For 15 Years, SiriusXM Played Hardball—This Year, Something Unexpected Happened

For 15 years, I’ve had the same dance with SiriusXM. Every year, I’d call to threaten cancellation, only to be offered a better deal than their standard price. I hated it. But AI has changed my attitude forever.

When it was time to renew, I’d call Sirius customer support. The first point of contact was an automated call robot that offered to answer billing questions. To reach an agent, I’d say, “I want to cancel.” This put me at the front of the line, speaking with an agent who seemed to have pricing authority.

I’d state my intention to cancel, and they’d offer their best deal for a year. I’d say “No.” Then they’d offer an even better deal. Many times, I’d accept. A year later, I’d have to call back and repeat the whole process.

This time was different. The automated call robot was an AI agent. The AI was very friendly and kind. It gave me the billing lookup options. When I said, “I want to cancel,” I was surprised.

I wasn’t transferred to a cancellation agent. The AI said, “I am sorry to hear you want to cancel,” and then continued in its friendly and kind tone, offering me a reduced price. I said, “No,” and it offered an even better price. This time, I still said, “No.”

The difference between a “No” with a live agent and the AI was dramatic. The live agent wouldn’t let me off the phone until I said, “You are not hearing me. I want to cancel this service. Please cancel this service.” This always left a bad taste in my mouth.

The AI agent, after offering me the discounts, said, “I understand you want to cancel. Give me a moment to cancel your service.” It was very friendly and easy to complete. It also has me believing that I’ll be a SiriusXM customer again one day. Now I know it’s not painful to cancel. So, what the heck? When I get another new car, I’ll give it a try again. It is good programming!

AI is clearly being applied in business cases throughout the world. Applying AI to replace customer service reps is a great use case. There are millions of calls that AI can mine and treat the customer with friendly, kind, and capable service. Pretty amazing.

Could one subtle shift in technology completely reshape your perception of a brand?