Chatbots are drawing more attention in the businesses world. Business Insider predicts that about 80% of businesses will switch from traditional customer support channels to Chatbot by the end of 2020. So, being an early adopter of this advanced AI technology would give you a major advantage over your competitors.
1. What Is Chatbot?
A Chatbot is a computer program that has the ability to stimulate human conservations via text chats (textual method) or voice commands (auditory method). Chatbots uses NLP (Natural Language Processing) to understand what their chatting partners are saying and then reply to them instantly.
The greatest thing about Chatbots is that they are built on machine learning, giving them the ability to self-study from real life and to apprehend language, not just follow commands. Briefly, the more interactions a Chatbot has with users, the more intelligent it would be.
2. Why Must You Care About Chatbot In Enterprise?
Automation
A Chatbot works on its own. It frees you from having to sit behind a PC day by day, trying to answer all the questions from your website visitors. In addition, you will be spared the boredom of repeating the same work (like answering FAQs) and have more time for essential tasks thanks to this incredible AI program.
Online 24/7
Another huge advantage of Chatbots is their 365x24x7 presence. Regardless of day or night, the program will continue working 24 hours per day throughout the year with the only purpose – responding to every request at any time of the day. Set it up for once and it will tirelessly obey your command while your human employees are asleep or busy.
Instant Responses
Nobody likes waiting for someone to answer an email or a phone call when they have their own urgent business. But on average, customers have to wait 7 minutes before getting through to an online agent. With a Chatbot, every single question will be answered immediately. Waiting for a reply becomes a thing of the past!
Multiple Chats
Research shows that humans can only concentrate on 3-4 things at the same time. If we try to go beyond, we might be prone to mistakes. On the other hand, a Chatbot can concurrently handle thousands of chats at the same time. Irrespective of the sheer volume of visitors, every single one of them will get the satisfying answer almost instantly.
Cost Efficiency
According to HROnboard, each hire of an onboarding agent costs about $400/year. If the business has lots of these agents, the expense would be massive, and it will add up the financial burden as the business grows. On the other hand, Chatbot is a one-time investment. Considering the benefits it brings along, it’s a really pocket-friendly investment which is way cheaper than its human counterparts.
Multi-Languages
It’s common that today’s live chat employees are bilingual, but it’s often rare for someone to be fluent in three languages. This drawback can be solved by using an automatic software, and Chatbot is exactly such software as long as it’s trained with different languages. In fact, AI bots nowadays can communicate with users via up to 60 languages, which is perfect for extending businesses’ reach to global customers.
Personal Assistant
Advanced chatbots are empowered by AI. This means it can learn by digging through huge amounts of data it receives from thousands of recorded conversations. The benefit here is apparent – Your Chatbot can be anyone you want – whether a salesperson, a translator or an advisor. Moreover, you can help the users get a more personal touch from the Chatbot.
Wide Range of Business
Chatbots are available in numerous channels, including websites and messaging applications. Any kind of business, either a traditional or an online platform, can take advantage of this AI technology to increase profits. In fact, Chatbots have been used in eCommerce, customer service, transport, healthcare, education, restaurant, finance, banking, insurance, and so on. And surely, it won’t stop here!
3. What Can Business Benefit From Chatbot?
Improve Customer Service
Over 80% of online buyers need support while shopping for various reasons – they don’t know which products meet their needs or they’re overwhelmed by messy navigation issues caused by a poorly-designed website. In these cases, a Chatbot can provide reliable and detailed information for the customers, just like a salesperson in a local store.
In addition, Chatbots are programmed to behave towards customers in the most polite way no matter how rude they might be. This is the opposite of humans who might let their emotion take control when reacting to angry customers. As a result, Chatbots help improve customer satisfaction dramatically for all businesses.
Increase Conversion Rate
A survey showed that 87% of questions remaining unanswered from Facebook fan pages. But with the assistance of a Chatbot, 100% of customers’ questions will be responded to. This means the response rate is 10 out of 10.
In terms of the open rate, owning a Chatbot, again, gives businesses the edge over their rivals. That’s because when compared to old-fashioned methods of exchanging messages like email or phone call, live conversion is way more interactive and responsive.
In short, Chatbots not only improve customer satisfaction but also help businesses rank higher in their sector. All of these lead to a higher conversion rate, which means your company will get more sales and earn more profits for less costs.
Gather and Analyze Customer Data
Chatbots can collect personal information about customers, such as their living locations, ages, gender, favorite products, etc. For example, if a male visitor asks the Chatbot to suggest a low-cost life insurance, it can recommend an affordable solution that fits his needs based on his living state and age. Assume he decides to buy the insurance, as the Chatbot can remember him (based on the combination of his name, age, gender, etc.), it can can tailored its answers for him at the next time he visits the company’s website.
Therefore, Chatbots offer businesses the opportunity to gather and analyze customer data for strategy development and other tactical decisions. Therefore, they can engage potential clients and identify target customers without having to set new lists for targeted visitors. This also makes sure that leads will stay connected after the initial contact is made.
Keep Up with New Trends
Since 2015, messaging channels and platforms have reached more users than social media networks. People tend to prefer interacting with others through live chatting. For example, we use Facebook Messenger to talk to our friends or Skype to communicate with our colleagues at work. There are other chat apps targeting different groups depending on their interests. Similarly, in the case of a business, it’s easier and faster for them to reach and engage more customers using a Chatbot.
Moreover, social networks like Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp have grown in tremendous popularity. The integration of Chatbots into these platforms certainly helps businesses extend their influence on the market. So, integrating a Chatbot into these platforms not only helps businesses reach more customers fast and easily but also keeps their audience updated when new products and services are launched.
Carry Out Multiple Tasks
Not just a chatting program, a Chatbot can also act as a salesperson, marketer, accountant, translator, advisor – any role you want it to be.
As a salesperson, if a customer says “I’d like to buy a blue Jean in medium”, the Chatbot can give him/her a list of medium-size blue Jean without asking any further question. As an advisor, it can give customers great advice for choosing the best product. For example, if a customer asks for movie recommendations, the Chatbot can suggest a recently released movie that has got the most of excellent reviews. As an accountant, it can help settle the payments. As a translator, it’s integrated with a long list of languages and can therefore do the translation in mili-second.
What could you expect more from such amazing program?
Save Money
Chatbots help businesses save money in various ways. Firstly, it could be the better substitution for dozens of live chat agents. Secondly, it’s not only a one-time investment but also the more affordable solution when compared to hiring human employees. Thirdly, as Chatbot can serve a large number of users at the same time and make them all satisfied, the cost of user acquisition will be significantly reduced. Financial benefits of AI bots are endless!
Is your business ready to embrace chatbots?
Chatbot technology will, no doubt, enjoy a massive growth in adoption in the coming years. Sooner than later, you shouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a new standard for customer service of businesses in all fields. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s take your business to the next level!
