📟 How to Set Up an AI Chatbot for Customer Support with Intercom

Introduction

Have you ever wished you could have a super smart assistant to help answer all those customer questions coming in? Well, that's exactly what an AI customer support agent can do for your business!

In this guide, we're going to show you how to set up an AI agent using Intercom. This handy tool will work like a virtual employee - instantly responding to customer inquiries with accurate answers. Pretty cool, right?

The best part? An AI agent can seriously boost your support team's efficiency. Instead of getting bogged down with repetitive questions, your human agents can focus on the more complex stuff while the AI handles the easy stuff lightning fast.

And let's not forget happier customers! Nobody likes waiting around for responses. With an AI at the helm, your customers get their issues resolved right away without any delays.

So what do you need to make this AI magic happen? Just an Intercom account (the paid version). Got that covered? Then let's explore!

I. Introduction to AI Agents in Customer Support

Ever felt like you could use an extra set of hands (or a few hundred) to handle all those customer inquiries? That's where AI agents come in!

AI agents are super smart virtual assistants that can instantly respond to customers with accurate answers and solutions. They work alongside your human support team to boost efficiency and create smoother customer experiences.

Think of them as the first line of defense - triaging incoming requests, answering the easy stuff right away, and freeing up your team to focus on the more complex cases.

In this guide, we'll be using Intercom as our platform for deploying an AI agent. But don't worry, there are plenty of other options out there like:

• Zendesk

• Freshdesk

• And more!

So whether you're already an Intercom user or just starting to explore AI for customer support, this tutorial has got you covered.

II. Overview of AI Agent Tools in the Market

When it comes to AI agents for customer support, you've got a couple of main options to choose from:

1. AI-Powered Customer Support Platforms

• Intercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Kustomer

These are like all-in-one solutions. Not only can you deploy AI agents, but you also get tools for:

• Hosting your knowledge base

• Routing customer inquiries

• Analytics and reporting

• And more!

2. AI Chatbot Builders

• My Ask AI, Chatbase, Zapier AI Chatbots, SiteGPT

While not dedicated customer support platforms, these tools allow you to build and customize AI chatbots that can be embedded on your website or app.

Pretty neat if you want to add some AI smarts to your existing setup!

Pro Tip 💡: Don't just go with the buzziest name. Take some time to evaluate your company's specific needs and budget. The right tool is the one that fits your requirements best.

With all these choices, it can get a bit overwhelming. But don't sweat it! We'll focus on Intercom for this tutorial to give you a solid foundation.

III. Developing a Customer Support AI Agent in Intercom

Okay, it's time to roll up our sleeves and actually build this AI agent! Here's how we'll get it done in Intercom:

1. Upload Content for the AI Agent

1. First thing's first - we need to give our AI some reading material. Head over to the Fin AI Agent button on the left and click New Content.

   

2. Now you can upload all sorts of good stuff like your Brand Guidelines, FAQs, and Escalation Procedures documents. The more info, the smarter your AI will be!

2. Add Custom Answers

1. In addition to documents, you can create Custom Answers that are, well, custom-made for your most common questions.

   

2. Just navigate to Custom Answers on the left, hit New Answer, and fill out the form.

Pro Tip 💡: Don't forget to set that Custom Answer as live! Otherwise, your AI buddy won't be able use it.

3. Testing the AI Agent

1. Time to see if this virtual genius is up to snuff. Head to the Overview window and click that Intercom logo.

   

2. Fire away with some questions from your documentation, but also try out some curveballs it shouldn't know.

Pro Tip 💡: Definitely test the tricky ones to really see how your AI handles the unexpected.

4. Finalizing Setup

1. Once you're satisfied with its performance, let's get this AI assistant ready for primetime!

2. Still in Overview, hit that Set up and go live tab. Here's where you define who'll meet your AI (Users, Leads, Visitors) and what happens if it can't resolve things.

Pro Tip 💡: You'll also need to actually install the AI on your website or app using their instructions. Don't skip this step!

Phew, that was a lot of bullet points! But now you've got all the key steps to turn Intercom into your own personal AI support maven. High fives all around! 🤘

IV. Setting Up Ticket Classification and Automation

Even with an AI agent ready to rock, we can take things to the next level with some smart automation workflows. Here's how:

1. Create a Workflow

1. From the left sidebar, go to Automation > Workflows and click New Workflow.

   

2. Let's start with the "Route conversations to the right team" template as our base.

   

2. Customize the Workflow

1. We want the AI agent to be the first responder. So click Add Step and select Let Fin answer to add it before the Branches step.

2. Now let's set up some routing logic. Re-add the Branches step if it got removed.

3. Click to edit the first branch condition to check if the Message content contains the word "billing".

4. For that "billing" branch, we'll Assign the conversation to your Billing team using the existing Assign step.

5. For the other branch (no "billing" keyword), we can Assign it to the general Support team.

So in this customized flow:

• AI agent answers first

• If "billing" is mentioned, it goes to the Billing team

• If not, it goes to the Support team

• But only for unresolved conversations! The AI handles resolved ones automatically.

Pro Tip 💡: Get creative with branches! You can set them up to detect all kinds of keywords and route accordingly.

3. Another Workflow Idea

Let's add one more workflow to automatically tag conversations with keywords. This makes it easier to track and analyze common issues.

1. Create a new workflow, this time choosing the "Tag conversations with keywords" template.

2. Customize the keywords list based on your common inquiries (shipping, returns, discounts, etc.)

3. Run this workflow alongside the routing one for extra organization!

Pro Tip 💡: Workflows are crazy flexible. Start with templates, but build them out until they're a perfect automation fit for your business.

The goal here is to leverage Intercom's built-in tools as much as possible. With the right combo of AI answering and automated routing/tagging, your support process becomes an efficient, self-managing machine!

Conclusion

Whew, that was a ton of steps but you made it to the end! By now, you should have your very own AI support superstar up and running in Intercom. From uploading docs and custom answers, to testing its smarts, to automating the whole shebang - you covered all the bases. The real key though? Don't just set it and forget it. Make sure to keep tweaking and optimizing your AI buddy based on how it actually performs. The more you refine it, the more efficient and customer-delighting it'll become. At the end of the day, an AI agent is like a super smart personal assistant ensuring your support process is a well-oiled, user-pleasing machine. So give yourself a pat on the back - you just leveled up your customer service game big time!

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