Is AI Santa or Scrooge? Brands Risk Losing Customers Over One Bad AI Experience, Acquire BPO Study Warns

IRVING, TX, UNITED STATES, November 21, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- With holiday shopping in full swing, businesses are turning to AI to help with the strain of gift-related customer service requests. But for 70% of consumers, a single bad experience with AI could sour the season, making them view the brand as a Scrooge instead of a Santa.

A new survey from Acquire BPO highlights the delicate balance businesses need to strike when relying on AI during the holidays, protecting the Santa-like warmth and human connection consumers deeply value during this season of cheer. As businesses increasingly rely on AI to manage customer interactions, this serves as a timely reminder: while AI can be helpful, customers still prefer the human touch.

Acquire BPO’s 2024 AI in Customer Service Survey was conducted for Acquire BPO by the third-party platform Pollfish to explore consumer sentiment insights and how companies can develop thoughtful AI strategies that blend the benefits of AI with the irreplaceable value of human interaction. Pollfish surveyed the experiences of 600 U.S. consumers aged 18+ who contacted a company for support issues over the past year.

Key findings include:

● 70% of consumers would consider switching brands after a single bad experience with AI-powered customer service.
● Consumers are 2.5X more positive when interacting with humans compared to AI-powered bots.
● Half of consumers feel negatively about companies relying more on AI, citing a lack of personal touch, lower accuracy, and slower resolutions.
● 72% of human-preferring customers said that the availability of human support influenced their buying decisions, compared to 57% of chatbot fans who chose services that provided AI options.
● 29% of chatbot fans would prefer to tackle inconvenient tasks—such as filing taxes or moving heavy furniture—rather than speak with a human customer support agent.

The survey also revealed some optimism for brands using AI to deliver Christmas cheer:

● 40% of consumers feel AI can handle simple issues as effectively as a human, but they want the ability to switch to a human agent if needed.
● 61% of respondents liked AI’s ability to remember past issues, streamlining future interactions.
● 55% of consumers appreciated AI's ability to detect frustration and escalate issues to human agents.

As AI continues to play a bigger role in holiday customer service operations, consumers will look for the right balance of warmth and efficiency–with one misstep potentially alienating them entirely.

“AI can be as delightful as Santa or as frustrating as Scrooge, depending on how it’s used,” explained Scott Stavretis, CEO of Acquire BPO. “While AI-powered tools can handle routine tasks at incredible scale, they can never replace the empathy and emotional intelligence of real human connection.”

“Humanity must always remain at the heart of customer centric AI,” continued Stavretis. “The magic of exceptional customer service comes from blending the best of both worlds: AI handling the simple tasks, while humans provide the genuine care that no machine can replicate. This holiday season, it’s a reminder that the heart of service is, and always will be, human.”

For complete survey results, visit the Acquire BPO’s 2024 AI in Customer Service Survey on Acquire BPO’s website.

About Acquire BPO
Acquire BPO is an award-winning global business process outsourcing provider that offers a wide range of services including contact center, customer service, sales, back-office functions, technical support, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) consulting. Established in 2005, Acquire BPO is committed to operational excellence, advanced technological solutions, and a client-centric approach. We are recognized by clients as safe, flexible, and innovative.

Founded in Australia with a global presence that spans 3 continents and 4 countries, Acquire BPO has delivery centers in the USA, Australia, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines. We partner with leading brands across industries including banking, finance, healthcare, logistics, insurance, telecommunications, media, education, and retail.

For more information, visit www.acquirebpo.com.

Breanne Ngo
Idea Grove
bngo@ideagrove.com