With the emergence of chatbots, the frustrations of a cumbersome customer service are no longer a thing of the past. No more unanswered e-mails and long waiting times, but always a direct answer to a question by smart communication software. More and more companies are deploying chatbots and consumers are getting used to the fast contact with companies. Research company Gartner (2019) predicts that consumers will spend around 85% of their interaction with a company without human contact by 2020. In recent years, chatbots have evolved from automated answering machines to personal and interactive conversation partners. Find out the benefits of integrating a personal chatbot into customer service here.
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a programme that carries out a conversation with the user on the basis of preset scripts and rules. By making use of artificial intelligence, smart chatbots can optimise and respond better to the needs of the customer. A chatbot is mainly used as a digital customer service manager who is always ready to assist the customer, which has a lot of advantages, namely
- Always speak to your customer directly
Nowadays, we communicate more than ever before and we want everything when it suits us. These new times call for modern solutions. A chatbot is always available and can assist the customer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In this way, you can optimally serve the changing needs of the customer. - Collect data from customers
The conversations held with a chatbot are recorded and analysed. The data from these conversations can provide valuable information about the customer and his experience. This provides essential insights that help improve customer service and your product or service. - Less workload for staff
There will come a time when our grandchildren will not understand that companies once employed people to answer simple questions, because through the proper use of smart communication software, this is no longer necessary. Chatbots can take over much of the work of customer service, allowing employees to be deployed in other areas. - Optimise your communication
Human contact is often very pleasant, but it is also the cause of much miscommunication. If an employee does not fully understand a customer, he or she may not feel heard. Chatbots work differently. Thanks to clever self-learning software, the chatbot can identify exactly what the problem is and what the customer wants.
Make it personal
When deploying chatbots, it is important to ensure that customer contact feels personal and organic. If a chatbot feels automated and unnatural, the customer may feel that they are not taken seriously. There are a number of ways to make the chatbot personal.
- Gifs and Emojis
In addition to the 26 letters of the alphabet, there are now an infinite number of emojis and gifs that allow us to better express our emotions. By using these in the chats, the robot turns into a person with feelings and the experience of the conversation becomes more human 😃. - And uhmmm... Wait a minute, wait a minute! Oh, yes!
Few people talk in completely correctly formulated sentences. Sometimes we think, use stop words and interjections or make non-lexical sounds like "uhm...", "Oh, yeah!" and "huh?!" etc. By integrating these phrases and words into the chatbot's scripts, the conversations will feel more human and natural. - Use a voice
It is of course most personal if you can talk to a chatbot. This is possible with the use of Voice User Interface (Voice UI). Voice UI is a system that converts text into sound. A smart algorithm forms words from sounds and creates fluent sentences. Nowadays it has been developed to the point where it feels like a warm natural voice. Examples are Google Assistant and Siri. Voice UI gives your company a voice!
A chatbot is a good example of smart software that makes life easier. Are you curious how you can build a chatbot yourself? Then feel free to contact with us or start a nice conversation with our chatbot ➡️.
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