By Tanita Olivier van der Merwe, Customer Experience Lead, Altron Group

The power of AI in customer experience management 

Picture this: a customer leaves detailed feedback about their experience with your company. It sits in a system somewhere, gets a polite automated response, and then... nothing changes. Sound familiar? 

 At Altron, we're determined to break that cycle. 

Our business is built on three principles: being purpose-led, customer-obsessed, and growth-focused. As a business, we’re intentional about placing customer obsession at the heart of our operating principles because we believe it can't be delegated to a single department or team. It's a commitment that belongs to every employee across our business, not a slogan on a slide, but something we strive to live every day. As a technology company, this means leveraging AI-powered customer experience analytics, automation, and human insight to transform how we listen to, understand, and act on what our customers tell us. 

From star ratings to real conversations 

Many companies rely on a star rating to gauge customer sentiment. But a five-star rating tells you very little about what's actually working or where you're falling short. Even detailed reviews often disappear into a void, rarely prompting the kind of deep analysis that drives real change. When we started on this journey 12 months ago, we knew we needed to do better. That's why we implemented an AI-driven customer feedback platform and supporting processes to capture and analyse feedback across all seven of our operating companies. The response has been extraordinary. Since launching this initiative, we've seen a 3,233% increase in monthly feedback. That's not just more data; it's thousands of voices helping us see the complete customer journey more clearly than ever before. 

Why AI matters and why it’s not enough 

Here's the challenge: when feedback volume dramatically increases, good intentions alone aren't enough. Without the right tools, even the most customer-obsessed team can't respond fast enough or spot patterns quickly enough to make a real difference. That's where AI comes in. Through our Close the Loop programme, we're using AI to quickly analyse large volumes of qualitative feedback, enabling us to respond to negative experiences faster. This process allows us to tackle the two most common complaints that frustrate customers: poor communication and slow response times. 

AI also helps us tailor our communication and improvement initiatives by recognising different customer personas, allowing us to craft responses that truly resonate. Over the last year, we’ve implemented 45 additional feedback touchpoints and 34 improvement initiatives across the Group, turning insights into meaningful action. But AI on its own is no replacement for the empathy and understanding created by human interaction. No one wants to receive the response: “We are aware of the issue and are working on it.” It's as frustrating as being told, “Your call is important to us, please stay on the line.” 

 This is where our high-performance culture becomes critical, our people are empowered to take accountability and help solve our customers’ problems. Some customers prefer direct human interaction, and for them, trust depends on a personal connection. Sometimes the smartest strategy is knowing when not to use AI and instead picking up the phone or arranging a face-to-face meeting. 

 Celebrating success and driving change 

We aren’t just leveraging AI to address customer problems. It also helps us identify standout compliments, especially where employees are mentioned by name, so we can celebrate them across the company. A significant majority of our customers are satisfied with the service they receive, and sharing these wins creates a powerful ripple effect, when employees see the impact of their work, they’re inspired to go even further. Even though we’re incredibly proud of our above-industry customer experience scores, what really matters is that we're not just responding to individual complaints. Each piece of feedback becomes a learning opportunity to drive long-term improvements and prevent the same issues from recurring in other businesses within the Group. We're leveraging today’s insights to drive lasting change across Altron and foster sustainable relationships with our customers. 

The journey continues 

As we celebrate our first year of this initiative, we're already seeing improvements in our customer experience scores. We've made significant internal changes based on customer experience data, but we know there's still much to learn. Every insight brings us closer to being customer-obsessed, a journey that will never end. At Altron, we believe passion for customer experience grows when technology and human ingenuity work hand in hand. 

AI gives us data and speed. Empathy and personal connection build trust. 

It's finding that balance that keeps us on our journey towards being truly customer-obsessed, one conversation, one solution, one relationship at a time. 

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) 

Q1. How does Altron use AI to improve customer experience? 

Altron leverages AI-driven analytics to analyse large volumes of customer feedback across multiple business units. This helps identify recurring pain points, accelerate response times, and personalise communication, ensuring every insight leads to measurable improvement. 

Q2. What is Altron’s “Close the Loop” programme? 

Close the Loop is Altron’s initiative that ensures every customer feedback item receives timely attention. AI identifies trends while dedicated teams address specific concerns, driving both immediate responses and long-term improvements. 

 Q3. Why combine AI with human care? 

AI provides speed and data accuracy, while human interaction adds empathy and trust. Altron believes true customer obsession requires both, intelligent automation and genuine connection. 

Q4. How does Altron measure customer satisfaction? 

Customer experience data is collected from multiple touchpoints across Altron’s operating companies. AI helps interpret this data, while improvement initiatives are tracked to measure impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

 Q5. What results has Altron achieved so far? 

Since implementing the AI feedback platform, Altron has seen a 3,233% increase in feedback, 45 new feedback channels, 34 improvement initiatives, and consistently above-industry customer experience scores. 

Visit our Customer Success Stories to see how technology and empathy create real business impact.