Improving Customer Service and Inquiry Management at the Centre of English Studies with an AI Chatbot

AAI

Overview

The Centre of English Studies (CES) is a leading English language school with locations across the UK. CES offers a wide range of English language courses, teacher training programs, and cultural experiences for international students and professionals.

However, with its growing student body spread across multiple campuses, CES struggled to provide prompt and efficient customer service. Students often faced long wait times when phoning or emailing inquiries. CES staff became overwhelmed handling the high volume of repetitive questions about course schedules, prices, enrollment, and more.

To improve inquiry management and boost customer satisfaction, CES implemented an AI chatbot with natural language understanding (NLU). By integrating the NLU chatbot onto its website, CES aimed to:

• Reduce average customer service response times
• Instantly answer common inquiries
• Qualify new student leads faster
• Provide 24/7 self-service access to information
• Streamline multilingual communication

The Problem

CES received thousands of inquiries every month through various channels like phone calls,emails, and social media. Staff struggled to handle this high volume, resulting in:

• Long wait times of up to 3 days for responses
• Repeated inquiries eating up manpower
• Customers getting frustrated with delays
• Lower enrollment conversion rates due to slow follow-up
• It was clear CES needed to automate elements of its customer service to improve responsiveness and free up employees to focus on more complex interactions.

The AI4CHAT Solution

The AI chatbot implemented by AI4CHAT utilizes advanced natural language understanding capabilities. It combines NLU, machine learning algorithms, and a friendly persona to deliver seamless customer experiences through automated conversations.

CES embedded the AI chatbot made by AI4CHAT on its website to instantly engage visitors and answer their most frequent questions 24/7. Whether guiding them through course options or helping them complete enrollment applications, the chatbot could handle various common requests to take the load off CES staff.

Key features of the AI4CHAT AI chatbot implemented for CES include:

• Natural conversations – The chatbot uses NLU so students can ask questions conversationally and in multiple languages.
• Instant answers – Powered by AI, it can answer thousands of common questions on demand without wait times.
• 24/7 availability – The chatbot works day and night on the website to provide after-hours self-service.
• Seamless hand-off – When a question requires human intervention, it politely transfers the enquiry to a live team member.
• Lead qualification – The chatbot can collect key details from prospective students to qualify and prioritize new leads.
• Analytics – Insights into frequent inquiries help CES improve services and the knowledge base.

Results and Benefits

Within 3 months of implementing the AI4CHAT AI chatbot, CES saw tremendous improvements including:

• 50% reduction in average response times, down from 3 days to just 1 day
• 60% of inquiries completely handled without human assistance
• 25% increase in lead-to-enrollment conversion rate
• Hours saved per week for the customer service team to focus on complex issues
• Higher customer satisfaction based on positive feedback and reviews

By streamlining inquiry management, the AI chatbot enabled CES to handle higher student volumes without expanding staff. Students appreciate the quick, consistent, and multilingual assistance. Meanwhile, employees can focus their time on tasks that create more value for students.

The success of the AI4CHAT AI chatbot at CES proves that AI can drive tremendous efficiency improvements for language schools while also enhancing customer experience.