How CPG companies can leverage AI to create more efficient, human-centric experiences

The CPG industry is facing rising pressure to deliver seamless, personalized customer experiences (CX) while also addressing growing challenges in employee experience (EX). As consumer expectations soar and contact center costs climb, leading brands are turning to AI to create human-centric experiences (HX) that enhance both CX and EX. By integrating smart automation and real-time support, companies can boost customer satisfaction, empower employees, and drive long-term value.

Touchpoint

Today's CPG consumers demand seamless, personalized omnichannel experiences (CX); however, delivering this at scale is complex and expensive. At the same time, customer care leaders are facing up to several employee experience (EX) issues, including rising call volumes, high levels of employee attrition, and persistent talent shortages. As a result, two-thirds of customer care leaders say that upskilling and reskilling contact center staff is a critical priority.
Smart CPG companies are looking for AI-based tools to create more human-centric experiences (HX) by optimizing and personalizing their customers’ omnichannel experience, reducing the workload, and enhancing the skills of employees.

 

CX and EX challenges

The CPG landscape has changed radically over the past few years. A decade ago, younger consumers were beginning to exhibit a ‘digital first’ mindset as e-commerce, mobile apps, and social media became embedded into their buying journeys. When the COVID-19 related lockdown hit, CPG companies accelerated their digital transformation as the whole world moved online. Consumers were exposed to a huge range of digital experiences which, combined with the sheer volume of digital information being shared, meant that their attention was constantly being distracted. This has resulted in more demanding customers and less loyalty to traditional brands.

As a result, today's consumers demand seamless, omnichannel experiences personalized to their unique requirements. In response, the most successful CPG companies are putting customer-centricity at the heart of all they do. However, delivering this at scale is complex and – at a time of rising contact center costs – expensive.

Alongside these enhanced consumer experience (CX) expectations a series of issues relating to the employee experience (EX). Research from McKinsey found that the challenges facing customer care leaders today include rising call volumes, high levels of employee attrition, and persistent talent shortages (!). There were record levels of staff attrition following the COVID-19 pandemic and staff turnover remains high. The shift to hybrid and remote working has also made it more difficult to implement and manage training and mentoring schemes for new staff.

Consequently, the biggest problem facing customer care leaders is the need to upskill and reskill contact center staff with two-thirds saying this is a critical priority. Respondents claimed that this will improve employee morale, enhance productivity, and enable faster adoption of new technologies and working methods.

Adding ‘Human-centric Experience’ (HX) into the mix

It’s long been understood that EX and CX are intrinsically linked:  disempowered, disengaged and disenchanted employees do not deliver great customer experiences. According to the Temkin Group, CX leaders (those companies whose customer experience is considered considerably above average) were five times more likely to earn “good” or “very good” employee engagement ratings than CX laggards (companies that deliver average or below average) (!). One Forbes article asserted that it is time for CPG leaders to, “double down on the idea that EX is now the key driver of CX and to find smarter, strategic ways of connecting the two. (!)”

As a result, brands are looking to AI-based tools to create more human-centric experiences (HX) by optimizing and personalizing their customers’ omnichannel journeys; reducing the workload, and enhancing the skills of employees.

AI-enabled self-service is one of the keys to delivering on these ambitions. This can deliver the enhanced omnichannel experiences users expect (CX) while at the same time reducing the number of calls that are passed to agents and allowing them to focus their time on more engaging and higher-value interactions (EX). Ultimately, McKinsey believes that around 65 percent of tasks and 50 to 70 percent of contacts could be automated, providing customers with a true omnichannel experience that provides a consistent and seamless experience across interactions; and lifting a huge burden from the shoulders of contact center staff.

Box-out: the AI-supported customer service process

McKinsey breaks down the AI-supported customer service process into seven stages. 

• 1.    Proactive communication linked to key demand drivers: For CPG companies, this might be reacting to information about variations in demand for a product in a given area to advise customers to adjust their order sizes accordingly. 
• 2.    Intent recognition and nudges before the customer reaches out: E.g. using insights about customer accounts to provide a personalized list of options. 
• 3.    Omnichannel enablement with self-service for service journeys: e.g. using AI algorithms to analyze the history of a customer’s interaction with the company to support multi-channel journeys.
• 4.    Conversational AI at each entry point: This offers immediate assistance and will help to reduce demand on contact center agents.
• 5.    Frontline enablement with agent coaching supported by a knowledge repository and AI: This could be based on Gen AI models trained on in-house LLMs or third-party solutions like Microsoft Co-pilot.
• 6.    Highly personalized, advisory interaction that drive relationships and value with straight through processing (STP) for quick resolution of issues: STP is a technology-based process that automates routine customer service interactions (such as basic stock order functions) which serves to reduce errors and delays, improve operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience. 
• 7.    Performance measurement via a centrally managed nerve center that tracks resolution accuracy and efficiency. Gain an objective view of all contact center interaction to automate quality and compliance assurance.

 

HX for CX

Many marketing and CX teams are already using Customer Experience Management (CXM) platforms such as those from Adobe, Salesforce, and Genesys, to deliver omnichannel customer experiences.  Each of these vendors now has Gen AI offerings in the shape of Adobe Sensei, Salesforce Einstein, and Genesys Cloud AI that support the delivery of HX services. For example, AI-driven predictive insights can help you enhance engagement with end-to-end journeys based on customer behaviors and preferences. Also, by using AI-powered search and retrieval, employees can quickly find relevant information during calls, reducing response times and increasing the quality of support provided.

At the same time, marketing teams will be able to make use of the robust marketing automation tools on these platforms to connect and retain customers through advanced and personalized lead nurtures and content triggers. By identifying and targeting high-value customers, these AI tools will also help retain existing ones, and optimize experience delivery to improve campaign ROI.

Interestingly, research suggests that the overwhelming majority (94%) of contact center agents believe artificial intelligence will support them in their role, despite the perceived threat to jobs. The majority (57%) believe AI will help solve customer queries faster, provide them with more information on the customer (56%), and enable them to focus on more challenging tasks (56%), according to a study of 250 contact center agents in the UK (!).

HX for EX

By incorporating AI into training, real-time coaching, and performance analytics, CPG companies can effectively upskill call center employees in several ways, helping agents deliver more effective, personalized, and efficient customer service. 
Firstly, AI tools can provide real-time coaching by monitoring live calls and offering suggestions or prompts to help agents handle customer inquiries better. After each call, AI can analyze the conversation to provide insights into the employee's performance, including voice tone, pace, sentiment, and resolution time. Based on this analysis, AI can curate personalized training modules to help employees develop skills, such as problem-solving, product knowledge, and communication.
CPG companies can also use AI to create interactive, simulated customer scenarios for call center employees to practice handling complex or challenging situations and to use sentiment analysis to analyze voice tone, word choices, and sentiment during interactions so agents can respond with more empathy, fostering human-centric interactions and improving customer satisfaction.
 

Conclusion

Today’s CPG leaders understand that EX and CX are simply two sides of the same coin – it is not possible to improve one without addressing the other. Against a backdrop in which consumer expectations and call center costs are both rising, the only way to square this circle is to use AI to create human-centric experiences that address both challenges simultaneously.

In designing your AI-supported customer service model, your strategy should be guided by two top-line considerations. Firstly, 75% of customers will use multiple channels on their service journey (!).

Secondly, almost half (48%) of customers start their customer service journey with the aim of speaking to a real person (!).

Therefore, as McKinsey points out, “A reimagined AI-supported customer service model encompasses all touchpoints—not only digital self-service channels but also agent-supported options in branches or on social media platforms, where AI can assist employees in real-time to deliver high-quality outcomes ”.

This is not simply about throwing technology at the problem but, as McKinsey observes, an AI-enabled customer service transformation can unlock significant value for the business. This is how AI-driven human-centric experiences (HX) can enhance both CX and EX to create a virtuous circle of better service, higher satisfaction, and increased customer engagement.