Three Ways to Use GenAI to Fix Your Agents’ Poor Writing

Despite the training, mentoring, coaching, incentives, macros, knowledge base, and pizza Fridays you’ve provided, some of your customer service agents are still weak writers. Maybe it’s time to let these agents use a generative AI (genAI) tool like ChatGPT, Bard, or Claude, etc. to write emails or social media responses to customers. While a genAI tool won’t solve all your contact center’s problems with poorly written responses, it can help agents correct their spelling and grammar, explain complex policies simply, and express empathy even when they’re not feeling it.

Use GenAI for a Fix-All-Mistakes-at-Once Spellcheck and Grammar Check

Your agents should use spellcheck, but some of them don’t. Or they do use spellcheck, but their writing includes so many grammar and punctuation problems that spellcheck just doesn’t help enough. After all, Microsoft Editor doesn’t fix all the mistakes. In many cases, it just shows the writer where the mistakes are.

GenAI can fix all the mistakes, even for “Marian,” a customer service agent at the Motor Vehicle Authority. Her spelling and grammar are atrocious. Brace yourselves for the response Marian wrote to customer Jane Doe, who emailed the MVA to ask how to renew her disability placard for parking.

Here’s agent Marian’s response to customer Jane

Dear Jane Doe,

In regards to your e-mail obtaining a current first-time updated disabled placard, one would need to complete a form VR-123 (can be download from the web, under forms) and taken to any full service Motor Vehicle Agency office, Monday - Friday ,8:30 - 4:30 p.m. (If U cannot get to the doctors office, then the form will allow one 6 months to have the doctors complete it (still will receive a placard) If U cannot come in, U may give someone nortize power of attorney to return the form for you.

Marian, MVA Customer Service Agent

Here’s Google Bard’s rewrite of Marian’s response after I gave it this prompt: “Fix all the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in this email”

Dear Jane Doe,

In regard to your email regarding a current first-time updated disabled placard, you will need to complete a VR-123 form (available for download on the web under "Forms") and take it to any full-service Motor Vehicle Agency office, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

If you cannot get to the doctor's office, the form will allow you six months to have the doctor complete it, and you will still receive a placard. If you cannot come in person, you may give someone notarized power of attorney to return the form for you.

Sincerely,
Marian, MVA Customer Service Agent

Bard’s rewrite isn’t a perfect customer service email, but it corrected all Marian’s errors. For a writer like Marian, who can’t recognize or produce correct writing, using Bard is better than using Microsoft Editor or Grammarly. Maybe Marian shouldn’t be writing to customers at all, but if she is, genAI can protect her from sending embarrassing emails.

Use GenAI to Paraphrase a Complex Policy

To provide accurate, authoritative answers to customers’ questions, agents often cite company policies, some of which are wordy or complex. Customers don’t like reading policies, which leads to misinterpretation and incessant push-back.

Let’s say, for example, that you’re a harried United Airlines customer service agent, and a customer emails you to ask about the rules for flying with scuba or diving equipment. The customer, John Smith, is flying from Chicago to West Palm Beach for a diving trip.

From its Contract of Carriage, here’s United’s 188-word policy:

Scuba/Diving Equipment – One suitable dive bag securely containing scuba/diving equipment will be considered as one item of sporting equipment and allowed in place of one checked bag. Dive bags measuring more than 51 pounds and/or that are over 62 linear inches will be charged as sporting equipment and special item charges apply. An empty dive tank or up to 3 rebreather tanks will not be included in determining the free baggage allowance and will be subject to a 150 USD/150 CAD service charge (each way) for flights within the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A 200 USD service charge (each way) applies for all other travel. NOTE: The empty dive/rebreather tank must have the regulator valve completely disconnected from the tank. The tank must not be sealed (i.e. the tank has an open end). The tank must have an opening to allow for a visual inspection by a TSA Security Screener. For rebreather equipment, soda lime that is 4% Sodium Hydroxide or less will be accepted in checked baggage. Soda lime that is 4.1% Sodium Hydroxide will not be accepted in checked baggage.

Here's ChatGPT’s rewrite of the policy after I gave it this prompt: “In about 100 words, summarize this United Airlines scuba/dive equipment policy for a U.S. customer who is flying from Chicago, Illinois to West Palm Beach, Florida”:

For a flight from Chicago to West Palm Beach, you can bring a securely packed dive bag as one piece of sporting equipment instead of a checked bag. If the dive bag exceeds 51 pounds or 62 linear inches, extra charges apply. Empty dive tanks or up to 3 rebreather tanks cost $150 each way for flights within the U.S. Tanks must be properly prepared, disconnected, and open for inspection by TSA. We have specific guidelines for carrying soda lime in checked baggage, allowing up to 4% Sodium Hydroxide content. For full details, please read our Contract of Carriage.

ChatGPT’s version is shorter by half. The highly specific prompt enabled the tool to customize its policy summary, so it matches John Smith’s itinerary. For a different customer, ChatGPT could summarize the policy differently.

Show Empathy for Agents Who Aren’t Naturally Good at It or Are Burned Out

Yes, customers need and deserve customer service agents’ empathy, but some agents have a “get over yourself” mentality; expressing empathy just doesn’t come naturally. Other agents are great at expressing empathy, but the job’s so draining, they just can do it anymore.

I’m not sure which category Mark Miller falls into, but his email to customer Jason Jones is so lacking in empathy it’s positively aggrieved. Mark’s is a COVID-era email to a patient who’s asked when the vaccine will be available. No doubt, Mark was exhausted and stressed. He’d probably answered hundreds of emails from customers who were asking this very question.

Here’s agent Mark’s response to customer Jason:

Dear Jason,

We have been deluged with calls and portal messages asking about COVID vaccine. We know you are anxiously awaiting the availability of this vaccine. At this time, we do not have the COVID-19 vaccine. Our Main Street Physician Associates team has registered with the state of Maryland to obtain and administer vaccine but have not yet been permitted to order. We are not currently keeping a "waiting list" for vaccination, as we do not know when the vaccine will be made available for distribution through our practice and have over 30,000 active patients.

When we eventually receive our vaccine supply, we must give it to high priority patients first. If you are not in a priority group, you will not be given the vaccine.

Stay Safe,
Mark Miller, Customer Service Representative
Main Street Physician Associates

GenAI can help empathy-lacking agents express empathy on demand. I get it; for the next 50 years, the philosophers will debate whether bot-written empathy can ever be authentic. I say it’s a start. If we’re already encouraging agents to use templates, scripts, and macros that express empathy, we can encourage them to use genAI.

Here’s Bard’s rewrite after I gave it this prompt: “Without altering any facts, revise this email from Mark Miller to Jason Jones, so Mark's writing expresses empathy for Jason’s desire to know when he can receive the COVID vaccine”:

Dear Jason,

I understand your eagerness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. We have received many calls and portal messages from patients asking about the vaccine, and we are working hard to get it to our patients as soon as possible.

Our practice has registered with the state of Maryland to obtain and administer the vaccine, but we have not yet been permitted to order it. Currently, we aren’t keeping a waiting list, as we do not know when the vaccine will be made available for distribution through our practice. We have over 30,000 active patients, and we must prioritize the vaccine to those who need it most.

Once we receive the vaccine, we will contact patients in the priority groups first. If you’re not in a priority group, you will be able to schedule a vaccination appointment as soon as we have enough vaccine available.

We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time. Please stay safe and well.

Sincerely,
Mark Miller, Customer Service Representative
Main Street Physician Associates

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These days, contact centers are in an AI-acquiring frenzy. Every vendor in every booth in every exhibit hall at every conference is pitching an AI tool, and customer service leaders are silently worrying, “Are we late to the AI game??” But if we simply think of genAI as a tool, we can calm the frenzy long enough to ask ourselves, “Can this tool help my agents write better responses to customers?” As a lifelong writing teacher myself, I believe the answer is yes. In some well-defined situations, genAI is just the writing tool your agents need.