more useful than the handling statistics.
- We say when automation would make it worse. Some interactions need a person from the first word, and putting a system in front of them damages the relationship.
Frequently asked questions about customer experience
What do customers actually complain about?
Waiting, and having to repeat themselves. The answers are remarkably consistent across sectors and both are addressable.
Can automation make experience worse?
Frequently, and it does so by putting a system in front of somebody that cannot help and will not let them past.
Why do you dislike deflection as a measure?
Because a system can achieve excellent deflection purely by being difficult to escape, which is the opposite of a good experience.
What should we measure instead?
Resolution. Whether the customer got what they needed, rather than whether they were prevented from reaching a person.
Will customers always be able to reach somebody?
Yes, visibly and immediately. Buried escalation is the failure that turns a small problem into a complaint about your company.
What is context handover?
Passing what the customer already explained to whoever takes over, so they do not repeat themselves. That repetition is what people remember.
Do customers mind talking to a system?
Far less than organisations expect, provided it answers. They mind a system that collects information and then puts them in a queue.
Should every interaction be automated?
No, and we say when it should not be. Some interactions need a person from the first word.
Does channel consistency matter?
Yes. The same question answered differently on WhatsApp and on the phone teaches customers not to trust either answer.
How long does experience work take?
Five to nine weeks, starting with what customers actually complain about rather than what is currently measured.
What do you do with unanswered questions?
Report them, and they usually reveal a gap in your published information rather than a failure of the system.
Will it reduce our contact centre cost?
Often, though that is a side effect. Optimising for it directly is what produces the trapped customer problem.
Can it work across WhatsApp, phone and email?
Yes, and consistency across them is more important than any single channel being excellent.
Does it handle angry customers?
It routes them to a person quickly. Attempting to handle real anger automatically damages the relationship further.
Should we reply in the language the customer used?
Yes, and answering somebody in the language they contacted you in is itself part of the experience rather than a technical detail.
How do we know it improved anything?
Resolution rates and complaint themes measured against a baseline taken before, rather than handling statistics.
What if our information is inconsistent?
Then answers will be too, and we report contradictions rather than picking one version quietly.
Is this the same as a chatbot?
A chatbot is one delivery route. The work here is deciding what gets answered, what gets escalated and how handover carries context.
Who can see customer conversations?
Only your own staff. Conversation records stay inside your systems.
What does experience work cost?
Channel count and contact volume determine it, quoted after the experience review.
Glossary of terms
Customer experience terms in plain language.
- Deflection
- Contacts prevented from reaching a person, which is a cost measure rather than an experience one.
- Resolution
- Whether the customer actually got what they needed, which is the measure that matters.
- Context handover
- Passing what the customer already explained to whoever takes over.
- Escalation
- The route to a person, which should be visible rather than technically available.
- Channel consistency
- The same question receiving the same answer regardless of how it was asked.
- First contact resolution
- Getting an answer without needing to come back, which customers value above speed.
Related services in AI Solutions
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Read your last twenty complaints and count how many mention waiting or repeating themselves. That proportion is the whole brief.
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