DeviceBits, a Columbus, Ohio-based artificial intelligence (AI) software provider, unveiled its latest white paper report, “How Successful Brands Today Are Implementing The Right Automated Customer Service Strategy,” which addresses the three main ingredients for successful customer service—AI, digital self-support materials and the right platform to deliver these in the right customer experience.

An online survey to more than 550 brands and marketers showed that 40.9% said customer service would benefit most from better online support that utilized AI with live chat, self-support or automated response materials. This was ahead of sales (36.4%) and order/fulfilment (34.1%).

However, current online customer service strategies are not supporting sales activity. That’s because 36% of respondents said few customers are making a follow-up purchase following their interaction with an online customer service team. Another 30% said only about half have made a follow-up purchase. This reinforces that organizations know they’re missing the mark with their current online customer service strategies.

In another survey presented to more than 2,500 consumers across the United States, 61.5% of those polled said they would prefer their customer service issues resolved via automated response through self-service channels like web, mobile, chat, email, etc. Another 43.6% said they’d prefer to make a telephone call into a customer service agent, while only 38.5% said they’d prefer a visit to the store to personally speak with an agent. This means that automated customer service is on par with the most traditional forms of customer service.

The report goes on to address the need for the right platform to pull all of this together into the right customer experience. A single-agent support interface helps manage and circulate customer information through integrations to customer relationship management providers or other back office applications, giving a more personalized customer experience. What’s more, chatbot-ready articles or co-pilot responses with live agents improve customer satisfaction levels, ensuring the consumer gets the information they need.