Chatbots have transformed the way brands interact with the clients. The popularity of chatbots has inspired an era of the intelligent business commune of the recent studies by Oracle shows that as high as 80% of the brands aim to include chatbots in their business processes by the year 2020. A lot can be attributed to the finding that almost 35% of the customers enjoy experience delivered by chatbot interaction.
The factors combine to establish that AI-powered chatbots are now making their way to the mainstream with chatbot lawyers, chatbot educators, and also chatbot customer service representatives. Let’s dig deeper into what exactly AI-power chatbots are. What difference do they make and what makes them attain this level of popularity within a short period?
What Exactly is a Chatbot?
Technically speaking, “a chatbot application is a series of software code that can communicate with humans using live chat interface.” Business can leverage chatbots in multiple ways. They can either opt for custom chatbot development or choose a well-known chatbot service provider like Slack, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Drift, WhatsApp, or Alexa for the same.
How do the Chatbots Function?
On the other hand, the second type, known as AI-powered chatbots function according to their ability to process natural language. They apply artificial intelligence and machine learning ability to foster personalized conversation while engaging customers with complicated answers.
Here’s something to help you understand better:
User: When will the store close in New York today?
Simple Chatbot: Hi! We’ll are open until 8:00 PM today.
AI-Powered Chatbot: Hey, Jack, we’ll are open until 8:00 PM today. It looks like it’s snowy here. Dress warmly.
Undoubtedly Jack enjoys a fantastic experience with AI-powered chatbots and so will you, as a user.
How do Chatbots Transform Customer Service Management?
According to Chatbot Magazine, “Businesses can reduce customer service costs by up to 30% by implementing conversational solutions like virtual agents and chatbots”. But merely cutting down the human resource cost is not where their benefits are limited to.
They miraculously transform customer service management into something more promising and rewarding. Here are some of the reasons why we say so:
#1. Better Customer Experience
According to NewVoiceMedia survey, lousy customer service caused brands to lose $75 billion in the year 2017, and this clearly explains why you need to take customer service very seriously. It is probably why there have been significant changes in the way customer queries are handled. We now have new ways to handle customer calls with automated telephone menus.
IVRs have made interactions much more straightforward by letting users trace series questions where response expertly judges the next step. However, this simplicity comes with its disadvantages. You need to go through a never-ending conversation until you reach a pre-programmed destination. And this very fact makes it difficult for the user to keep fresh.
Here is where AI-powered chatbots offer an instant sigh of relief. With them, customers do not have to open up to the agreement to get irritated and instead are provided with an interface where they are heard and understood. And the best part is, customers, do not have to wait in a long queue or explain an issue multiple times.
Not only this, chatbots can successfully replace contact forms. Now users do not have to fill multiple fields for giving their information. Instead, you can have a chatbot talking to them, making the overall experience rather effortless and convenient.
#2. Smoother Customer Journey
Suzzane is looking for an elegant brown leather handbag and shoots up a query on Google. From here, she finds a fantastic marketplace where she eventually navigates to. Thanks to the extensive product assortment, Suzzane loses herself in the website navigation and thus decides to check out another eCommerce website.
As soon as she was about to click the close tab button, an AI-powered help popped up on her screen to render assistance. Suzzane gives it a try and enters the precise information about products she is looking for.
She is now navigated to a dedicated page where all the products of her preference have been listed. She chooses the most suitable one and leaves the website satisfied.
Here’s how the magician of AI-powered chatbots adds value to your customer journeys. They help you transition your visitors into happy and satisfied customers. Additionally, their ability to gain useful insights can help you understand customers better.
#3. Round the Clock Customer Support
Most of the customers tend to throw queries at the oddest hours of the day. And do you think your customer support serves its purpose when they are not available when it is required? After all, they, too, have their patience level.
You really need to be present to answer your customer’s queries at every time of the day, even the non-business hours.
Chatbots offer you this advantage. They don’t get tired or need any time for recreation. You can have them working literally “all day long.” Customers can simply ask questions over voicemail, email, or a live chat and have them handled at any time of the day.
#4. Effective Handling of Repetitive Tasks
According to David Cancel, CEO at Drift, “The goal of chatbots is not to replace humans with perfect simulation but to satisfy the customer needs.”
Let’s understand it better using a real-time example. Consider a buyer who wishes to modify an order for the fifth time in a week.
While this very idea can really have a customer support staff on his nerves, chatbots will merely handle it in a cool way effectively. This proves their value as an aid for carrying out boring tasks like repetitive calculations and database modifications.
#5. Flawless Live Chat at Your Disposal
Conversations with AI chatbots are as simple as interacting with a customer support agent. With an efficient application of natural language processing, they are capable of decoding customer’s messages and provide logical replies timely. Users do not have to keep waiting for the online availability of the customer support staff.
They can simply look for the integrated chatbots and shoot the queries right away. No wonder why Facebook’s live chat support earned skyrocketed profits. Rather, it is estimated that Facebook’s live chat support has recorded 8 million messages exchanged between businesses and customers since its launch.
#6. Chatbots that are Multifaced and Multifunctional
Do you think you can have your staff function the way you want to? Well, we strongly doubt that. You can train your staff, but you cannot change their personality. If they are short-tempered, they may lose self-control pretty easily and ruin the customer experience.
However, this is not the case with chatbots. You can program them to behave the way you want, ranging from professional one to the humorous one. Besides, you can have them perform various functions like handling accounts, providing technical support, or just collect vital customer information.
Signing Off
AI-powered chatbots are not simple “wave of the future” in the customer service ecosystem. They are here to make a long-lasting impression on the industry, transforming the way brands interact with customers more effectively. Having said that, it is still not fair to expect human-like behavior from them, for the reason that goal here is not to deliver a professional-like experience but to ensure customer delight.
