3 Human skills AI can't replace (and why they matter now)

The world likes to sort itself into two camps: the people who think artificial intelligence (AI) will save us and the people who think it will replace us. But there's a third space on the Venn diagram that gets far less airtime. The people occupying this space are pro-AI but appreciate that there are places and moments where only humans will ever be able to deliver value. 

Jeff Toister – AKA the "service culture guide" – is firmly in group three and this year published his fifth book, Human Service. 

Speaking to CX Network, Toister says: "Almost every CX leader I know is working through an AI-related challenge. Some have been given a mandate to use AI, but don't know where to start. Others are trying to maximize limited resources and hope automation can contribute. Many are wondering what role their human employees will play in the near future."

Described as "a very pro-AI book", Human Service is written to help leaders solve this challenge. It provides guidance, but more importantly it features real-world case studies. For example, on fast food chains and grocery stores that record more revenue than competitors by retaining humans rather then automating key journey points. 

There's even the story of an equipment vendor that replaced its AI chatbot with human agents and doubled the conversion rate on pre-sale inquiries.
Crucially, the book can also help CX leaders identify these situations in their own organizations. 

In this interview with CX Network, Toister talks about the three critical human skills AI cannot replace, the best practices service leaders should keep in mind when designing human-AI handoffs and the scenarios in which AI can drive the most value.

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What is Human Service about? 

The premise of Toister's latest book is simple: in a world that is trying to figure out where AI can make a difference, this book looks at where humans should be placed to drive the biggest impact. And by impact, we don't mean NPS. Toister has looked at the metrics that matter to senior business leaders, such as revenue, growth, and market share. 

Further, when we talk about skills, this isn't a book about AI literacy, but how human and AI can complement each other. In doing this, the book explores three critical human skills that AI cannot replace:

1. Connection: Making customers feel welcome.
2. Understanding: Discovering customers' intent so you can better serve.
3. Advocacy: Actively working to help the customer have a better experience.

The question now is how CX leaders and service designers can ensure they are empowering their teams to demonstrate these skills as AI becomes more embedded. 

"Basic service skills have been eroding long before the rise of AI," says Toister. "Employees haven't received consistent training or coaching. Many have to follow awkward service standards or stick to clunky scripts."

The good news is the three skills identified in the book are foundations of daily life.

"So part of the strategy should be just letting people be more human," Toister says. 
"Connection is the process of building genuine rapport so people know and like you. Understanding means gaining a deeper knowledge of someone's needs so you can best help them. Advocacy is working on someone else's behalf to help them have a better experience. We already do these things for the people in our personal lives that we care about, so we just need to understand how to apply these skills at work," he explains. 

When Toister conducted a study into how customers like to be greeted at the start of a physical experience, he discovered a personal greeting was far more effective. For example, instead of shouting "welcome!" as soon as a customer enters a store, the employee waits for them to get closer and then greets them with a warm, more personal, "Good morning!" or "Hi, how are you today?" 

"The personal greeting got 69 percent of customers to smile, versus just three percent  who received to 'welcome!' being shouted as they entered the door," Toister says. 

"Yet shouting 'welcome!' is the corporate standard at many retail locations. It's awkward for both employees and customers," he adds. 

How should CX ensure seamless handover between agents and humans?

Online, Toister says one thing that frustrates customers the most is not being able to reach a human agent.

"AI systems should be designed to transfer the contact to a human whenever a customer requests it or when AI detects that it can't solve the issue," he says. "Whenever possible, the handover should mimic a warm transfer where the human agent receives context about what the customer is trying to do so they can pick up where the AI agent left off."

As outlined in the CX Network report The realities of using AI agents for the helpdesk, handoffs are one of most underestimated opportunities to reinforce the connection with a customer.

Handoffs occur for many reasons; the customer requests a human, as they are now entitled to do under the EU AI Act, or the agent been instructed to handoff in a specific scenario. In both cases, the handoff to a human should be quick, natural, and smooth. Furthermore, organizations should remain mindful that every escalation captures on data on where workflows can be improved in future. 

"Some leaders worry about the cost of making it too easy for customers to reach a human agent," Toister says. "It's counterintuitive, but customers are more likely to try self-service if they know a human agent is easily reachable. In one project I worked on, we doubled the number of customers using self-service automation by having humans available to provide assistance or even walk customers through trying self-service."

Where can AI drive the most value?

Human Service includes plenty of instances where AI can erode value. However, looking at the broader landscape, there are two primary scenarios where AI can drive value. 

One is automating customer-facing tasks that fit the CRaP criteria – Toister's term, not ours! This covers:

• Confident: the customer is confident using AI
• Routine: the tasks are relatively common, giving you data to train AI
  and
• Predictable: AI can reliably provide good service

"Automating the CRaP can shorten wait times for customers who don't need to wait for a human agent," he explains. "It also frees employees to spend more time with customers who have more complex needs."

The second scenario where AI can drive value is in giving employees super-skills. 
"These are situations where AI works in the background to help humans be their best selves," Toister explains. By way of example, he cites a study by Laivly that found using AI to generate notes after customer service calls reduced talk time by 12 percent. 

"That's because phone agents were no longer distracted by typing notes as they talked to a customer. They could give customers their full attention, which reduced resolution time and improved customer satisfaction," he explains.

Human Service is available via Amazon and other retailers.

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