Brands Briefing: Customer-service phone lines are getting a second look thanks to AI fatigue

Sproos, a DTC showerhead brand that caters to renters, has answered customer-service questions through email and a chat function for years. But this summer, the company tried something new: It set up a dedicated phone line, staffed by employees, from Sunday through Friday.

New and loyal customers alike are dialing in. Sproos, which launched in 2020, gets about 30 calls a day, said co-founder Benjamin Fix, who said he personally takes calls “for hours.” “We want to differentiate [ourselves] from all those AI robots,” Fix told Modern Retail. “[With customers] we try to speak with them like peers, like friends, and motivate them and help them.”

This is a member-exclusive article from Modern Retail. Continue reading it on modernretail.co and subscribe to continue reading content like this.