Customer service grows with your customer base. More customers means more questions, and many of those questions keep coming back. Hours, availability, returns, invoice status. Necessary work that delivers zero margin. With AI customer service, an AI agent drafts the answers to those questions for you.
What is AI customer service?
AI customer service is customer contact in which an AI agent drafts the answers to customer questions, for example via WhatsApp and email. At Automatevia, you decide which messages go through you first. It does not replace your customer service: it takes over the writing of recurring questions, so you keep time for the questions that need a human.
What the agent does
An AI agent from your team reads incoming messages on WhatsApp and email and drafts a reply in your tone of voice. We connect the AI team to the systems you already use.
What the agent prepares
The team proposes answers to questions that come up often. Think of questions about:
- Hours, location and directions
- Availability of products or services
- Returns and warranty
- The status of an invoice or shipment
- Making an appointment
What goes through you first
Important messages go through you first. You see the proposal in Telegram and choose: send, edit or skip. You decide which messages those are. Think of:
- Complaints
- Negotiations on price or terms
- Messages that commit you legally or financially
Once an action proves itself again and again, it can go automatic. You decide when.
Which questions suit a proposal from an agent
Questions whose answer is already fixed somewhere suit this best: in your terms, on your site or in your schedule. The more often the same question comes back and the less the answer differs per customer, the better.
Less suitable are questions that involve a judgement call. A complaint, an exception to your policy, a customer who is angry: there you want to decide the content and the tone yourself.
A useful test: would you let a new employee send this answer in their first week without you reading along? If not, it belongs with the messages that go through you first.
In your tone of voice
The agent writes in your tone of voice. You see important messages as a proposal before they go out. If the tone is off, you edit the message.
With the first proposals, pay attention to the greeting and the sign-off, to the length, and to how formally you address your customers. Read a proposal out loud: does it sound like something you would say on the phone yourself? Then the tone is right.
What to agree with your team beforehand
AI customer service only works when it is clear who remains responsible for what. Before you start, agree on:
- Who reviews the proposals, and at which moments of the day
- Which kinds of messages go through a human first
- What happens to a question when nobody responds to the proposal
- Where the policy that answers rely on is written down, and who keeps it up to date
An answer is as good as the text it relies on. If your returns policy is not clearly written down anywhere, write that down first.
How to start small
Start with one kind of question on one channel, for example questions about opening hours via email. Read along at first with what is proposed, and keep track of which proposals you send unchanged and which you edit.
What you keep sending unchanged is a candidate to set to automatic later. What you keep editing calls for a better source text, or belongs with the messages that go through you first. Only expand to the next kind of question once the first runs well.
What it costs
What an AI team costs is on the page about AI automation services for small businesses. Start with the free scan: send us your weekly tasks and we tell you what an AI team can take over.
Frequently asked questions about AI customer service
Is AI customer service reliable?
That depends on what the answers rely on and on who is watching. An AI agent can draft a wrong answer, just like a new employee. That is why, at Automatevia, important messages go through you first: you see the proposal in Telegram and choose send, edit or skip.
Does AI customer service work via WhatsApp?
Yes. An AI agent reads incoming messages on WhatsApp and email and drafts a reply in your tone of voice. You decide which messages go through you first.
What is the difference between a chatbot and an AI agent in customer service?
A classic chatbot follows a fixed script with answers written in advance. An AI agent drafts an answer per message, based on the question and on the information you give it. At Automatevia, important messages then go through you first.
Which customer questions can an AI agent prepare?
Questions that come up often and whose answer is already fixed, such as questions about hours, availability, returns and warranty, the status of an invoice or shipment, and making an appointment. You decide which messages go through you first; think of complaints, negotiations and messages that commit you.
