Automation happens in every sphere of life, and the future is going to be completely digital. We are already taking little steps towards a more connected world. Imagine the world 30 years back, people had great difficulty in passing messages to one another, and the print media was ruling the whole world in letting people know what was happening around them.
But today, the scenario is totally different.
Every piece of information is at the fingertip of the internet user.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are being experimented with by humans to create more machines to perform human tasks in the cyber future. Though it is in its infancy, it is definitely not a fad, which implies that chatbots for companies are not a tech fad but more a long-term digital friend.
How have Chatbots made a Difference in Businesses?
80% of businesses will use the power of chatbots in one way or another by 2020, and even at this moment, there are more than 300,000 chatbots on Facebook working to build the business. The report is only on one social messaging channel, and the chatbots are supported on today’s all-trending social messaging apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, etc. They are also added to a company website, phone app, and emails.
Avis, an American car rental company, automated 70% of its customer inquiries. U.S. Satellite Dish Network’s chatbot has successfully answered about 4 million calls per year, which makes up about 40% of the customer query volume.
Besides, the customers of Dish Network have reviewed their experience with the chatbot as a more positive interaction, which is part of conversing with a human agent. The ratings for the chatbot are also increasing every year.
Most companies leverage chatbots for marketing and on their sites, apps, and social media channels, depending on their business needs. Chatbots have also automated customer service companies.
Is this a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) pushing all companies to implement chatbots for their businesses? We will find it out.
Is a chatbot Must-Have for Businesses?
Every technology specialist feels you’re missing out on something big if you are not using chatbot technology. Is it okay to use it even if you don’t have the necessity? Absolutely not.
Your company should have a ‘Yes’ to all the following questions to agree to the implementation of a chatbot.
- Do you get a vast number of repetitive questions from your customers?
- Are your human agents handling queries from all social media handles?
- Are your customer service agents too busy to handle the queries?
- Do you frequently miss responding to the doubts of the clients or provide inaccurate information?
- Is your company aiming to enhance the customer experience and increase the retention rate on the website?
- If your answer is ‘yes’ to these questions, it is worth using a chatbot on your site or marketing strategies.
But remember, again, you will have to decide what types of chatbots will be more helpful to your business.
Typically, there are three kinds: AI chatbots, simple rule-based chatbots, or hybrid bots.
To answer customer queries and improve the engagement rate of customers, it is more than enough to have a programmed rule-based chatbot like Chat360. The purpose should be clear before selecting the right chatbot for your business. An AI-powered chatbot will be useful for service-heavy industries like travel and retail, where a chatbot must be trained and understand the intent from the context.
Are Chatbots Safe?
If your business has the above-mentioned needs, then using chatbots is the most viable option to improve the customer experience and increase conversion rates.
Even global banks like Bank of America, Capital One, MasterCard, and JP Morgan Chase & Co study asserts that by 2022, businesses will save more than 8 billion dollars per year as the chatbots will take care of the basic, repetitive queries and so the companies need not hire more humans to perform this simple task. Besides, the customer service agents can focus on more critical tasks like solving a complex problem for a user and help in increasing the customer retention rate. The chatbot technology saves billions but also helps maintain and increase revenue by streamlining customer service practices.
Gartner reports that by 2020, around 85% of companies will use chatbots in their customer support teams because it is a cost-saving technology for them.
Accuracy Plays a Vital Role in Increasing Conversions
Human agents sometimes take time to answer a question or provide a wrong response, which annoys the customer. It might be “just a few times, right? What’s the big deal?” to your team, but it is a significant loss to the organization. Proper responses and guidance at the right time increase the chance of making the prospective lead into a customer. Chatbots help businesses a lot in providing accurate data and handling multiple leads at the same time. Meanwhile, companies must educate employees on the significance of lead generation and customer retention.
New Customers; Updating Customer Database
A survey by Telus International reports that 38% of millennials provide feedback on a product or service at least once a week on social channels. The number of feedback providers is increasing with more advancements in feedback-seeking tools and the influx of millennials into the consumer population. With 300,000 chatbots on Facebook messenger, it has become easier for companies to reach out to customers through chatbots to educate them about their respective products and services.
Naturally, customers with dissatisfied customer experience, when contacted at the right time, will consider your product, and there are higher chances of becoming your customer. Chatbot technology can be used in outbound marketing and increase the company’s sales.
Chatbots will be of great help to your business if it is really a prerequisite. If a company’s customer inquiries are only a few, then the management does not require a bot; instead, it can use a small team to handle them. The rule-based customer support chatbots can satisfy the needs of MSMEs and large corporations if their only requirement is to answer the first-level questions of the customers. For more complex purposes, companies should use an advanced AI chatbot.
Related: Conversational AI Chatbot Trends and Statistics 2023