As retirement funds prepare for the Two-Pot system on 1 September 2024, a major concern is the expected influx of inquiries from members wanting to withdraw from their savings pot. Providing efficient and compassionate support to members becomes paramount. Some funds already have helpdesks or live chats with human agents at walk in centres, but the sheer volume of expected queries could overwhelm these platforms. There are other options available, such as using videos, artificial intelligence and chatbots, that can help retirement funds efficiently respond to all these inquiries in a timely manner. We aim to explore this further in this article, highlighting their benefits and potential drawbacks.
Live chat with human agents
Advantages
Personalised interaction: Human agents can provide tailored responses, understanding the unique needs of each member. These can be scripted, but humans can vary off-script to suit the query.
Handling complex queries: They excel at managing intricate and emotionally sensitive issues.
Building trust and rapport: Members often feel more comfortable and reassured when speaking with a real person.
Disadvantages
Scalability issues: Handling thousands of queries can be tough for human agents, leading to longer wait times.
High costs: Bringing on and training a large team of agents can be expensive.
Inconsistency: The quality of support can vary depending on each agent’s experience and knowledge. Scripted responses go a long way to address this.
AI-powered chatbots
Advantages
Always available: AI chatbots are ready to provide immediate responses anytime, day or night.
Scalable: They can handle thousands of queries at once without any hassle.
Cost effective: After setup, they require minimal maintenance and no extra staffing costs.
Consistent: Chatbots provide uniform responses, ensuring all members get accurate information.
Flexible understanding: Members can phrase their questions however they want, and the AI chatbot will still understand and respond appropriately. In contrast, rule-based bots might get confused if the question doesn’t contain certain keywords.
Customisable: AI can be trained and refined to answer questions in the way the retirement fund prefers. For example, it can consistently urge members to preserve their savings pot rather than withdraw funds.
Guided learning: AI chatbots can also guide members through a series of short training videos on the Two-Pot system, helping them understand the process and urging them to rather preserve.
Disadvantages
Limited understanding: AI chatbots might have trouble with complex queries or specific contexts. It’s important to keep studying their failed responses and refining and retraining the AI regularly.
Lack of empathy: They can’t provide the emotional support that human agents can offer, but they are friendlier than a bot.
Initial setup: Setting up and fine-tuning an AI chatbot might require a significant initial investment of time and resources.
Rule-based bots
Advantages
Efficient: Rule-based bots can quickly answer common questions using predefined scripts.
Simple: They are easier to set up and maintain compared to AI chatbots.
Cost-effective: Just like AI chatbots, they help cut down the need for a large team of human agents.
Disadvantages
Limited flexibility: They can only handle questions that fit within their predefined rules and might struggle with anything beyond those limits.
Scalability issues: While they can manage many queries, they are not as adaptable as AI chatbots.
Lack of personalisation: Responses are generic and might not fully address each member’s specific situation.
Conclusion
By integrating live chat with human agents, AI-powered chatbots or rule-based bots, retirement funds can significantly enhance their ability to support members during the important transition period around September 2024. Each option brings its own unique benefits and potential drawbacks:
- Human agents provide personalised and empathic interactions but come with higher costs and scalability challenges.
- AI-powered chatbots offer scalable, consistent and cost-effective solutions, though they may lack depth and emotional understanding for complex queries.
- Rule-based bots are efficient and simple to deploy but are limited in flexibility and personalisation.
A hybrid approach, blending these technologies, could offer the best of all worlds. An example is first chatting to an AI Bot, and then to a human. By leveraging the strengths of each method, retirement funds can ensure they meet their members’ needs with warmth, efficiency and care during this significant period of change.
