| | AUGUST 20219CIOReviewTokopedia as one of the 25 companies around the world that demonstrated satisfactory chatbot and omni-channel experience. As a technology company, we believe that creating an excellent chatbot is fundamental in supporting the ever-growing business with new products being launched every month, resulting in higher interaction on the platform. No matter what stage you are in now, investing in AI &chatbot requires high commitment from top management considering customer service is rarely considered as a direct road to profitability. Different industries have different velocity in getting their bot to a certain stage. As the magnitude of customer interaction may vary from one another, it takes intensive and high level of interactions with customers of various complexities so that the model can learn in a fast and more accurate manner.AVOIDING THE BLIND SPOT AND MISPERCEPTION IN CHATBOT & DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVESApplying AI & automations could be a little challenging and tricky, indeed. Failed initiatives could hurt company's brand image badly. Hence, my recommendations to have a successful AI, chatbot, and digital transformation initiatives are by avoiding the blind spots such as:1. COST REDUCTION ARE THE MAIN AND ONLY FOCUS. We all agree that positive ROI is one of the main company objectives, and in hard times, cost pressure has become a major trigger to start these initiatives. As a result, the company has to launch a half-baked chatbot and push the customers in with no other options. In order to do that better, always start with customer's problem instead of company's problem - identify the needs and the key pain points and work backwards to solve the root cause. Sometimes, it only requires a simple rule-based bot, not even an AI, to make things work.2. DIGITAL = SOCIAL CHANNEL? Many companies try to mix their digital transformations with social engagement and simplify these channels in one single AI and automation strategy. They might see Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as part of digital channels whereby chatbot is intended to get a major role. In Tokopedia case, many customers in Indonesia reject bot during their interactions with us in social channels.In fact, they require a more "emotionally connected" human customer service where higher level of engagement can be built and posted publicly. Through Tokopedia Care, we change the way we do things in social customer relationship management, from reactive to proactive approach. Our Customer Engagement Hub (command center), equipped with social listening tools, allows us to find and respond to relevant conversations on social media, both tagged and untagged posts. These tools enable us to be proactive in solving user's problem before they even know about it. In addition, our engagement with users is also built by producing interactive contents and creatives. Social channels require different strategy and technology. Social listening tools are highly important in this playing field, as opposed toChatbot & Automations.3. DIGITAL = FULL ONLINE? We might find some companies have fully digitized all their channels and left no offline channels for customers to interact with customer service representative in person. Nothing is wrong with that. However, for high-context society like many Asian countries, customers can have many implicit messages they do not convey - what is said is not always what they mean to say, and even smart intent recognizer would fail to decipher. This blind spot can be avoided by having face-to-face interaction with the customer regularly. Combining online and offline capabilities in one spot will also work wonders. There were times when we felt like we have built a good product, predicted the behavior and intent using big data, and ended up finding that some customers come to simply ask, "How to subscribe?"4. FOCUS ONLY ON CX METRICS. As stated earlier, top management commitment is key, as every customer engagement initiative might not always show a direct road to ROI. However, it is our job as a CX practitioner to stay focused on delivering the initiatives profitably, while focusing on increasing the Net Promoter Score or Customer Satisfaction Score as well. Your Chief Financial Officer (CFO) might need you to convince on how every decrease on these metrics lead to negative ROI, as well as the importance of having stronger commitment to improve the AI and chatbot to further pave a path for revenue generation as a necessary action.I can always repeat this important message to all CX practitioners: Always start from your customer problems, and not company problems. Be obsessed in providing solution and still meet them in person. Separate social and digital strategy, and make sure your channels deliver the best experience profitably as you'll need them to convince your Chief Financial Officer to further invest in better AI. Rudy Dalimunthe
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