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Deflection has earned a bad reputation, but it doesn’t have to be that way. When powered by AI, deflection can enhance customer connection instead of pushing people away.
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Call deflection is often seen as a penny-pinching tactic that prioritises cost-cutting over service quality. Savvy customers, who’ve experienced their fair share of poor self-serve options, have grown wise to and frustrated by what they perceive as a way to brush them off. Experiences like this make it hard for customers to see the real value of deflection, undermining what businesses should be striving to protect: customer connection.
Customer connection is more than a fleeting or transactional interaction. It’s the emotional, psychological, and sometimes habitual bond customers develop with a brand or organisation—often rooted in trust. This connection forms the bedrock of loyalty, customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, customer lifetime value. It’s something money can’t buy and crucially, something poor customer experience (CX) strategies can break.
A business’s connection with its customers determines the strength of their loyalty and influences what comes to mind when they think of the products or services on offer. A strong connection manifests in repeat purchases, upselling, cross-selling, and brand advocacy. It’s a clear competitive advantage, helping businesses weather challenges like supply chain disruptions or reputational problems. Connections with brands that cultivate a sense of community spirit are particularly resilient.
Despite its reputation, there is a reason call deflection is important both for customers and businesses. When done correctly, the convenience, operational efficiency and flexibility deflection offers are good for everyone. Here’s why.
Customers want their time and queries to be taken seriously, and according to a 2024 ContactBabel report both businesses and customers agree: first-contact resolution is the most critical factor for a positive customer experience. A short queue or quick response time follows closely behind.
The same report shows that 64.1% of inbound interactions are with a live agent. This is despite the fact that only 36% of customers with a high-complexity query and only 24% of those with high-emotion interactions really want to pick up the phone!
What does this mean? Many customers who pick up the phone don’t want or need to. With the right approach, deflection actually offers customers what they want—because the fastest way to resolve a query usually isn’t waiting in a call queue!
When deflection focuses on driving customers towards resolution, connection becomes both a guiding principle and the outcome.
Strengthening customer connection
Connecting journeys
Effective deflection hinges on understanding why customers are reaching out in the first place. This insight shapes everything from designing an intuitive IVR to deciding which services should be fully automated.
By integrating AI into the qualification process, businesses can build a comprehensive, real-time catalogue of customer intents. This ensures deflection strategies are based on actual needs, not assumptions.
It may seem obvious but it’s also essential for organisations to be aware of their own internal processes and how to navigate them to deliver resolution efficiently.
Customers may have mixed feelings about AI, but when deployed effectively, it can transform deflection from a frustrating diversion into a seamless step forward.
Just because a customer has picked up the phone doesn’t mean they have the time to finish the call. Often, they call on a whim, hoping an agent is free. In-queue messaging like “You’re 4th in line” allows customers to make an informed decision about using deflection.
Callback services and AI-powered self-serve channels help customers avoid wait times, while asynchronous messaging lets them interact when convenient. This keeps their issue in progress while allowing them to go about their day.
Callbots don’t just provide simple answers—they also streamline escalations by offering prequalification. By answering key questions upfront, chatbots let customers can bypass repetitive formalities that can actually interfere with rapport building between agents and customers. This reframes deflection as a helpful, preparatory step, building trust in bots.
Simple things shouldn’t take long and urgent issues should take priority. AI can provide direct paths to simple answers and real-time updates or account information. AI also accelerates care by prioritising emergencies and vulnerable customers or sensitive issues to the appropriate teams.
The scenarios described above challenge a common misconception: that AI and agents represent an either/or scenario. CCMA research shows customers are more aware of AI’s drawbacks than its benefits.
Over time, effective AI deployment and communication will help improve its public image. But no matter the channel, customers need seamless, consistent experiences across their journey.
Service standards are a key differentiator, and self-service is no longer optional—it’s essential. That’s why responsible service design must tackle the growing backlash against deflection tactics. Customers are open to deflection options, but what they don’t want are dead ends and short-sighted approaches. For the value of deflection to be felt by customers and fully leveraged by businesses it needs to be an integrated step of a high-quality journey—and AI can be instrumental in achieving this.
By combining the strengths of AI and agents to create seamless, engaging experiences, customers feel supported—not brushed off—forming deeper connections with your brand.
Odigo’s CCaaS solution offers omnichannel interaction management and AI Orchestration, optimising each step of the customer journey. It brings customers closer to resolution while strengthening their connection to your brand.
Connecting the dots between your channels doesn’t just bring resolution closer—it brings your customers closer too.
To learn more about Odigo’s AI Orchestrator capabilities, read our expert blog.
David has been a leading member of Odigo’s team in the UK and Ireland since 2021. With over 20 years of experience, David has excelled in various service management and operational roles for leading contact centre software providers. The…
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