Enhancing Customer Understanding with Speech AI: The Role of Conversation Intelligence

Finding
the
right
customer
service
representative
can
range
from
frustrating
to
infuriating
for
many
consumers.
Being
forced
to
repeat
their
problems
and
questions
multiple
times
as
they
get
passed
off
to
different
departments
sends
a
message
that
customer
experience
isn’t
a
top
priority
and
neither
is
meeting
the
basic
needs
of
those
customers.
The
exchanges
can
feel
cold
and
impersonal,
souring
relationships
with
businesses,
sometimes
before
they
even
start.

These
experiences
are
not
an
anomaly:

More
than
60%
of
consumers
in
2023
felt
that
most
companies
treated
them
like
a
number.
And
B2B
customers
weren’t
feeling
much
better.
About
60%
of
business
buyers
said
sales
representatives
weren’t
taking
the
time
to
get
to
know
them,
while
more
than
70%
said
that
their
interactions
felt
transactional.

That
is
risky
behavior
for
companies
in
today’s
marketplace.
More
and
more,

consumers
are
showing
a
willingness
to
switch
brands,
so
relying
on
customer
loyalty
isn’t
a
safe
bet.

To
help
achieve
better
consumer
satisfaction,
many
companies
are
turning
to
conversation
intelligence
platforms
that
combine
voice
of
customer
data
and
AI
analysis
to
better
understand
their
customers’
needs
and
experiences
and
produce
better
engagement
in
the
long
term.

The
Power
of
Personalization
in
Customer
Service

For
businesses
that
want
to
build
strong
relationships
with
their
customers
or
take
advantage
of
shifting
marketplace
dynamics
to
attract
new
customers,
personalization
is
key.
That
doesn’t
just
mean
sending
discount
codes
to
buyers
on
their
birthdays.

Companies
must
be
able
to
accurately
assess
and
anticipate
how
their
customers’
preferences
are
changing
and
tailor
their
experiences
to
meet
those
needs.
Consumers
want
timely
assistance
from
humans,
and
service
should
be
consistent
no
matter
which
representative
a
customer
interacts
with.

A
comprehensive
strategy
to
create
personalized
customer
service
and
customer
experiences
can
not
only
help
companies
build
their
customer
base
but
also
create
advocates
that
lead
to
new
business
opportunities.
However,
teams
collecting
a
lot
of
data
aren’t
always
sure
if
they’re
using
data
effectively.
For
example,
marketers
have
a
range
of
tools
at
their
disposal,
including
marketing
analytics
and
measurement
tools,
customer
relationship
management
platforms,
and
customer
data
platforms,
but

two-thirds
are
unsatisfied
with
how
they
are
using
customer
data
to
create
relevant
experiences
for
their
buyers,
leaving
significant
room
for
improvement.

Putting
the
Voice
of
the
Customer
First

Businesses
need
to
think
more
critically
about
the
types
of
data
that
can
support
the
development
of
personalized
experiences.

While
business
intelligence
teams
can
make
insightful
observations
by
analyzing
how
customers
interact
with
sites
and
what
journeys
they
take
to
make
a
purchase,

Voice
of
the
Customer
(VOC)
programs
can
also
play
a
crucial
role
in
learning
about
customer
preferences,
needs,
and
problems.

Within
VOC
programs,
surveys
and
questionnaires
are
common
tools,
providing
structured
data
on
customer
satisfaction
and
preferences.
In-depth
interviews
and
focus
groups
offer
qualitative
insights,
allowing
businesses
to
understand
the
nuances
of
customer
expectations.
Social
media
monitoring
and
sentiment
analysis
can
also
capture
real-time
feedback
and
broader
public
opinion.

However,

customers
are
giving
less
feedback
to
companies,
particularly
if
they
are
dissatisfied
with
a
service
or
product.
Instead,
they
may
drop
the
product
or
service
altogether,
completely
disengaging
and
leaving
companies
with
little
to
no
feedback
on
what
went
wrong.
Capturing
customers’
voices
will
therefore
require
more
creative
new
listening
tools.

Conversation
intelligence
platforms
are
integrating
Speech
AI
to
help
companies
solve
these
data
management
problems,
unlock
voice
of
customer
insights,
and,
ultimately,
drive
more
intelligent
customer
interactions.

Speech
AI
models
can
capture
conversations,
swiftly
transcribe
them
into
text,
and
perform
sophisticated
analysis
on
this
conversational
data.

Speech
AI
models
(including
Speech-to-Text
AI
and
LLMs
for
speech)
can
perform
tasks
such
as:

• Transcription
• Speaker
  diarization
• Profanity
  filtering
• Automatic
  language
  detection
• Summarization
• Sentiment
  analysis
• Topic
  detection
• PII
  redaction

Companies
can
use
these
AI
models
to
build
powerful

conversation
intelligence
tools
and
platforms
designed
to
support
VOC
programs
that
inform
sales,
customer
support,
and
other
teams
across
the
company.
Instead
of
relying
on
time-consuming
or
costly
surveys
and
focus
groups,
each
customer
service
or
sales
interaction
instantly
becomes
a
valuable
source
of
data
that
can
drive
informed
decision-making
and
strategic
improvements.

Using
Speech
AI
models,

Echo
AI
developed
conversation
intelligence
tools
that
showcase
what
this
visibility
can
mean
for
business
leaders
and
managers.
With
Echo
AI’s
tools,
users
can
summarize
customer
conversations,
flag
key
terms
like
“cancel
my
subscription”
and
identify
the
overall
sentiment
of
both
participants
in
sales
calls
or
customer
support
interactions.
This
data
can
be
used
to
monitor
individual
accounts
and
address
specific
service
needs,
or
be
pooled
into
larger
data
sets
that
allow
companies
to
answer
questions
like,
“What
are
the
main
causes
of
customer
churn
this
quarter?”

Conversation
intelligence
data
and
insights
can
also
be
integrated
into
platforms
that
house
other
forms
of
customer
and
sales
data,
enabling
leaders
to
generate
a
holistic
view
of
their
business
and
to
more
effectively
share
insights
across
teams
and
departments.
Every
touch
point
can
then
be
tailored
to
the
unique
experience
of
a
consumer.

Tailoring
Customer
Experiences
with
AI
and
Human
Touch

When
it
comes
to
customer
interaction,
hearing
a
human
voice
that
recognizes
and
empathizes
with
a
customer’s
challenges
makes
a
difference.
Speech
AI
and
conversation
intelligence
tools
can
augment
companies
to
help
their
customer
service
representatives
better
understand
customers’
needs
and
pain
points
and
create
personalized
experiences
that
keep
customers
satisfied
in
the
long
run.

Explore
AssemblyAI
Speech
AI
models

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source:
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