As the world becomes ever more interconnected and digitized, chatbots become customers’ and companies’ best allies.
Chatbots are conversational robots programmed and intended to instantly answer users’ questions. For example, a virtual assistant is a chatbot that asks you questions about products in the tiny popup window appearing at the bottom right corner of your screen when you’re doing online shopping.
Nevertheless, chatbots have many more use cases and are very versatile. They can be used in Human Resources management, school administrations, and many other contexts.
Rules-based chatbots can handle simple tasks, like suggesting products or making appointments. They’re not perfect, but they’re pretty good.
However, some very advanced chatbots, called Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots, use Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to perfect how they understand users’ inputs. They can handle far more complex tasks than humans can.
Not convinced to implement a chatbot into your business yet? Let us guide you through why businesses should use chatbots.
1. Chatbots are available 24/7
The first benefit of chatbots is that they can work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If ever a Chabot fails to understand some users’ inputs and gets stuck trying to answer their questions or solve problems, it can escalate complicated requests to your human support teams.
These days, SuperOffice found out through research that 88% of customers want a response from businesses within 60 minutes and that 30% want a response within 15 minutes or less.
A study found that the ability to provide fast responses to clients was the most significant factor in creating a positive customer experience.
As customer expectations increase for instant responses from companies located on the opposite side of the globe, companies increasingly turn to chatbots to provide them with immediate answers.
2. Chatbots generate more conversations
A survey conducted by Mobile Marketer found that millennials prefer chatting with a chatbot instead of talking to a human employee, for instance, when they’re checking the status of an order or looking for information about a product.
They’re looking for quick and accurate answers. Furthermore, they feel more comfortable talking to a chatbot than they would to a human if they ask a question that seems slightly naive.
Thus, implementing a chatbot into your business will generate more conversations with customers.
3. Chatbots can handle multiple customers at the same time
A human employee usually can handle between three to four simple customer queries at once.
Chatbots can handle as many requests as they want at the same time. Automated answers to most questions allow employees to spend their time focusing on higher value-added activities.
4. Chatbots aren’t subject to mood swings
Sickness absence can result in employees taking longer than usual to respond to customer queries, which can cause more work for other staff or when they return from their sickness absence.
Implementing a chatbot into your business means your employees won’t be drowning in customers’ requests as the chatbot will help answer each of them.
Furthermore, employees can sometimes be grumpy and less patient with demanding requests.
Chatbots are not subject to mood swings and are always ready to answer customers’ queries, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This is all the more important given that, according to a report made by Microsoft, 56% of people around the world have once stopped doing business with a company because of poor customer service experience.
5. Chatbots can collect and analyze data
After you’ve implemented a chatbot into a business, you can generate reports which tell you how your chatbot has been used by customers, what request types are more frequent, etc.
Once you’ve analyzed the data from your chatbot, you’ll be able to modify it accordingly and improve it even after deployment.
To build a great chatbot, check out those best practices for chatbots! A good chatbot needs to have a high customer satisfaction rate, which means that customers feel satisfied when they interact with it. Furthermore, conversations data are an excellent way to know how well your chatbot works.
6. Chatbots can help you personalize your conversations with customers
As explained in the last point, chatbots can collect data by analyzing customers’ inputs.
Thanks to this data, they can then adapt conversations to users, depending on multiple factors like their requests, the way they speak, etc. Classic chatbots can, for example, use the customer’s name in the conversation.
More complex chatbots can significantly personalize the conversation. This makes the exchange between the customer and the chatbot more natural and engaging.
7. Chatbots can speak multiple languages
It is said that an average person living in Europe can speak about 2 languages. Moreover, it can be difficult and relatively expensive to find a support agent who speaks English.
If your business is developed or is developing, you should use a chatbot as they can be programmed to speak a wide variety of languages.
They can be trained to answer queries in multiple languages. They can also directly speak or detect which language customers use when they first start talking to them and adapt accordingly.
8. Chatbots can automate many processes
Chatbots are not just simple conversational agents. They can be connected to various APIs, allowing them to deal with a broader range of customer requests.
They can also automate tedious and repetitive tasks like emailing prospects and customers, answering customer questions, etc. A chatbot can also directly handle payments when embedded on an eCommerce site.
Besides being useful for online shopping, chatbot technology can also be used by HR departments to help employees handle repetitive tasks, such as granting annual leave or sick leave.
Wrapping Up
Chatbots — automated conversation systems — have become increasingly sophisticated. Chatbots are a broad category that includes everything from intelligent Alexa Amazon speakers to automated text chat on a company’s customer service page.
The most powerful chatbots — and the ones that can impact customers’ experience and company bottom lines — are virtual agents. These are chatbots powered by artificial intelligence that can understand and answer any customer questions.
Like all successful automation efforts, customer service chatbots can reduce costs, but their actual value lies in improving the customer’s experience. Bots are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and often answer customers’ questions more quickly than human agents. When considering the implementation of a virtual agent, business leaders should consider what kind of companies are best served by chatbots, how to integrate them into their existing customer service system, and which distribution channels are most fruitful.
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