Conversational Messaging in the Age of AI
It’s Friday. End-of-day. Also, end-of-week. You know you have an appointment this month, but you can’t find it listed anywhere in your calendar. You visit the office’s website and notice an option to send them a text. Within seconds you receive the following message: “Hi there! Anything I can help you with today?”
Intrigued, you respond. “I’m looking for my appointment, but I’m not sure what day it is.”
The person … wait, is it a person? Or an AI? It’s hard to tell … replies. “No worries! Is this the phone number that you regularly use for scheduling appointments?”
You type, “Yes.”
And, like magic, you receive the details. “According to our records, your appointment is scheduled for…”
That was a pretty exceptional customer experience.
Similar scenarios have become increasingly possible thanks to AI-powered conversational platforms. But for many businesses, the challenge lies in scaling this level of personalized service.
Traditional methods, like phone calls and email support, often struggle to keep up with the volume of customer inquiries, yet being able to get in touch with a human is still so important. How many times are we searching for a way to reach a person and automatically hit zero thinking it’ll get us there faster?
Clerk Chat combines the efficiency of AI with the expertise of human customer support to bridge the gap between automation, personalization, and humanization.
Let’s take a look at some of the features we already have in place.
Why Companies Are Embracing AI
Companies are turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) for reasons that are multifaceted, ranging from efficiency and productivity gains to improving customer experiences.
That’s not new news. But the “how” of it might be.
AI excels at automating routine and time-consuming tasks. It reduces manual efforts, like data entry, which may speed up complex decision-making processes. AI helps create workflows, and then employees can focus on more strategic and creative aspects of their roles.
Companies are also leveraging AI to personalize interactions with customers, tailoring services and products to individual preferences. Chatbots and virtual assistants powered by AI are speeding up responsiveness, providing real-time support, and resolving customer issues faster than ever before.
It’s also no surprise that companies are typically data-driven. So, they may let the AI turn the data into action. It can identify trends, patterns, and correlations that may not be immediately obvious, but even if it is, AI does it much faster.
Tech advancements are not slowing down, so now is the time to embrace AI and stay innovative. Yet, be mindful of your company’s long-term goals and values and stay true to those expectations.
Really consider where, why, how, and if AI does fit in.
How Clerk Chat Leverages AI
If you’re unfamiliar, Clerk Chat is a conversational messaging platform that keeps teams connected and on top of client and customer requests with real-time, two-way messaging from anywhere. We ensure compliance with the latest messaging requirements and laws and integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Global Relay, and more.
Clerk amplifies human agents with AI agents. It brings the magic of concierge-level service to any organization, at scale. So, where exactly does AI hang out?
Knowledge Base for Consistent Brand Communication
Before diving headfirst into AI implementation, there’s a step that should not be missed: establishing a Knowledge Base. Yes, it may take some time, but the information will create a foundation for AI to learn, but also will help the company maintain consistent and on-brand communication across all channels.
It serves as the source where AI systems learn and adapt to the unique tone, style, and values that define a brand. To access the Clerk Chat Knowledge Base:
- Navigate to Settings.
- Click Knowledge Base.
- Input your text, links, or attach files.
- Toggle the settings.
- Experiment with the keywords and phrases.
These examples allow the AI to understand and mimic the specific language, tone, and style that your company has used previously. This iterative learning process will refine the AI’s ability to generate content that aligns with the brand, and as you continue to provide input, the AI continuously evolves.
Conversation Summaries: The Power of AI in Communication
It’s a big deal and it’s also creating a lot of buzz. AI’s ability to automatically summarize key points and action items from a text message conversation is awesome. It saves time, improves team collaboration, and prevents information loss.
Curious how it works within Clerk Chat?
- Navigate to an existing conversation.
- Click the Summarize Conversation icon.
- Hint: It’s located on the top right of the chat.
- The summary automatically pops up.
- Additional options include re-summarize or copy.
- Click in the chat to exit the summary.
If you’re looking for a quick overview or key information, this feature eliminates the need to sift through lengthy conversations. The AI analyzes the conversation threads, identifies key points, and delivers concise summaries.
How are customers using the summary feature? Simply put, it fosters teamwork and saves time. Team members can rapidly align on action items, decisions, and next steps. The summaries are a shared reference point - everyone is on the same page. And an added bonus, it reduces the risk of overlooking critical details or misplacing information.
Ask Assistant in the Chat Box
Clerk Chat’s Ask Assistant feature, an addition to the chat box, suggests text, based on context and customer data. This proves valuable especially for those in customer support or sales roles where time is of the essence.
For instance, timely and tailored responses are a must. The Ask Assistant analyzes the current conversation or previous queries and suggests personalized responses based on historical interactions and contact properties. This feature allows support agents to provide accurate and relevant information, almost immediately, significantly reducing response times. The result? Satisfied customers.
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For those in sales roles, the Ask Assistant offers real-time suggestions for engaging with leads and/or personalized responses. By understanding the context of the conversation and tapping into customer data, the AI helps sales teams accelerate the sales process and supports a customer-centric approach. The outcome? Increased conversion rates.
Internally, teams may use this feature to facilitate streamlined and accurate communication, whether it’s collaborating on projects, coordinating tasks, or sharing updates.
This not only frees up valuable time for teams but also minimizes the risk of errors or miscommunication. The result is a communication strategy that is not only efficient but also consistently accurate, reflecting positively on the brand’s professionalism and reliability.
Ask AI
It’s probably safe to assume your contact list is overflowing. It’s a good problem to have.
Hopefully you’ve taken that list and broken it down into groups, what Clerk Chat calls cohorts, to be well-organized and accurate. (Hint, hint.)
But if you haven’t, Clerk Chat makes it easy to:
- integrate with your CRM
- manually add a contact
- add/filter properties
- upload a .csv file
- create cohorts
And now, Clerk Chat Ask AI to help you find a contact or cohort by writing a prompt. It magically sifts through your contacts and finds exactly who you’re looking for.
From there, you can save the filter, create a cohort, or send a message.
Check it out, and be creative.
Paving the Way
And there you have it - a sneak peek into the future of conversational messaging.
From enhancing traditional text messages to introducing features like conversation summaries or an AI assistant, Clerk Chat is exploring how AI can integrate with human expertise to bridge the gap between automation, personalization, and humanization.
Maybe your goals include delivering exceptional customer experiences or personalized interactions. Maybe you have an interest in cutting-edge features. already navigating the challenges of scaling services. Or maybe you prioritize automation and data-driven decision making.
As tech advancements continue, don’t just keep up - stay ahead. Clerk Chat is your ticket to innovative, efficient, real-time, two-way B2B communication.
Visit clerk.chat to sign up for a free trial, explore our AI-powered features, and report back. We love hearing from you.
