DiscoverCars saves $138K annually with generative AI

DiscoverCars wanted to scale its support in order to reduce operational costs, better serve customers and meet the demands of seasonal travel spikes. The problem was that, with business busier than ever, they had limited resources to continuously hire and train new support staff. So the company chose Zendesk AI agents as the best solution to meet their support needs.

Improving operational efficiency

Guleysha Hasanova, DiscoverCars’ Automation and Helpdesk Manager, was instantly impressed by the intuitive dialogue builder and how Zendesk AI agents provided quick time to value without requiring a ton of technical know-how.

Thanks to Customer Success Manager Frances Naguit, the company’s AI agent, Carla, was fully operational within just two months.

As Guleysha recalls, “Frances was the best teacher. She took us from baby steps to working with AI. She helped me to see that I could easily manage our AI agent without a prior technical background.”

But the benefits didn’t stop there. Carla is now a valued member of the team who does the work of 1.5 agents. She is helping to clear the ticket backlog, and saves the human agents an average of 110 hours a week – which amounts to annual savings of over $138,000. All of this has resulted in an improved CSAT score, which has jumped from 68 percent to 73 percent since launching the AI agent.

Upskilling human agents with AI

Not only has Carla become a big help to DiscoverCars’ support team, but automation has also helped power more rewarding support careers at DiscoverCars.

Guleysha reflects on her career trajectory, noting that, “Before I was purely a customer support agent, and now I’m on the backend overseeing Carla as the person carrying out our automation projects. I have a lot of freedom, and I’m really proud of the work I’m doing.”

DiscoverCars even hopes to expand its AI agent-building team by bringing another agent on board as an AI agent manager, as the importance of this function within the world of CX continues to grow.

Instantly offering multilingual support with generative AI

DiscoverCars wanted to offer support in several languages without the hassle of individually translating pre-programmed replies in each new language. After watching a demo of Zendesk’s generative AI tool, the team was excited to give it a try. Using generative replies, they were able to instantly automate in five languages simply by connecting to the existing knowledge base. That number quickly grew to 17 additional languages served. This has contributed to an improved CSAT score, by providing more customers with the ability to make queries in their language of choice.

Scaling support, without increasing costs

Automation has helped DiscoverCars tackle its ticket backlog and meet seasonal spikes, all without having to hire and train new agents.

Zendesk AI agent was easy to set up and accessible without needing previous technical know-how. Thanks to a personalized onboarding experience with a dedicated CSM, DiscoverCars was able to launch its AI agent – and reap the benefits of automation – both quickly and easily.

DiscoverCars now offers round-the-clock support, thanks to Carla. Since getting started with automation, DiscoverCars has enjoyed a five percent increase in CSAT, as well.