AI vs. human touch: finding the perfect balance for exceptional customer experience with CEO Sally Hurley

CEO Coaching Int’l

Guest: Sally Hurley, CEO of VIPdesk, a global leader in remote customer service. Sally is also a client of CEO Coaching International.

Overview: Much of the focus on the AI revolution has been on how businesses can streamline operations and execute certain key tasks around the clock. But any AI implementation that isn’t improving the efficiency and quality of your customer experience is going to be a downgrade, no matter how fancy your tech stack is.

On today’s show, Sally Hurley explains how to zero in on the unique balance between AI automation and human connection that will Make BIG Happen for your company.

Sally Hurley on implementing AI from the top down:

“We came together, our senior leadership team, and I said, ‘We first have to get comfortable with ChatGPT. So let’s all start using it just to understand what it is and how it works.’ And I think we were all blown away just like everybody else. And then I think that did start to cause some concerns rippling through the company. So I did an all-hands, all-company meeting. I said, ‘We’re still committed to elevated service. We are not turning a blind eye to what’s happening. We’re investigating it. We’re looking at what’s our role in this. Will it just replace humans?’ I don’t think any of us really believed that, but we saw it maybe as another evolution of a service business. It’s just evolving quicker than anyone ever imagined.”

Sally Hurley on the speed of AI vs. the value of a human touch:

“The CSAT scores are actually a little higher with bots, which is disappointing when you consider I’ve spent my whole career on delivering elevated service and we have an amazing team. But I think human beings want things solved ‘quickly.’ That probably trumps ‘lovely’ in most cases. So if it’s easy, like ‘Where’s my order? How do I reset this thing? Where’s my password?’ really simple things, human beings just want it quick. And that makes sense. When it’s more complex, then they want to talk to somebody. And they can say, ‘Send me to an agent right away.’ What we’re seeing is people still want the human connection. And when you want that is in a time of strain, or it’s something important: it’s your wedding, it’s an emotional situation, or their child is flying and they can’t track them, and there are situations where you could just cry because you can’t get a hold of a person and you desperately want to.”

Sally Hurley on preparing employees for an AI future:

“It’s almost like 50% excitement because AI is new and it’s interesting and mind-bogglingly good, but then it’s still human beings. So I’m trying to keep my compassion forward, be open to talk to people, help them when they need jobs or references. I keep pushing people: ‘What are you doing?’ In our industry, there’s an entire department for just forecasting and workforce management. And I’m asking that team, ‘Are you looking at tools within just your specialty?’ Just trying to encourage everybody to embrace it and get involved and report back and share. And doing the best I can to keep the balance of the impact with the essence of who we are. If we say we’re a B Corp and we’re going to do right by people, and then we’re suddenly implementing bots, it’s a tall order in terms of the care of the people that have to hear that message. We try to do the best we can, steer the ship in a new direction, and be compassionate to the people that have given their hearts and souls to the customers. And we tell them, ‘This is not going away. Jobs aren’t going away.’ We just might not have the same madness. You might not need to hire 300 people for retail holiday season anymore. There could be some real benefits. And so what I try to do is say, ‘Here’s the gains. Here are the benefits. Here’s what we’re experiencing that’s good,’ instead of just focusing on the bad.”

Links:

FREE EBOOK: CEOs: Ask These 5 Questions to Get Clear on AI – In this complimentary eBook, our experts explore the top five questions you need to ask to get clear on AI. Download it today, block out time on your calendar to read it, and consider it the most important meeting you’ll have this year.

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About CEO Coaching International

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