The Age of Intent
Using Artificial Intelligence to Deliver a Superior Customer Experience
by PV Kannan with Josh Bernoff
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Pub Date 28 May 2019 | Archive Date 17 Apr 2020
Mascot Books | Amplify Publishing
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Description
Have you ever wished that every company you interacted with could just know what you wanted and go get it for you? That when you picked up the phone or opened a chat window that the company would use what it knew about you to anticipate your needs ?
We are on the verge of a future just like that.
The age of intent is a world where the smartest of chatbots—virtual agents—are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and connected to a consumer's complete past history. These virtual agents can anticipate just what a customer is looking for, answering questions through chat, on the phone, and through smart speakers like Amazon's Alexa. They'll transform the business world with efficient, scalable service that's available 24/7 and gets smarter every day.
In these pages you'll learn about the companies that have used virtual agents to deliver a superior customer experience. You'll see how:
> Auto rental company Avis Budget used virtual agents to automate 68% of service calls, saving millions of dollars every year.
> Danish bank Nordea's virtual agent Nova identified thousands of intents, handled 20,000 conversations a month, and reduced emails and calls by 25%.
> Satellite operator Dish Network's agent DiVA responded to 4 million queries a year and helped meet surging demand for pay-per-view events.
> Restaurant chain TGI Fridays used a Facebook Messenger chatbot to boost take-out orders by $150 million a year.
> Butterball ported its "Turkey Talk-Line" to Amazon's Alexa smart speaker, serving 20,000 customers in the reassuring voices of its most trusted turkey advisors.
P.V. Kannan, the leader of the standout customer experience technology firm [24]7.ai, shares his expertise here on how and why virtual agent rollouts succeed—or fail. He explains how to architect key information systems, overcome corporate resistance and bad practices, and analyze customer journeys to make virtual agents maximally effective. You'll learn why selling through conversational commerce is especially challenging, smart speaker platforms are tantalizing but limited, and the best virtual agent systems work hand-in-hand with human support agents.
Virtual agents will usher in the biggest change in how companies interact with consumers since the web. They'll increase efficiency even as they improve customer experience. This is a technology shift you don't want to miss out on...and The Age of Intent is the best place to get smart about it.
Advance Praise
“I don’t think people have fully grasped how profound it is that in the near future, people will expect to talk to machines. And if they’re talking, companies need to provide the answers they’re looking for. The ability of machines to anticipate human intent is about to become fast, free, easy for the company you’re interacting with, mobile, invisible, and ubiquitous. It is going to make the world flatter, faster, and smarter than ever before. A conversation-first strategy will be required by all companies, just as a mobile-first strategy was after the advent of the smartphone.”
—Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist and author of The World is Flat
“If you want to understand what customer service looks like in the future, then this is the book to read. And, by the way, the future is now!”
—Shep Hyken, customer service expert and author of The Convenience Revolution
“Virtual agents are absolutely consistent, infinitely patient, and ready to help at any time the customer needs them. Together with the best human service representatives, they make a team that can’t be beat. That’s the message of The Age of Intent, and it should resonate with anyone whose products must deliver the best possible experience.”
—James E. Meyer, CEO, SiriusXM Satellite Radio
“Lately, I have experienced greater success with chatbots than with the untrained and apathetic support service humans. I think chatbots are trained to solve problems, while humans are motivated to get rid of callers faster. If you are responsible for customer service, go read The Age of Intent by P.V. Kannan. Do it now, before someone like me hangs up on your support person and starts bitching about your crappy customer support on Facebook.”
—Shel Israel, coauthor of The Fourth Transformation: How Augmented Reality & Artificial Intelligence Will Change Everything
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781643072401 |
| PRICE | US$24.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Ben B, Media/Journalist
The applications for artificial intelligence are limitless. We’re just beginning to realize what can be achieved through AI and related technologies, but some are already helping to better serve our customers. Let’s take a look, in The Age Of Intent: Using Artificial Intelligence To Deliver A Superior Customer Experience.
The Age Of Intent
The way we experience and engage with brands is changing. They now have the power to better serve and understand potential and current customers. The Age Of Intent shows the power of AI to provide a better customer experience.
We start off by looking at intent. What does it mean and what insights can it provide about our customers and allow us to give them the best interaction possible.
Then we explore how the understanding of intent can be applied to business. What advantages does it offer in terms of making our interactions faster, less painful, but also providing a higher level of service. Artificial intelligence can assist both by handling the entire customer interaction through chatbots and conversational commerce, or it can assist by working side-by-side with our employees.
Virtual agents, their abilities and advantages, are examined. We see how they hold the power to improve many of the ways we serve our customers currently, and offer new ways to better serve them in the future. The challenges of providing a seamless experience, and potential pitfalls are also detailed.
In the end, we turn to the future. Though we don’t know all the amazing ways we’ll be able to partner with AI technology to create the best experience imaginable, there are already many possibilities and glimmers of more opportunities to come.
Customer Excellence
We’re barely scratching the surface in understanding and utilizing artificial intelligence to improve business relationships but it’s already clear that it holds the power to transform how we interact with customers and bring things to an entirely new level. The Age Of Intent shows how we can approach the current possibilities, apply them now, and start taking advantage of the abilities they offer today.
Darya Y, Reviewer
The book an interesting concept. The main focus is on integrating chat bits with artificial intelligence. Very good reviews of specific cases and stories open a lot of concepts for the reader. Will the chat bits of AI-powered virtual assistants be the future of customer support? I supporters the ideas from the book. The examples of integrated solutions are the proof. If now "digital or dead" is the key, the next step may be "get business powered by AI or.."
Richelle W, Reviewer
This is a fascinating read into not only the endless possibilities of Artificial Intelligence but into the realities of studies and applications already being explored. It is very eye opening and the possibilities are practically endless. I look forward to seeing how this technology might be used in the future. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review. Even if you don’t see a huge use for the technology this book will still make for interesting food for thought.
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