Why AI translations are gaining traction in customer service

Customer Service is evolving rapidly, and keeping up is a task in itself. Customers expect to converse in multiple channels when the time suits them and expect a high level of service. The bar is raised each year, and companies are scrambling to be left behind. It makes sense as Salesforce’s State of Service report shows that 94% of customers say an excellent customer experience makes them more likely to make another purchase.

Customer Service operations can range from small teams in a country to international operations with thousands of customer service representatives. Each company has different goals, but the common theme of increased customer satisfaction and operational efficiency has turbocharged the interest in AI. AI, as a general term, has been earmarked to change the way the world operates, and customer service is no different. The possibilities of AI in customer service are endless, but where do you start? I want to concentrate on a specific use case for AI: translations.

Demand for multinational service

Companies have strived to offer customer service in the languages of their customers for many years, which has brought many challenges. Where are the customer service operations located, and what languages are needed? Should we offer customer service in all languages in the countries where they operate? What percentage of customers contact in what language? You have to consider all these questions when operating in customer service internationally.

From a domestic point of view, companies might see a need to offer services in languages other than the language of the country to support workers who migrate to a new country. Offering services in different languages can give them an edge over competitors as it becomes easier to do business. The decisions being made always have the consideration of a person knowing a language, which is generally a restraint. How can you offer the customer a service in their language without considering these things.

Implementing AI Solutions in Salesforce

AI translation solutions have been built to integrate with Salesforce in the last two years. These solutions can enhance the efficiency of your customer service operations and administration within Salesforce:

1) These solutions offer the chance to translate customer conversations from most channels. Translating the customer’s chat, email or message to the language the agent understands and back to what the customer understands allows for more flexible resourcing. It removes the constraints currently in place for most customer service operations. It can mean that the customer can immediately get through to an expert who might be out of reach due to language barriers.

2) Translating knowledge articles has always been an administrative burden. Finding the right resources with the correct language skills and actual time to work through the translations is an inefficient use of time and sometimes it can involve getting external assistance. With AI translations, you can run the knowledge articles through the translations and, if necessary, have someone review them.

3) The Salesforce Translation Workbench has been a helpful tool for translations but has always been a time-consuming effort. With the AI translation solutions, they take this effort away, allowing for more efficient administration of Salesforce.

As a company, this could be a step too far and worry about how your customers will receive such a service. These are understandable concerns to have, but with the advances of AI and translations coupled with practical configurations such as sending both the translated as well as the original text, these solutions can provide a very healthy return on investment, which in turn should free up your customer service operations to concentrate on the things that matter…..the customer.

Guide to implementation

At Fluido, we have tested and implemented these solutions for our customers and found the following:

1) Start with a pilot. It lets you learn how the solution operates, validate translations, and update the library. It also allows the agents to get comfortable with the solution.

2) Don’t hide the fact you are using AI translations. Be transparent with the customer. Make them aware of this on first contact.

3) There are many of these solutions available that integrate with Salesforce. It is good to access a couple of solutions to find the right fit for your company. At Fluido we have worked with Venizum and Fluentic with success for our customers who are seeing real benefits of these solutions.

4) Use the solution provider’s integration team and a dedicated internal and/or external team to assist in the setup process and evaluate relevant performance, feature and ease of use indicators.

Expected outcomes of these solutions

1) When implementing these solutions, you can expect cost reductions due to the flexibility that the solution brings from a resourcing point of view.

2) The solution is underpinned by its translation accuracy. You should expect that the accuracy of translations above 95%

3) Employees using these solutions should find them intuitive to use, and they should be at ease using them. If these criteria are met, employee satisfaction will increase.

4) As customer service availability increases and the translation accuracy is high, you will see an increase in customer satisfaction.

5) These solutions offer the chance to operate in new markets that might not have been possible previously, which should see an increase in revenue.

With our experience if you are looking for this type of solution for your Service Cloud operation, feel free to contact Fluido. We can discuss what it takes to get you up and running with AI translations and an impartial view of the solutions available in this space.