Happy Friday! Here’s the latest roundup of industry news from this week in CX.
This week, we’re discussing three technologies changing customer service, HubSpot’s new AI research in marketing, and the recent launch of ChatGPT Enterprise on August 28th.
Key News
- Consumer research company Which? has found trust in UK supermarkets has fallen to its lowest point 2013. On a scale from minus 100 to 100, the supermarket sector received a “trust score” of 30 in August, compared with 24 after the horsemeat scandal was exposed and 68 after its laudable online delivery response during Covid restrictions. Food prices were found to now be on a par with energy bills as a source of concern to consumers, worrying 85% of people. Only 48% of shoppers said they trusted the supermarket sector to act in their best interest, while 18% said they did not trust the sector.
- Identifying images generated by artificial intelligence is becoming harder and harder for humans. To help combat the issue, Google DeepMind has created a new digital watermarking tool that labels whether a machine has made an image. The “SynthID” software works by embedding “signals” to individual pixels in pictures so watermarks are invisible to the human eye but identifiable by computers.
- Despite the removal of 20% tax on period products including pads and tampons in 2021, reusable period pants remain classified as a garment rather than a period product, meaning they aren’t exempt. Popular among those looking for alternatives to single-use products, their higher price point (between £8 to £46 for a pack of three) remains a hurdle for many consumers. As part of the Say Pants to the Tax campaign launched in early August, 70 signatories have signed a letter asking ministers to reclassify the pants as a period product.
- Genesys has announced significant growth during the second quarter of its FY24 as its Genesys Cloud CX platform surpassed 1 million users, generating nearly $1.2 billion in annual recurring revenue. Additionally, Genesys was recently recognised as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Centre as a Serviceiv, positioned highest for ability to execute. This makes Genesys a nine-time Magic Quadrant Leader.
The 3 technologies that will transform customer service and support by 2028
Generative AI, digital customer service, and conversational user interfaces (CUIs) will transform customer service and support by 2028, according to Gartner, Inc. The Gartner Hype Cycle for Customer Service and Support Technologies, 2023 report describes the most important maturing technologies for supporting customers.
There is a range of technological maturities, varying from embryonic (Customer Technology Platform), to highly-hyped (Generative AI), to mature yet with significant adoption opportunity still remaining (Contact Center as a Service). More than half of the innovation profiles included in the Hype Cycle fall into the Trough of Disillusionment section.
The Gartner Hype Cycle provides a view of how a technology or application will evolve over time, providing a source of insight to manage its deployment within the context of a specific business goal. It allows clients to get educated about the promise of an emerging technology within the context of their industry and individual appetite for risk.
1. Generative AI
Gartner predicts that by 2025, 80% of customer service and support organizations will be applying generative AI technology in some form to improve agent productivity and customer experience (CX). Generative AI, which is currently at the Peak of Inflated Expectations, will primarily be used for content creation, AI-supported chatbots and automation of human work.
Generative AI’s biggest impact is likely to be on customer experience. According to a recent Gartner poll, 38% of leaders see improving customer experience and retention as the primary purpose of initiatives to deploy applications trained on large language models.
2. Digital Customer Service
As organizations have introduced a proliferation of digital engagement channels, customers have grown to expect instantaneous, effortless customer service experiences. Simultaneously, introducing more channels can increase customer effort as customers move between them.
Digital customer service offerings focus on seamless conversation orchestration across digital channels. The desire for self-service, combined with the emergence of conversational AI, has led to an evolution of most engagement models. As such, Gartner sees the emergence of a new area of customer care referred to as “digital customer service.”
3. Conversational User Interfaces
CUIs are human-computer interfaces that enable natural language interactions for the purpose of fulfilling a request, such as answering a question or completing a task. CUIs provide direct control between the customer service agent and the applications they are operating. When used to automate support via chatbots, this technology improves customer experience and self-service adoption.
Why are 60% of managers actively seeking new roles for enhanced learning and development?
New research from HubSpot reveals 60% of marketing managers are considering a career shift within the next year, driven by the quest for more flexible working conditions, superior learning opportunities, and advanced technology. Let’s take a closer look into this.
Harnessing AI’s potential amidst budget constraints
The economic impact of 2023 has placed enormous strain on marketing budgets, with a quarter (25%) witnessing a decrease. Faced with this financial pressure, 80% of marketing managers have turned to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to aid their efforts.
However, concerns around data privacy and job security are also surfacing with over half of marketing managers (56%), while 50% expressed fears about AI making elements of their roles redundant.
Upskilling and AI: an industry imperative
AI’s transformative power brings an urgent need for training and upskilling and while 66% of marketing managers are confident they receive appropriate training for current tech and tools, nearly half (46%) recognise a technology skills gap within their teams. Interestingly, despite 88% of marketing managers affirming AI’s effectiveness, 43% perceive leadership’s view of AI as negative.
Customer Experience Magazine is working towards creating awareness about workers getting equal opportunities in the digital future. With that in mind, in the October 2022 edition of CXM Review, we interviewed professor Lynette Ryals from Cranfield University. The discussion centred on the digital skills gap in the UK and explored strategies to address it through enhancements in learning programs.
Open AI launches ChatGPT Enterprise to meet business needs
On August 28th, Open AI published a blog post announcing the latest version of ChatGPT for businesses.
They called it ChatGPT Enterprise. The new chat promises unlimited high-speed GPT-4 access, extended context windows for handling longer inputs, advanced data analysis tools, and customizable features.
According to the post, the tool should elevate every aspect of our working lives and make teams more creative and productive. But who is it for?
Some leading companies, such as Canva and PwC, are early adopters actively using ChatGPT to support their teams’ creativity. Open AI claims that 80% of 500 Fortune companies already adopted ChatGPT.
Therefore, this upgrade should allow them to continue thriving with their data being protected. Customer Experience Magazine continues to monitor ChatGPT Enterprise’s performance. In light of Gartner’s statement regarding AI’s influence on customer service, we maintain our focus on tracking internal and external factors that impact and innovate the CX industry.
Thanks for tuning into CXM’s weekly roundup of industry news. Check back next Friday for the latest updates of the week!