Artificial Intelligence isn’t just a buzzword anymore for contact centers — it’s becoming the foundation for how CX and sales teams drive smarter growth. For today’s leaders, the question isn’t if you should invest in AI for your contact center, but how to do it effectively.
That’s why we’ve created this AI investment roadmap for CX and Sales leaders, built from real-world examples of how Natterbox customers are already pushing the boundaries with AI and achieving meaningful impact.
In this guide, you’ll discover:
- Why AI in Contact Centers Is No Longer Optional
- The 6 highest-impact use cases for contact centers
- A simple crawl-walk-run framework for AI adoption
- How to select the right partner for your CX or sales team.
AI is No Longer Optional for CX and Sales Leaders
AI is evolving fast, and the disruptive effects on contact centers are clear – and incoming, quickly. Data now shows that AI adoption is now essential for not just growth; Contact centers likely face an existential threat if AI is not adopted quickly and smartly.
AI has ROI impacts on both ends of the equation.
With a projected $80B in agent labor cost reduction by 2026 and an observed 14% productivity boost from Generative AI, the ROI is compelling. Companies focused on AI-driven CX have seen revenue growth of up to 80%.
Adoption is becoming mainstream.
A staggering 98% of contact centers are already using AI in some capacity. Waiting on the sidelines is no longer a viable strategy.
The Customer Mandate is Clear
The gap between customer expectations and reality is a critical battleground. With a 40% increase in demand for 24/7 service, customers have an ever-dwindling patience for friction.
Long waits, having to repeat information, and needing multiple contacts to resolve an issue directly impact your bottom line, as 48% of customers will switch to a competitor after just one or two bad experiences.
Top 6 AI Use Cases Driving Contact Center Efficiency and Sales
The potential returns when you invest in AI for your contact center are significant, but any investment needs de-risking. We recommend focusing on adding AI where:
- You spot a high-volume frustration that’s previously seemed unsolvable.
- You can reliably deliver incremental, measurable improvements at scale.
- You save your human agents time on low-value tasks.
Here are six high-impact use cases that have an outsized impact on your contact center, relative to their cost.
AI-Powered IVR (No More Menus!)
Without AI: Rigid, frustrating phone menus that lead to poor CX.
With AI: Uses Natural Language Understanding (NLU) to interpret spoken requests and route callers intelligently, leveraging Salesforce data for crucial context.
ROI Lever: Achieves a 15-25% reduction in Average Handle Time (AHT), saving an estimated $5 per call.
Intelligent ID&V (Identification & Verification)
Without AI: Time-consuming manual verification and post-call data entry – with a real potential for human error.
With AI: Automatic ID&V and call summaries, automatically updating Salesforce records and freeing up agent time.
ROI Lever: Saves 30-60 seconds of agent time per call.
OOH (Out-of-Hours) Smart Voicemail
Without AI: Missed leads and inquiries after hours create backlogs and lost opportunities, or needing to pay for a dedicated answering service.
With AI: AI that transcribes, understands intent, and – if it can’t resolve the query – routes after-hours messages as Leads or Cases in Salesforce for efficient follow-up.
ROI Lever: Captures 100% of after-hours inquiries, preventing lead loss and reducing backlogs.
AI-Powered Case Deflection
Without AI: Agents spending valuable time on repetitive, low-complexity queries.
With AI: Virtual assistants resolve common issues instantly, escalating to agents with full context only when necessary.
ROI Lever: Achieves a 20-40% case deflection rate for routine queries.
Sentiment Analysis & Proactive Escalation
Without AI: Agents have difficulty identifying frustrated or at-risk customers in real-time, and are not always able to handle this effectively.
With AI: AI analyses voice and text to detect negative sentiment, alerting supervisors or providing agents with de-escalation prompts.
ROI Lever: Enables 100% of interactions to be analysed for quality and sentiment, not just a small sample – leading to more consistent excellence across your contact center.
Automated Post-Call CSAT/NPS Collection
Without AI: Manual feedback collection is inefficient and yields low response rates.
With AI: AI automates sending surveys and analyses the results, logging them directly into Salesforce.
ROI Lever: Generates 3-5x higher response rates than traditional methods.
How to Adopt AI in Stages: A Crawl-Walk-Run Framework
As a leader, your imperative is to understand your current situation and guide your various stakeholders on the next best step.
Here’s our simple Crawl-Walk-Run framework to help you invest smartly in AI for your contact center:
🐢 Crawl: Start with low-risk, high-impact automation.
If this is your first foray into AI, begin by targeting urgent and repeatable workflows to secure early wins and demonstrate the value of AI to your team and wider organization.
Example workflows could include:
- Providing out-of-hours assistance
- Overflow handling
- FAQ response and routing
🚶Walk: Expand to dynamic, human-escalated interactions.
As your success and comfort level with AI grows, build on it. Apply AI to more dynamic processes that allow your human expertise to be deployed where it’s most valuable.
For example:
- Lead qualification, automatically escalating hot leads to a sales representative.
- Appointment scheduling, without human intervention.
- Basic call handling and routing to reduce AHT.
🏃Run: Deploy autonomous AI for complex workflows.
At this level, you’re ready to ‘employ’ an AI agent within your business to work alongside your people. These autonomous AI Agents can handle sophisticated, end-to-end workflows with supervision (e.g., payment collection, policy renewals), maximizing efficiency.
Choosing the Right AI Partner for Your Contact Center
AI is exciting technology, but getting the most out of it requires collaborating with experts. While many claim to sell AI technologies for contact centers, it’s vital that you choose a partner – not just a vendor.
When evaluating potential partners, ask these critical questions:
- How deep and seamless is your integration with our existing CRM (e.g., Salesforce)?
- How do you ensure ease of use and customisation for our non-technical staff?
- Can you provide case studies demonstrating a proven track record of reliability and delivering tangible ROI in our industry?
- What is your detailed approach to data security, privacy, and ethical AI?
- What does your ongoing support and partnership model look like post-implementation?
The Choice is Yours: Disrupt or Be Disrupted
The future of customer experience and sales is one where AI will likely eliminate many (if not all) of the bottlenecks and frustrations in the process – from both a customer perspective and that of business leaders.
The choice is stark: you can either lean in, and use the remarkable powers of AI to innovate and drive growth, or risk being outpaced by competitors who are already redefining the landscape.
Take your next step with a Natterbox AI Workforce
Ready to take the next step? Natterbox offers deep expertise and Salesforce-native AI solutions for contact centers. We’re nearly ready to unveil our new AI workforce for a select few partners – register your interest now to take advantage.