Technology continues to impact our daily lives significantly as a result of real-life applications. That is especially true when one considers the rise of chatbots that offer tangible benefits for both enterprises and customers. Chatbots are already a big part of customer service since most clients embrace the idea of interacting with this technology.
You may be thinking that chatbots are not a necessity for your business operations. On the contrary, you need to understand that bots deliver interactive answers to customers’ questions in realtime. You only need to provide the bot with pre-written instructions for some of the common questions that your clients ask, and the bot will serve answers in a conversational format.
After that, a customer service bot powered by artificial intelligence (AI) will use the aggregated data from every customer service interaction to identify what works best and improve responses in due course. Replacing human interactions with robot-powered conversations may feel novel or strange at first, but the idea is good service, not eliminating humans from the equation.
The deployment of chatbots happens in particular situations to benefit both companies and their clients. That ensures that bots deliver value at the end of the day. Here are some details on how chatbots help customers.
1. They Are Applicable on Multiple Channels
Today, customer service assumes an omnichannel approach, which implies that clients can use multiple communication channels in one customer service interaction. That is the case since, apart from phone and email, more clients are now embracing messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. There are an array of platforms where customers expect to find specific brands, and new channels may also be available in the future.
Chatbots support omnichannel interactions because you can deploy bots to respond to common questions coming in through email, via your website, on Slack, and in the different messaging apps you use. Setting up your AI bot in multiple places implies that you will ease the burden that your agents handle at any one time.
Additionally, chatbots allow you to enjoy a self-service experience across the channels you use when you connect bots to the rest of your tech stack. As a result, the time it takes for customers to get the answers they need decreases, and they can access such information using the communication channels they prefer.
2. They Facilitate Prompt Responses
Chatbots allow clients to find the answers they need without asking for help and within the shortest time possible. That, in part, is the reason why self-service is becoming more popular than the option of talking to representatives. It is not unusual for agents to encounter a queue of customers during peak hours, and at that point, they have to deal with one individual at a time.
That is not the case with chatbots because they can avail answers to multiple clients simultaneously, which saves time. Getting quick responses to customer service questions is a priority for customers when making decisions about which suppliers to engage with. As such, chatbots become an ideal option because they can deliver quick customer service around the clock, which is not the case with humans who need a break on various occasions.
3. Chatbots Promote Personalization
Customer service chatbots focus on providing obvious responses to straightforward, commonly asked questions. However, when you integrate chatbots with other business systems, personalizing the information you present to those you interact with becomes possible.
The fact that a customer service chatbot can tap into your customer service relationship management (CRM) database suggests that it can differentiate between prospects and existing clients whenever someone visits your website.
One of the suitable options that a chatbot can recommend for a new visitor may be something like, “First time here?! Do you want to see our portfolio of products to learn more about us?” The same site will have a different starting point for existing customers, and it may appear this way: “Hey, welcome back! Do you want to check the status of your recent order?” Also, when there is a bot-to-human hand-off, chatbots can relay relevant information about the interactions so human reps can continue delivering personalized experiences.
This is possible because chatbots can track attempts by a customer to self-solve an issue, which allows an agent to identify the webpages and help center articles the individual visits. This way, they avoid repeating the previous answers, saving both the customer and the agent time.
4. They Eliminate the Need to Spend Time on Repetitive Questions
Although chatbots cannot resolve every customer service issue, many customer service interactions do not require human response complexities. The bottom line here is that agents should not waste time answering simple questions like, “When will my order arrive?” or “What hours are you open?”
Chatbots can address most of these routine inquiries, which ultimately boosts the morale of agents and allows customers to enjoy timely responses.
5. Chatbots Have the Potential to Get Smarter
Customer service chatbots learn by tracking the responses that customers provide. Over time, bots analyze the data they collect from various customer interactions and turn them into meaningful insights. That explains why chatbots are becoming better at understanding the sentiment behind the language humans use.
Beyond learning new languages and the nuances of phrasing things in different ways, chatbots have a perfect memory for tracking what works and what does not work in each interaction. In turn, a customer service chatbot learns the ideal answer for every situation and determines the questions to transfer to a human and those which a link to a help center article can address.
A year’s worth of data only makes chatbots better, which yields more value for both businesses and clients.
Final Thoughts About the Advantages of Chatbots
It is impossible to overlook the fact that customers want to access a real person when they face challenges demanding a personal touch. That simply means that bots will not replace customer service agents. Instead, chatbots offer speedy solutions by getting clients the simple answers they need faster than humans, thereby saving time.
That is why this technology is appropriate in cases that require prompt responses without the intervention of a customer service agent. Also, the best technology offers a seamless escalation to a live agent when necessary.
