Customer Success Playbook Podcast S3 E72 - Adrian Swinscoe - Enhancing Customer Experience with AI

1 00:00:05,339 --> 00:00:06,330 Customer success. 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:11,099 Hi everyone. 3 00:00:11,099 --> 00:00:14,130 Welcome back to the Customer Success Playbook podcast. 4 00:00:14,134 --> 00:00:15,445 I'm your host, Roman Reon. 5 00:00:16,260 --> 00:00:18,690 Kevin Metzker, my cohost, still not with us. 6 00:00:18,690 --> 00:00:20,219 I don't know where he is at, uh, where he is at. 7 00:00:20,219 --> 00:00:22,679 We'll, we'll, uh, we'll, we'll, we have a word on the street. 8 00:00:22,679 --> 00:00:26,100 We're trying to find him, but we are wrapping up our, our three 9 00:00:26,100 --> 00:00:29,879 part series with Adrian Skoe, and today we're gonna explore 10 00:00:29,879 --> 00:00:33,270 how to keep AI from becoming just another buzzword, right? 11 00:00:33,270 --> 00:00:35,549 We've hear so much of a ai, but that is not just become a 12 00:00:35,549 --> 00:00:36,210 buzzword. 13 00:00:36,539 --> 00:00:37,140 So. 14 00:00:37,530 --> 00:00:39,539 Adrian, uh, let's start here. 15 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,880 AI tools are flooding the market. 16 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,149 I just met with a, um, one of our partners yesterday, they 17 00:00:45,149 --> 00:00:47,789 were talking about the Gartner Magic Quadrant box, and they 18 00:00:47,789 --> 00:00:52,259 said there were like 60 some new AI tools in this one box. 19 00:00:52,259 --> 00:00:55,049 And they're, you know, just, it, it's, it's overwhelming, right? 20 00:00:55,530 --> 00:00:59,189 Um, but as these tools flood the market, you know, self-service 21 00:00:59,189 --> 00:01:01,829 and personalization are, are, are to the forefront. 22 00:01:02,204 --> 00:01:06,165 But how, how do companies ensure these tools feel human instead 23 00:01:06,165 --> 00:01:06,885 of generic? 24 00:01:07,125 --> 00:01:10,094 How do they make sure they get operational efficiency without 25 00:01:10,094 --> 00:01:12,974 losing that, that, that, that customer experience? 26 00:01:13,334 --> 00:01:15,344 And, and how can businesses, I mean, I know I'm asking you 27 00:01:15,435 --> 00:01:19,515 three questions in one here, but how do you avoid tech for, for 28 00:01:19,515 --> 00:01:19,694 tech's. 29 00:01:20,489 --> 00:01:22,349 Adrian Swinscoe: So I think the last point is a really important 30 00:01:22,349 --> 00:01:25,379 one because I think what we, the tech protect sake thing is we 31 00:01:25,379 --> 00:01:28,650 see a lot of that, you know, it is like this, this range of kind 32 00:01:28,650 --> 00:01:30,989 of like, uh, like hype waves. 33 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,299 You know, if you kinda go back sort of like five years, it's 34 00:01:33,299 --> 00:01:37,109 like in 2020 the pandemic, it was chatbots, right? 35 00:01:37,290 --> 00:01:40,739 And then I think it was possibly blockchain and then it was the 36 00:01:40,739 --> 00:01:43,709 Metaverse, and then it was congenitally and then it's 37 00:01:43,709 --> 00:01:47,010 Geogen ai and it's like, it, it's these series of waves. 38 00:01:47,010 --> 00:01:47,584 And I think that the. 39 00:01:48,135 --> 00:01:50,295 So technology's moving fast. 40 00:01:50,295 --> 00:01:51,795 That's that, that, that's true. 41 00:01:51,795 --> 00:01:55,275 But we shouldn't just be buying technology, like thinking it is 42 00:01:55,275 --> 00:01:58,125 a spanner and thinking about, oh, where can I apply it? 43 00:01:58,185 --> 00:01:58,754 As it were. 44 00:01:59,174 --> 00:02:02,444 I think here's the thing that we need to do, is we need to. 45 00:02:03,015 --> 00:02:05,295 Educate ourselves on, on the art of the possible. 46 00:02:05,534 --> 00:02:07,694 So we need to kinda like basically upscale ourselves in 47 00:02:07,694 --> 00:02:10,485 terms of understanding what this technology is and what it can 48 00:02:10,485 --> 00:02:10,784 do. 49 00:02:11,235 --> 00:02:13,784 But then rather than actually starting from a tech perspective 50 00:02:13,784 --> 00:02:16,425 and thinking about what experience that we can deliver. 51 00:02:16,784 --> 00:02:18,974 And so you buy the tool and then think about what you can do with 52 00:02:18,974 --> 00:02:19,064 it. 53 00:02:19,064 --> 00:02:21,375 We actually need to kind of like educate ourselves on what the 54 00:02:21,375 --> 00:02:25,305 art of the possible is, and then start, then imagine what is it 55 00:02:25,305 --> 00:02:25,900 that we want to create. 56 00:02:27,689 --> 00:02:28,169 And why? 57 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,810 And then work backwards from there in terms of what is the 58 00:02:30,810 --> 00:02:32,849 tech and what is the data that we need to in order to, to 59 00:02:32,849 --> 00:02:33,960 fulfill that now. 60 00:02:34,349 --> 00:02:36,689 Because if you do that, then you're gonna get a better idea 61 00:02:36,689 --> 00:02:38,909 of what you're working towards and that gives you a bit more of 62 00:02:38,909 --> 00:02:42,659 a, uh, of an insight and what sort of tools you need to employ 63 00:02:42,659 --> 00:02:44,639 in order to achieve that experience. 64 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,569 Right now, I think we're working from a tech data and experience 65 00:02:48,569 --> 00:02:50,610 kind of perspective where actually we should work on the 66 00:02:50,610 --> 00:02:53,039 flip is like start from an experience, data and sort of 67 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:53,430 tech. 68 00:02:53,849 --> 00:02:54,479 Perspective. 69 00:02:54,750 --> 00:02:59,819 And if we do that, we'll also get a better idea of one, having 70 00:02:59,819 --> 00:03:02,430 a strategy of what we wanna do, 'cause it and leads, it'll lead 71 00:03:02,430 --> 00:03:03,689 us towards our kinda like vision. 72 00:03:03,689 --> 00:03:06,419 But by doing that, we can also kinda start getting greater 73 00:03:06,419 --> 00:03:09,270 clarity of how do we deliver ROI out of some of the, our 74 00:03:09,270 --> 00:03:10,050 initiatives. 75 00:03:10,169 --> 00:03:12,210 Because otherwise it's, it's like, oh, well buy this and then 76 00:03:12,210 --> 00:03:12,990 things will get better. 77 00:03:13,289 --> 00:03:14,460 No, let's kind of like. 78 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,060 Be deliberate about what we're gonna do, what's our vision, 79 00:03:18,060 --> 00:03:19,919 what's our strategy to try and achieve that? 80 00:03:20,310 --> 00:03:23,490 What, what tools and things are we're gonna, uh, um, employ to 81 00:03:23,490 --> 00:03:24,629 in order to, to do that. 82 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,870 And then we can think about, okay, how does that tie to the 83 00:03:27,870 --> 00:03:30,360 enablement and achievement of our business and commercial 84 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,884 objectives, which will then help us deliver kind of ROI. 85 00:03:33,659 --> 00:03:34,050 Uh, love 86 00:03:34,050 --> 00:03:34,169 it. 87 00:03:34,349 --> 00:03:38,490 So I, I know you're all over CX and, and, and you're talking to 88 00:03:38,490 --> 00:03:41,340 tons of organizations and obviously you're a consumer and 89 00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:42,210 customer yourself. 90 00:03:42,419 --> 00:03:45,449 For you, Adrian, what's a company that's doing AI right 91 00:03:45,449 --> 00:03:46,745 from, from a CX perspective? 92 00:03:47,504 --> 00:03:49,395 Adrian Swinscoe: I, so there a lot of people talk about 93 00:03:49,395 --> 00:03:51,074 operational efficiency, right? 94 00:03:51,074 --> 00:03:52,485 And their productivity gains. 95 00:03:52,514 --> 00:03:54,764 But I actually think what's interesting about this, these 96 00:03:54,764 --> 00:03:58,574 new, new version of technologies is it gives us choice if you do 97 00:03:58,574 --> 00:04:00,014 it right, it gives us choice. 98 00:04:00,375 --> 00:04:03,465 And one of the best examples I've heard of a company that is 99 00:04:03,465 --> 00:04:06,735 leveraging some of these tools was, I think they're an 100 00:04:06,735 --> 00:04:11,025 e-commerce company and they've used AI and automation to, to, 101 00:04:11,175 --> 00:04:14,115 to free up a lot of their agents from doing some of the simpler 102 00:04:14,115 --> 00:04:14,444 tasks. 103 00:04:14,564 --> 00:04:14,895 So. 104 00:04:15,270 --> 00:04:19,649 The large percentage of the simple inquiries are all 105 00:04:19,649 --> 00:04:22,110 automated through either through a chat bot or through an a, you 106 00:04:22,110 --> 00:04:25,350 know, an automatic answer engine or, or whatever it might be, and 107 00:04:25,350 --> 00:04:28,350 that's freed up all sorts of time for their agents. 108 00:04:28,379 --> 00:04:31,170 Now, some people might go, great, we can reduce headcount, 109 00:04:31,170 --> 00:04:33,990 or we can redeploy people into other parts of parts of the, the 110 00:04:33,990 --> 00:04:34,350 business. 111 00:04:34,350 --> 00:04:37,019 They're like going, no, but that's not aligned with our 112 00:04:37,019 --> 00:04:37,500 brand. 113 00:04:37,860 --> 00:04:39,331 Actually, what we want to do is we want to. 114 00:04:39,779 --> 00:04:44,160 You know, we are, we've always been customer first and actually 115 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,629 what they, they've chosen without additional capacity. 116 00:04:48,990 --> 00:04:50,584 They've chosen to turn the phones on. 117 00:04:51,314 --> 00:04:53,295 Because they, they've never been able to do that before. 118 00:04:53,295 --> 00:04:54,855 'cause they didn't have the bandwidth to do it. 119 00:04:54,915 --> 00:04:56,024 So they're just for a brand. 120 00:04:56,055 --> 00:04:56,444 Okay. 121 00:04:56,444 --> 00:04:59,475 We're we're just chat and email and messaging and social media 122 00:04:59,475 --> 00:05:01,904 sort of thing because that took up all their time. 123 00:05:01,904 --> 00:05:04,035 They didn't have the time to turn the phones on. 124 00:05:04,035 --> 00:05:05,894 But now because they've automated a whole bunch of stuff 125 00:05:05,894 --> 00:05:07,904 and free up a bunch of space, they're like going, let's turn 126 00:05:07,904 --> 00:05:10,694 the phones on, then we can talk to customers, solve more complex 127 00:05:10,694 --> 00:05:13,274 problems, kind of get to know them a bit better, build 128 00:05:13,274 --> 00:05:14,415 relationships with them. 129 00:05:14,745 --> 00:05:16,754 And I think that's a brilliant kinda like way because it's 130 00:05:16,754 --> 00:05:18,615 actually not necessarily the normal thing. 131 00:05:18,689 --> 00:05:21,449 That you would expect or not, that's not part of the normal 132 00:05:21,509 --> 00:05:23,879 narrative that's going around the, around the industry. 133 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,209 So that's what I mean about having that vision about what 134 00:05:27,209 --> 00:05:28,589 you wanna do and a strategy to achieve it. 135 00:05:28,589 --> 00:05:31,079 'cause understand that within that you have choice. 136 00:05:31,259 --> 00:05:33,180 It will give you choice if done right. 137 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,269 And then it's up to you to decide what you want to do with 138 00:05:36,870 --> 00:05:39,029 that, that, that, that extra capacity that you're gonna free 139 00:05:39,029 --> 00:05:39,269 up. 140 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:39,930 Yeah. 141 00:05:39,930 --> 00:05:40,230 I love it. 142 00:05:40,230 --> 00:05:43,470 That's completely, uh, I, I love that example because that's the 143 00:05:43,470 --> 00:05:44,699 opposite of what I typically hear. 144 00:05:44,699 --> 00:05:45,060 Right. 145 00:05:45,060 --> 00:05:46,800 And, and it's reduced, reduce. 146 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:47,879 Reduce, and then. 147 00:05:48,300 --> 00:05:50,610 Yes, you saved some money, but you've created friction other 148 00:05:50,610 --> 00:05:52,620 places and, and you know, it's tough. 149 00:05:52,649 --> 00:05:53,189 It's tough. 150 00:05:53,220 --> 00:05:53,910 Uh, I love it. 151 00:05:54,180 --> 00:05:58,949 Um, so la well last question here on ai. 152 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,579 Um, any kind of, from your experience, like any ethical 153 00:06:02,579 --> 00:06:04,769 considerations that you think we should be talking about more 154 00:06:04,769 --> 00:06:05,069 with it? 155 00:06:05,100 --> 00:06:06,779 Uh, you know, I don't, we don't get into this a whole bunch, 156 00:06:06,779 --> 00:06:07,980 Adrian, but I'd love to hear your perspective. 157 00:06:08,620 --> 00:06:10,329 Adrian Swinscoe: I think there's two things I would say. 158 00:06:10,329 --> 00:06:14,649 First of all, I would say that we're not talking enough about 159 00:06:14,649 --> 00:06:17,529 the energy consumption needed to power generative models and just 160 00:06:17,529 --> 00:06:20,620 general AI in, in general across the, you know, the, the tech 161 00:06:20,620 --> 00:06:21,220 space. 162 00:06:21,370 --> 00:06:21,430 Yeah. 163 00:06:21,459 --> 00:06:22,449 That's a big deal. 164 00:06:22,449 --> 00:06:26,709 People are talking about building nuclear plants to power 165 00:06:26,709 --> 00:06:29,860 some of these data, these data centers and, and then going up 166 00:06:29,860 --> 00:06:32,259 at a rate and it's this bit like, wow, that's crazy. 167 00:06:32,769 --> 00:06:33,939 Um, I think. 168 00:06:34,529 --> 00:06:37,139 That, that's based on where we are right now. 169 00:06:37,139 --> 00:06:41,250 I think the, we've sold with people like Deep Seek that have 170 00:06:41,250 --> 00:06:44,639 been able to do some, do some things differently on the 171 00:06:44,639 --> 00:06:46,800 engineering side and the algorithmic side, which means 172 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,439 that the energy consumption is, is much kinda lowered, but 173 00:06:49,439 --> 00:06:52,769 broadly, energy consumption is, is a big deal that we need to 174 00:06:52,769 --> 00:06:54,480 think about, particularly when we think about the, the broader 175 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:56,699 context that we're about climate change and things. 176 00:06:56,759 --> 00:06:57,779 That's kinda the one thing. 177 00:06:58,079 --> 00:07:01,529 And the second thing, um, we don't talk about. 178 00:07:02,579 --> 00:07:03,089 A lot. 179 00:07:03,149 --> 00:07:05,430 We actually don't, don't think, we don't talk, talk about it at 180 00:07:05,430 --> 00:07:05,819 all. 181 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,740 And, and that is a lot of the low paid labor that goes into 182 00:07:10,740 --> 00:07:14,310 data annotation, much of which is, uh, located in the global 183 00:07:14,310 --> 00:07:14,550 south. 184 00:07:15,810 --> 00:07:18,990 So we get all this stuff and all this power and this technology 185 00:07:18,990 --> 00:07:21,029 and stuff, but it's relies on. 186 00:07:21,464 --> 00:07:22,935 Possibly a lot of exploitation. 187 00:07:23,714 --> 00:07:24,225 I'm glad. 188 00:07:24,225 --> 00:07:25,425 Thanks for bringing both those up. 189 00:07:25,425 --> 00:07:27,975 Uh, you, those are definitely ones that you don't hear hardly 190 00:07:27,975 --> 00:07:28,574 anything about. 191 00:07:28,574 --> 00:07:28,904 Right. 192 00:07:28,935 --> 00:07:32,415 Uh, and, and, and, and definitely huge, huge impacts 193 00:07:32,415 --> 00:07:33,764 on, on, on our world. 194 00:07:33,764 --> 00:07:35,625 So, uh, Adrian, thanks so much for joining us. 195 00:07:35,625 --> 00:07:37,814 I really enjoyed getting to talk to you here and, and learning 196 00:07:37,814 --> 00:07:38,355 more from you. 197 00:07:38,355 --> 00:07:39,435 This has been terrific. 198 00:07:39,795 --> 00:07:42,615 I gotta ask before we go, you got a favorite punk band? 199 00:07:43,245 --> 00:07:44,564 Adrian Swinscoe: Uh, I have two. 200 00:07:44,564 --> 00:07:44,625 Two. 201 00:07:45,464 --> 00:07:45,735 All right. 202 00:07:45,735 --> 00:07:47,084 Um, Fugazi. 203 00:07:47,750 --> 00:07:48,170 Fugazi. 204 00:07:48,170 --> 00:07:48,170 Yeah. 205 00:07:48,824 --> 00:07:49,064 Adrian Swinscoe: And 206 00:07:49,064 --> 00:07:49,694 Bad religion. 207 00:07:50,595 --> 00:07:51,014 Uh, bad religion. 208 00:07:51,045 --> 00:07:51,314 All right. 209 00:07:51,314 --> 00:07:53,475 Well, awesome, ju I, I, I've loved it so much. 210 00:07:53,475 --> 00:07:57,225 There is a 99.4% chance I'll listen to God save the Queen 211 00:07:57,225 --> 00:07:58,605 from, uh, the Sex Pistols today. 212 00:07:58,605 --> 00:08:00,855 I know that'll be on my playlist at some point. 213 00:08:01,035 --> 00:08:02,264 Uh, but, uh. 214 00:08:02,615 --> 00:08:03,004 Adrian. 215 00:08:03,004 --> 00:08:03,875 Brilliant stuff. 216 00:08:03,875 --> 00:08:06,935 I really enjoy, uh, having you on the show to our audience. 217 00:08:07,084 --> 00:08:08,944 Definitely check out Adrian's books. 218 00:08:09,274 --> 00:08:10,204 Uh, you can find them. 219 00:08:10,264 --> 00:08:11,105 Uh, Adrian. 220 00:08:11,105 --> 00:08:13,384 Where can we, I'll let you, where can our audience best find 221 00:08:13,384 --> 00:08:13,774 your books? 222 00:08:13,774 --> 00:08:14,704 Where do you wanna direct'em? 223 00:08:15,154 --> 00:08:15,514 Adrian Swinscoe: Uh, I mean. 224 00:08:17,129 --> 00:08:18,764 I'm just look me up. 225 00:08:18,764 --> 00:08:23,024 It's like Adrian Scoe, you know, S-W-I-N-S-C-O-E. 226 00:08:23,144 --> 00:08:26,024 Look me up on the, uh, or whether it's Amazon or the 227 00:08:26,024 --> 00:08:27,345 internet, you'll find my website. 228 00:08:27,345 --> 00:08:28,185 You'll find me on LinkedIn. 229 00:08:28,185 --> 00:08:28,935 You'll find me on the pod. 230 00:08:28,995 --> 00:08:33,105 If I'm the me on the Punk CX podcast, do that and hit links 231 00:08:33,105 --> 00:08:35,294 or subscribe or buy a book or whatever it might be. 232 00:08:35,294 --> 00:08:37,965 Or send me a message kind of like, and just to say hi, and 233 00:08:37,965 --> 00:08:38,804 then, you know, that's all good. 234 00:08:39,455 --> 00:08:40,115 That's awesome. 235 00:08:40,115 --> 00:08:40,774 We'll definitely check him out. 236 00:08:40,774 --> 00:08:42,450 I was gonna say, I was gonna say Amazon because I know when I, 237 00:08:42,450 --> 00:08:44,585 when I pull you up, Amazon's the first thing that pulled up, but 238 00:08:44,585 --> 00:08:46,205 I wasn't sure if that's the best place. 239 00:08:46,205 --> 00:08:47,375 But you're on there. 240 00:08:47,375 --> 00:08:48,065 You'll find them. 241 00:08:48,065 --> 00:08:48,904 Grab the book. 242 00:08:48,965 --> 00:08:49,924 Terrific stuff. 243 00:08:49,985 --> 00:08:52,565 So that's the end of our three part series to our audience. 244 00:08:52,565 --> 00:08:54,575 We really appreciate, appreciate you listening. 245 00:08:54,904 --> 00:08:58,325 Make sure you, uh, if you like the show, subscribe, rate it, 246 00:08:58,325 --> 00:08:59,975 share it with your friends and colleagues. 247 00:09:00,345 --> 00:09:02,264 You can connect with, uh, Adrian on LinkedIn. 248 00:09:02,264 --> 00:09:03,075 Adrian's on LinkedIn. 249 00:09:03,075 --> 00:09:05,144 So reach out to Adrian on LinkedIn, like again, check out 250 00:09:05,144 --> 00:09:05,835 his website. 251 00:09:06,195 --> 00:09:09,465 Uh, myself, I'm on LinkedIn at Roman Trevon. 252 00:09:09,914 --> 00:09:11,054 Ping me, reach out. 253 00:09:11,054 --> 00:09:12,465 Let us know what you liked on the show. 254 00:09:12,495 --> 00:09:14,715 Guests you'd like to have us on topics, et cetera. 255 00:09:14,715 --> 00:09:15,884 We're always happy to connect. 256 00:09:16,154 --> 00:09:19,575 Uh, Kevin, who wasn't able to join us, Kevin Metzker you, he's 257 00:09:19,575 --> 00:09:22,605 on LinkedIn at Kevin Metzker and then our Customer Success 258 00:09:22,605 --> 00:09:24,014 Playbook page on LinkedIn as well. 259 00:09:24,014 --> 00:09:24,705 Check that out. 260 00:09:24,945 --> 00:09:27,615 You'll see upcoming shows, clips, what's happening on the 261 00:09:27,615 --> 00:09:30,554 show, et cetera, and we'll ha we'll be back with more 262 00:09:30,554 --> 00:09:33,315 strategies for your customer success playbook. 263 00:09:33,585 --> 00:09:35,654 Until next time, audience, keep on playing.