Ben Sever is a global technologist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, founder of Phoenix Portfolio Partners, and CEO and Chairman at eRemede.
Disruptive direct-to-consumer brands are dovetailing the human touch with an iterative approach to training proprietary artificial intelligence.
As a 12-time founder of tech-enabled startups, as well as a current investor of multiple DTC brands, it is prudent for myself and my team to constantly vet leaders of emerging technology. After reviewing more than 10 AI chatbot-centric companies, I’m happy to report that we are out of the infancy stage and currently have entered an era of “proof-of-concept” disruptors that are here to stay. This experience has shown me that we all have much to learn—from best practices to lean business modeling—when implementing these tools.
From my perspective, AI and chatbots can be valuable tools for consumer brands to improve their social sales. With the rise of e-commerce and social media, consumers often use these channels to connect with brands, research products and make purchases. Chatbots and AI can help brands engage with their customers, respond to inquiries and complaints in a timely manner and, ultimately, help drive sales.
Another way AI and chatbots can be helpful is by providing customer service and support through social media. Chatbots can be programmed to answer common questions, resolve issues and provide information about products and services. This can help brands respond to customer inquiries quickly and efficiently, which may lead to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Finally, this technology can help brands capture visitors at the point of contact and convert them into customers. If a user doesn’t purchase immediately, brands can leverage their chatbots to help accelerate retargeting and follow up on users to engage them in personal conversations that drive action, whether that’s offering a coupon, designing a personalized recommendation or pivoting the conversation to a different offer.
However, in the post-pandemic world, there is a humanitarian aspect to consider when using technology. The question that seems to be lingering is, “What can technologists do to avoid losing the human touch of connection?”
Maintaining The Human Touch
It can be helpful to provide personalized recommendations to customers based on their preferences and purchase history. This can be done through data analysis on customers’ browsing and buying behavior, as well as on their demographics and other factors. By making relevant recommendations to customers, brands can increase the likelihood that a customer will make a purchase. I’ve seen some emerging and established companies, such as Grow AI, Tidio and Intercom, that aim to help with this through the use of AI-powered chatbots.
Brands should keep in mind, however, that if they choose to use AI, we are not talking about 100% automation. In the past three years, I observed that implementing this technology in the DTC space was about an 85:15 AI-to-human ratio; the AI chatbot successfully handles 85% of the interactions and opens a conversation with the human team for more complex queries that require a human’s personal intervention, which is usually around 15% of the time. The opportunity sits in blending the two together.
Potential Obstacles To Prepare For
When getting started with AI/chatbot technology, one must consider two potential obstacles in order to reach long-term stability. First, machine learning is only as good as the input, analysis and adaptation cadence, so it is crucial to document standardized methodologies in order for the multiple iterations to be optimized. If a company’s use cases in various departments do not follow the same framework, it’s easy to lose uniformity.
Second, regulations on both a state and federal level are changing at light speed, so it is imperative to have a dedicated compliance officer to stay abreast of the newest legislation. With billions of dollars and countless hours going into exploring this sector of tech, enterprises need to ensure their implementation isn’t disrupted by outside legalities.
Finding The Solution That Fits Your Brand
When vetting new technological infrastructure in this space, there are also a couple of questions a brand should consider:
1. Does the vendor have a concierge department that can provide the human element? In my experience, startups often don’t have the capacity to have a dedicated internal team member, while large enterprises often do.
2. Will the AI vendor let you own 100% of your data? Some have a shared data model, which could be advantageous, but it is worth having compliance teams hash that out before contracts are finalized.
3. What type of partnership can be leveraged into a case study? I’ve found that many emerging technology companies offer pilot programs that include an in-depth and frequent collaboration cycle within the first year of integrations, which can be mutually advantageous from public relations to innovation.
Overall, top-line growth potential is now catalyzed by powerful tools for consumer brands to improve their social sales. By providing personalized recommendations, customer service and support, and streamlined transactions, brands can enhance their customers’ experience and ultimately accelerate sales past all other competitors.
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