Research shows that 71% prefer human agents to serve customers

Every day, customers contact the company.

They want to buy something, ask for orders, return products or resolve payment issues. In the past, this often meant talking to real people on the phone or through the website.

Now, things are changing. Most commonly, the first reply is From a chatbot.

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AI and Learning Retention: Does Chatgpt help or hurt?

How chatbots change customer service for businesses

The chatbot is AI The tool is designed to simulate real-time conversations with users. It runs 24/7, requires no rest, and can manage a large number of requests at the same time. This sounds like the ideal solution for businesses. It’s no surprise that the chatbot market has soared from $370 million in 2017 to $2.2 billion in 2024. Many companies now rely on chatbots as their first contact in customer service. Although convenient, not all customers are on board.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

Why most customers still prefer human agents over chatbots

Although the company is excited about the speed and efficiency of chatbots, many customers do not. A recent survey found that 71% of people would rather talk to human agents. What is even more worrying is that 60% of people say chatbots don’t usually understand their problems. It’s not just about getting the wrong answer. It boils down to trust. Most people are still unsure about AI, especially when their time or money is online.

What is chatgpt?

When a customer wants a human agent instead of a chatbot

Not every customer’s problem is the same. Some are simple and fast. Others are more complicated or personal. This is where chatbots lack. A recent survey showed that 47% of people can use their purchasing history to market. However, only 9% of people using their financial information are acceptable to the company. This is a big difference. When things feel more sensitive or more serious, people will want a real person to help.

New study compares chatbots with human agents in customer service

To better understand how people can actually interact with chatbots and human agents, researcher Vivek Astvansh collaborated with a large North American retailer to analyze over 500,000 Customer Service Chat. These findings detail “customer-to-chat insights with robotics and human agents” in his peer-reviewed study.

The study found that most queries are divided into one of six categories: orders, coupons, products, shipping, account issues, and payments. When customers have questions about detailed or sensitive topics, such as shipping or payment issues, they are more likely to look for human agents rather than relying on chatbots. Astvansh’s research also shows that human agents are more effective in matching customers’ content and communication methods than chatbots.

This similarity in language and topic focus leads to stronger rapport between clients and agents. In fact, the closer the agent’s response is, and consistent with the main topic of the conversation, the faster and more frequently the client responds. Data show that customers feel more involved when they feel they are understood, which is the main driver of satisfaction during service interactions.

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How businesses can improve customer service through a hybrid approach

So, how can businesses use these insights to improve customer service? Not every customer problem should be handled by a chatbot. Companies should determine the intent of each query before determining whether it should be routed to a bot or a human.

Human agents already know how to reflect the tone and concentration of customers. In order for the chatbot to succeed, it must be trained to identify and adapt to customer intent and language patterns. Although this is not natural for machines, it can be programmed using machine learning models like those used in the research.

If a company is investing in a chatbot system, the performance of that system should be tracked. Businesses should ask chatbot vendors to provide real-world data to show their bots compared to efficiency, accuracy and customer satisfaction compared to human agents. If the technology fails to meet high standards, it may not be worth the investment.

Kurt’s key points

AI tools such as chatbots are helpful and won’t disappear anytime soon. But customers still want people to feel heard and understood. This usually means talking to real people. The best way is not to replace humans, but to use humans and technology in the right way. Let the chatbot handle things fast. When conversation is really important, bring in humans.

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If you have an important problem to solve, are you confident that you can put your trust in a chatbot? By writing to us, let us know cyberguy.com/contact

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