AI: The key to next-level customer experience

Savanta’s UK Business Tracker explores the opinions of 1,000 business decision-makers every month. The results reveal how businesses may be adapting AI for customer services and how they can move forward by embracing new technologies.

AI adoption, a tale of two scales

AI is making waves in UK business, with a notable 67% adopting this cutting-edge tech. So, it’s no surprise that AI is increasingly becoming a part of customer service strategies. Yet, a closer look reveals a disparity in AI adoption between different sized businesses – from overall adoption to customer service-specific applications.

For instance, 95% of medium and large businesses (250+ employees) have already adopted AI, or plan to within the year; this shrinks to 58% for smaller businesses (fewer than 250 employees). The story is similar in customer service, with 47% of medium and large businesses vs. 19% of small businesses planning or already using AI for customer service, through automated chatbots and virtual assistants.

The customer experience challenge is more acute for medium and large businesses

This divergence underlines the unique challenges and opportunities businesses of different sizes face when upping their AI game.

Medium and large businesses typically serve a more extensive and diverse customer base, prompting a complex mix of service queries and demands. With a larger reservoir of resources at their disposal, these bigger businesses are ideally poised to harness AI to navigate this complexity, offering scalable, personalised, efficient and consistent customer service.

Most companies recognise the value of AI and are eager to integrate it into their operations, yet smaller companies often lack resources and the know-how to fully capitalise on these new technologies. For instance, 65% of medium and large businesses see more advantages than disadvantages to using AI in customer service, compared to only 35% of small businesses. Yet, 42% of small businesses are seeking guidance on how to best utilise and take advantage of the benefits of AI, compared to 76% of their medium/large counterparts.

AI provides a variety of benefits and solutions for CX

UK businesses agree that AI offers a range of perks for customer service:

• Improved efficiency: AI works faster and smarter
• 24/7 support: Round-the-clock assistance is now a reality
• Cost savings: AI offers quality services without breaking the bank
• Higher customer satisfaction: Happy customers are loyal customers.

For medium and large businesses, some benefits are even more pronounced compared to smaller businesses, such as higher satisfaction (customers love the personalisation touch), better retention (happy customers come back), and stronger self-service capabilities (empowering customers to help themselves), are even more pronounced compared to smaller businesses.

Embrace AI, your key to outstanding and personalised customer service

The future of customer service is not on the horizon—it’s here, and it’s powered by AI. The revolution marks a turning point, offering businesses the chance to provide enhanced personalisation and efficiency. Our tracker shows that businesses aiming to excel in customer service must integrate AI into their strategies. This includes AI training for staff, consulting with AI experts, or implementing AI-powered support tools – all with a keen focus on customer satisfaction.

However, the road to AI adoption isn’t uniform, potentially redefining competition. Large firms use AI to mimic or improve the customer service that small businesses are known for – potentially removing one the key differentiators / USPs for smaller businesses competing against their larger counterparts.

Stay ahead with Savanta

Savanta’s UK Business Tracker is your companion in this AI journey. We will continue to monitor attitudes to AI as firms turn to AI to keep their customers satisfied and keep the competition on their toes.

To find out more contact our dedicated team of B2B experts.