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Executive Summary
Neudorff, a leading manufacturer of garden and plant care products, sought an innovative solution to digitize its product consultation and reduce costs. The challenge was to scale high-quality customer service while improving consultation quality. Neudorff found the answer in implementing the AI coworker Flora.
In collaboration with Qualimero, Neudorff introduced Flora, specifically designed for product consultation. Flora, as a virtual addition to the existing team, was developed to:
- Ensure 24/7 product consultation in all languages
- Provide personalized product recommendations based on the customer's use case and plants
- Relieve the human customer service team of routine inquiries
The integration of the AI coworker into product consultation led to positive results:
- 97% accuracy in product recommendations through AI-supported consultation
- Average response time under 5 seconds
- Cost savings of 99.2% per chat
- Significant increase in customer service efficiency
The AI coworker Flora has not only optimized product consultation at Neudorff but also elevated the entire customer experience to a new level. This innovative form of AI-supported consultation allows Neudorff to offer superior service while increasing operational efficiency.
For the future, Neudorff plans to further expand the capabilities of its AI coworker by integrating image recognition and incorporating it into the company's own app to continuously improve product consultation and adapt to customer needs.
Complex Consultation Meets High Demand
When Neudorff approached Qualimero, the company faced a series of challenges in its customer service. As a leading provider of garden and plant care products, Neudorff has always had high standards for customer consultation and service.
"Our customer service team was permanently at capacity. We received a high frequency of email inquiries, and many questions were repetitive. Nevertheless, each consultation was individual and anything but trivial," explains Michael, Head of Digital at Neudorff.
The complexity of the consultation posed a particular challenge. Standards, guidelines, and laws must be observed in every piece of advice. Incorrect consultation can not only lead to image damage but also have legal consequences.
Neudorff also observed the efforts of competitors to master these challenges. The company found that some competitors had already implemented WhatsApp solutions for product consultation. However, these proved to be unconvincing from the customer's perspective.
Moreover, they did not bring real relief for the companies, as human employees were still required to process the inquiries.
This initial situation led Neudorff to search for a solution that went far beyond conventional chatbots, call centers, and email consultation.
Why Neudorff Chose Qualimero: High-Quality Consultation Around the Clock
In search of an effective solution to optimize their customer service, Neudorff discovered Qualimero.
The requirements were clearly defined:
- Ability to provide high-quality consultation considering all relevant guidelines and laws.
- Possibility to engage customers during the inspiration phase and get closer to them.
- A solution that doesn't require extensive internal training and can be launched within weeks.
- Around-the-clock availability with consistently high quality.
- Effective relief for the human customer service team.
- Seamless integration into existing IT systems and product databases.
"At Neudorff, we place the utmost importance on expert advice and excellent customer service. Our products often require detailed instructions, so precise and reliable consultation is crucial," explains Michael.
Julia, Online Marketing Manager at Neudorff, adds: "What particularly convinced us about Qualimero was not only the quality of the AI coworker but also the premium support. The Qualimero team took over the training of the AI with our data, which was an enormous relief for us."
With Qualimero, Neudorff found a partner who not only convinced technologically but also brought the necessary understanding for the specific requirements in the field of garden and plant care.
"Flora, our AI co-worker, is revolutionizing our product consultation. She combines our expertise with AI efficiency and offers our customers excellent consultation quality and customer service around the clock."
Michael Horn
Head of Digital
From Product Data to Intelligent AI coworker Flora
The implementation of Qualimero's AI consultant Flora was a carefully thought-out process that considered Neudorff's specific needs.
The first step in implementing Flora was the provision of Neudorff's extensive product data. The company granted Qualimero access to its entire product range via an API interface. This data provision formed the foundation for Flora's knowledge base and was crucial for her ability to provide precise and relevant product advice.
The Qualimero team took this data as a basis and began training Flora. This process was in many ways similar to onboarding a new coworker. Lasse from the Qualimero team explains: "We not only fed Flora with product information but also taught her how to consult, how to recognize customer needs, and how to embody the Neudorff philosophy in every interaction."
Flora was trained to:
- Provide comprehensive plant advice for indoor and outdoor areas, based on Neudorff's expertise
- Efficiently use the product database to give tailored product recommendations for individual customer needs
- Deliver detailed application instructions, including correct dosage and practical gardening tips, that meet Neudorff's high consulting standards
"It was fascinating to see how Flora became more and more competent during the training," reports Julia from Neudorff. "She not only learned about our products but also the way we want to communicate with our customers."
The integration of Flora into Neudorff's existing systems went smoothly. She was set up to interact seamlessly with customers via WhatsApp and web chat on the website.
"At the end of the implementation process, we had with Flora not just a chatbot, but a full-fledged digital colleague who meets our high standards of customer consultation," summarizes Julia from Neudorff. "She embodies our values and expertise while being available to our customers around the clock."
Precise Consultation in Seconds for 97% of Products and Cost Savings of Over 99%
The implementation of Flora as an AI consultant at Neudorff has led to impressive results that exceeded the company's expectations.
Particularly surprising was Flora's high precision. In 97% of cases, she finds the right product for the customer, and does so in seconds, without human intervention.
This high hit rate is reflected in various aspects of customer service:
- Lightning-fast response times: Customers now receive an answer to their questions within an average of under 5 seconds - a fraction of the time human consultants would need. Whether it's about the application of a product, which product is suitable for a specific problem, or general gardening questions - Flora has a well-founded answer immediately at hand.
- Around-the-clock availability: Customers are impressed by the possibility of receiving detailed consultation at any time of day or night. The precision and helpfulness of the answers initially lead many users to believe they are chatting with a human expert.
- Relief for the customer service team: Flora has significantly relieved Neudorff's customer service team. The employees can now concentrate on more complex inquiries while Flora handles the majority of standard inquiries - and at a level that meets Neudorff's high standards.
- Significant cost savings: The implementation of Flora led to an impressive cost reduction of over 99% per chat compared to purely human processing.
The numbers speak for themselves: Higher customer satisfaction, drastically reduced waiting times, and significant relief for the human team while simultaneously achieving massive cost savings - Flora has proven to be a valuable addition to the Neudorff team and is setting new standards in customer consultation in the gardening industry.
Future Outlook: Flora Grows with New Technologies and Platforms
Neudorff has recognized the potential of Qualimero's AI coworker Flora and is now planning to expand her capabilities and areas of application.
Image Recognition Function: Visual Diagnosis for Plant Problems
The Neudorff team observed that customers are increasingly sending pictures of their plants to identify specific problems. This led to the idea of expanding Flora's capabilities with an image recognition function. The initial tests of this new function show promising results.
The goal of this expansion is to enable Flora to diagnose plant problems based on images. For example, a customer could send a picture of an ailing tomato plant, whereupon Flora would not only identify the disease but also immediately suggest the appropriate Neudorff products for treatment. This function would provide enormous added value for customers by enabling even more precise and personalized consultation.
Integration into the Neudorff App: Consultation Directly at the Point of Interest
While Flora is currently used via web chat and WhatsApp, Neudorff is planning the next step of integrating the AI consultant into their in-house app. The Neudorff app is the first point of contact for many customers when they have questions about products. By integrating Flora into the app, Neudorff can advise its customers even closer to the products.
The advantages of this integration are manifold. Customers can receive AI-supported consultation directly in the app environment where they are already looking for product information. This would not only increase convenience but also improve the conversion rate.
Flora will not only answer questions but actively make product suggestions, give care tips, and support the entire purchase process - all within the Neudorff app.
With these future plans, Neudorff shows that the company is continuously working on improving its customer service. The combination of AI-supported consultation, image recognition, and seamless app integration promises to take the customer experience to an even higher level.
The Neudorff team is convinced that this is just the beginning of what is possible with AI in customer service. With Flora and the support of Qualimero, Neudorff is ready to continue this exciting journey and offer its customers ever better and innovative solutions.
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