Improving communication: Stepping up with AI Assistant

Challenges

Adria P.A., a sales salon for Renault and Dacia vehicles, faced great challenges due to its high sales volume and service activities. The company needed to effectively manage customer interactions, especially during peak periods and outside regular business hours. The traditional customer service model, which relied heavily on human resources, was unable to meet growing demands, which put pressure on employees and threatened the quality of service, which is crucial to maintaining customer loyalty and preserving the brand's reputation.

Adria P.A. recognized the need for digital transformation to improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Specifically, they wanted to integrate AI sales assistants and service that would support existing staff during traffic periods and provide accurate information to customers outside of office hours, when human staff may not have been available.

However, although they had a modern IT infrastructure, Adria P.A. had no experience with the application of artistic intelligence (AI) in everyday business operations, which represented a significant obstacle to their goal of digital transformation. That is why Adria P.A. decided to hire EDIH Adria to assess the feasibility of implementing AI solutions that would seamlessly integrate into existing business processes, support the workforce and ultimately improve the customer experience.

Solutions

EDIH Adria approached the Adria P.A. challenge with a structured plan to harness artistic intelligence (AI) in digital transformation. First, specific needs to improve customer support and service efficiency were identified. Two AI solutions are proposed: one using the Infobip platform, known for its advanced chatbots, and the other based on open-source OpenAI technologies.

The Infobip platform offered a simple setting with high-performance chatbots, but with costs to consider. Open-source solution from OpenAI offered greater flexibility and customization, including the ability to create a comprehensive knowledge base, support for multiple languages, and integration of voice options. This option, although more complex, was better suited to Adria P.A.'s long-term needs and budget constraints.

After evaluating both options, Adria P.A. opted for an open-source solution due to its flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The implementation involved configuring an AI conversation assistant using employee interview data and various company resources, such as vehicle price lists and sales processes. The AI assistant was designed to provide accurate, timely and contextually relevant responses to customer queries, both online and through voice channels.

Results and Benefits

During the test phase of the AI project in Adria P.A., significant potentials were identified, which are expected when the solution is fully implemented. Quantitatively, the AI Assistant is expected to reduce the burden on customer support by automating responses to routine queries, such as questions about vehicle availability, service bookings, and pricing. This automation will allow human agents to focus on more complex tasks, which will increase productivity.

Faster responses are also expected, as AI will provide instant answers, which will improve customer experience and their satisfaction. The ability of AI to operate 24/7 will allow customers to access information and support outside of regular business hours, expanding the customer base and improving service availability.

The multilingual capabilities of AI will be particularly useful, enabling Adria P.A. to serve international customers more effectively by reducing language barriers. Integration of AI with Adria P.A. CRM and ERP systems should improve data management, enabling more efficient use of customer interactions, which can lead to improved marketing strategies, personalized interactions and optimized inventory management.

Lessons learned

The test phase of the AI project in Adria P.A. brought several key insights. First, the use of vehicle handbooks as the main data source for AI has proven to be challenging due to their complexity. The results suggested that a separate, structured database specifically designed for use in AI would be needed to achieve better results. Also, employee engagement was crucial; Insights from employee interviews were crucial to shaping AI understanding of customer interactions. However, the project has shown that a systematic approach to collecting inputs from employees can further improve AI performance.

Measurable data

Although the project is in a testing phase, the expected results include:

• Reduce response time to customer queries: The response time is expected to be significantly reduced due to the availability of the AI Assistant 24/7.
• Increasing customer satisfaction: By monitoring customer feedback, an improvement in customer satisfaction results is expected, with an increase of 10-20%.
• Reduction of operating costs: The cost of customer service is expected to be reduced by 20-30%.
• Increase Conversion Rate of Potential Customers: With timely and relevant information, the conversion rate is expected to increase by 10-15%.

Conclusion

The implementation of AI in Adria P.A. could significantly transform business by improving customer service, increasing operational efficiency and achieving a strong financial return on investment. This project not only has the potential to improve business operations within Adria P.A., but can also serve as a model for wider application of AI technologies in other companies.