Beyond Ticketing: Why AI Should Build Relationships, Not Just Close Cases

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Many companies investing in help desk AI discover a ceiling effect; they start strong but eventually hit limitations. These challenges aren't necessarily about the quality of their knowledge base or their team's expertise, but about the fundamental architecture of the systems they're using.

As more help desk providers offer AI capabilities as free or low-cost add-ons to their core platforms, it's worth understanding what these solutions can, and cannot, do for your customer experience.

The Appeal of Help Desk AI Add-Ons

It's easy to see why help desk AI add-ons are so tempting, especially for businesses just beginning their AI journey:

• Familiar territory: Your team already knows the platform and workflows
• Quick implementation: Add AI capabilities with minimal disruption
• No migration headaches: Continue using your existing platform
• Low initial cost: Many help desk providers now offer AI features at no additional cost

As Lisa Popovici, co-founder of Siena, explains: "The pricing strategy of many help desk providers offering AI for free reveals the fundamental limitations of these solutions."

For teams in the experimental phase of AI adoption or with very basic support needs, these add-ons can serve as a starting point to identify potential use cases without major commitments.

The Architecture Problem

Help desk platforms were designed to organize tickets, not have conversations. Their entire infrastructure centers on categorizing, tracking, and routing support tickets. AI was added later to protect that core business.

"It's like trying to transform a filing cabinet into a conversation partner by adding a voice," explained one CX leader who recently switched to Siena. "No matter how sophisticated that voice becomes, the filing cabinet is still designed to store documents, not build relationships."

This fundamental mismatch explains why most help desk AI add-ons max out at just 15-20% automation rates, while dedicated AI-native solutions like Siena can achieve significantly higher rates. As one customer noted: "We saw a 45% automation rate within the first few weeks of launching it."

When a platform's DNA is tickets rather than conversations, it optimizes for different outcomes. It tracks issues rather than solves problems. It categorizes tickets instead of understanding customers, limiting how effectively your team can deliver exceptional experiences.

When Your Brand Voice Gets Reduced to a Dropdown

Imagine describing your entire brand voice using a single word.

That's exactly what most help desk AI solutions ask you to do—pick between options like "Professional," "Friendly," or "Playful" from a dropdown menu.

Your best support agents don't toggle between "professional mode" and "friendly mode." They understand your brand's values, audience, and positioning. They know when to be conversational and when to be straightforward.

With preset voice options, every conversation feels like it's being filtered through the same generic template. The result? Customer interactions that feel standardized rather than human.

"Siena's unique responses are what people love most," shared Beatriz Lopes, Head of Customer Experience at Everyday Dose. "We've had customers say her answers inspired them to purchase because they just felt so comfortable with her."

The difference isn't just aesthetic—it impacts buying decisions and brand loyalty.

The Difference: Transactions vs. Relationships

Each customer conversation represents a choice: process a ticket or build a relationship.

Here's what happens in help desk AI:

• A customer question becomes a ticket number
• The ticket gets categorized and routed
• The AI provides a standardized response
• The interaction ends as quickly as possible
• Success is measured by how fast tickets close

Here's what happens with Siena working alongside your team:

• A customer begins a conversation
• Siena knows the customer and remembers all previous interactions
• She understands the full context of the relationship
• She can resolve complex, multi-step requests or collaborate with your team
• Success is measured by customer satisfaction and loyalty

"With help desk AI, we processed more tickets but our repeat contact rate was high," observed Mitch Ance from Thread Heads. "We want to be a human business, especially to the eye of the customer. If there is a problem, I want them to know that there is a person behind helping them or if there is not a person, we need AI that acts as a person."

Real Cases, Real Results

What happens when a subscription customer doesn't like the flavor they received? Let's compare:

With help desk AI:"I'll create a ticket for our team to look into this for you. Someone will be in touch about your refund request."

With Siena collaborating with your support team:"I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the vanilla flavor. I've processed a refund for this month's delivery and updated your preferences to chocolate for future shipments. Based on your past orders, you might also enjoy our hazelnut option—would you like to try that instead?"

The difference isn't just about tone—it's about capability. Siena empowers your support team by:

• Accessing order history and preferences to give agents full context
• Processing straightforward refunds to free up time for complex cases
• Updating subscription details accurately and efficiently
• Making personalized recommendations based on customer history
• Handling standard resolutions while your team focuses on high-value interactions

"Our first response time went from 20 hours to 36 seconds," reports Kelly Watters from Western Rise after implementing Siena. Another customer, Anya Kelly from Caio, shares: "Pre-launch of Siena, our first resolution time was over 20 hours. And since onboarding Siena across channels, it's under three minutes."

Beyond the Free Add-On Mindset

Earlier this year, Klarna, the global payments giant, made headlines for walking back their AI-only support experiment. After removing nearly all human agents in favor of AI, they quietly brought many of them back.

Their CEO admitted:

“Cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor… leading to lower quality.”

This is a cautionary tale for any brand evaluating help desk AI. On paper, free or low-cost AI add-ons seem like a win. But when efficiency becomes the only goal, customer trust is often the price.

As Siena’s CEO Andrei Negrau explains:

“AI that only cuts costs will eventually cost you customers. The future doesn’t belong to those who automate the most—it belongs to those who design empathy at scale

When evaluating help desk AI versus dedicated solutions like Siena, many companies focus solely on subscription costs. But that's only part of the equation.

"I compared the costs across three dimensions," explained Mitch Ance from Thread Heads. "Not just help desk AI versus Siena, but both against the cost of hiring additional staff to achieve the same outcomes."

The analysis revealed that while help desk AI had a lower subscription cost, it only automated around 20% of conversations. Siena, while requiring a more thoughtful implementation, delivered substantially greater value by elevating what the existing team could accomplish.

"When I have a full picture, when I'm comparing three things: full time employee, Siena, and Gorgias, the choice made itself," Mitch explained. "We tried Gorgias. It's good. Price is good but it's still missing something. It's not as granular as Siena is and our business model is a little bit complex."

For brands where customer relationships drive revenue, the question shifts from "What does this cost?" to "What value does this create for my team and customers?"

Is Your Brand Ready for Relationship-Based AI?

Help desk AI can be a good starting point if:

• You're just beginning to explore AI in customer service
• Your support needs are straightforward and standardized
• You're primarily focused on cost reduction
• Your customer interactions are simple, one-step processes

Siena complements your team best when:

• Your brand reputation depends on quality customer experiences
• Your support scenarios involve multiple steps or complex processes
• You want to enhance what your agents can accomplish
• You see customer support as a revenue driver, not just a cost center
• Your product or service has complexity that requires nuanced understanding
• You want an ecosystem of agents that not only solve customer needs but also drive revenue, loyalty and retention

"If you want to scale your CX without losing that personal touch, that's it. That's what Siena does," shares Irene Karaminas from Aday.

Dave Stickland from Popsmith adds: "One of my customer service agents, Patricia, went from doing tickets all day long to having space to help me do what she really wanted to do in her career, which is get into social media marketing and really talk to influencers."

The difference comes down to this: Are you looking to just process tickets more efficiently, or are you looking to empower your team to build customer relationships that drive loyalty and revenue?

Next Steps: Beyond the Platform Decision

For brands ready to move beyond the limitations of help desk AI, here's how to start:

1. Audit your current performance: Measure your current automation rate, customer satisfaction, and resolution metrics
2. Identify your complexity: List the types of issues that your current AI struggles to resolve fully
3. Calculate your true ROI: Compare the value Siena creates against your current solution by considering both operational efficiency and customer experience improvements. Our ROI calculator can help you quantify how Siena performs like your best team members, 24/7.
4. Experience the difference: See a live demo of how Siena handles your specific customer scenarios

Ready to move from transactions to relationships? Book a conversation with our team today. We'll show you exactly how Siena can transform your customer experience—not just with better automation, but with better customer connections that drive real business results.