Dog Blog 43.0 – Let’s Chat
What is worse (or more annoying) than being unhappy with a product or service? Spending your precious time on the phone with customer service, only to find your problem hasn’t been solved!
As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to provide consumers with a positive customer experience. You’ve been on the other side before, and you know that a painstaking phone call can really turn a customer off. So how do you handle these tricky situations?
Have no fear, help is at your fingertips! We’re laying out all the facts on two great ways to communicate with your customers – live chats and chatbots. Let’s take a quick look at what they are and how they work!
What is a Chatbot?
A Chatbot is a program that mimics a real conversation with users by using artificial intelligence (AI). These are incredibly sophisticated programs that can be used to perform a variety of different functions within the realms of customer service. There are 3 basic types of chatbots:
- 1. Scripted – The chatbot’s behavior follows predetermined paths.
- 2. Intelligent – Can accept free form input via voice or text.
- 3. Application – Can be standalone mobile apps or messaging apps built into social media.
What is a Live Chat?
Live chats provide customers with access to immediate help from a human. People find these to be advantageous because wait times are shorter than a call center, and users can also multitask if there is a small wait. Live chats give quick answers, solve problems, and are an effective way of sharing digital information.
Now that we’ve addressed two different ways to reach out to your customers, you might be wondering which method would be most effective for your business. Since this article is focusing on how to make things simpler for your customers, we’re going to make the decision simple for you with our handy chart!
Chatbots and live chats both…
- Lead to increased sales – highly satisfied customers are likely to return
- Give you the edge over your competition – people like instant access to support that doesn’t involve the phone!
- Chat histories provide businesses with useful data – allowing you to expand your market research
- Provide customers with a personalized experience
- Creates better lead generation, qualification, and nurturing
But they differ because…
- Chatbots can attend to as many customers as possible at the same time
- One chatbot can do the job of many live chat agents, which is more cost effective to you
- Chatbots can only work with pre-programmed information
- Chatbots are usually more useful for low-involvement products
- Chatbots are always available, while live chats depend on hiring employees around the clock or just during certain business hours
Are you considering investing in developing a chatbot or implementing a live chat team? No matter the option you choose, you can be assured that either method can only improve your business’ customer service…and improve your sales along the way!
Chat Stats
- By the end of 2020, about 80% of businesses will utilize chatbots to increase their business revenue
- People are 10 times more likely to engage with a chatbot
- 68% of customers leave businesses because of poor customer service
- 55% of people are more likely to shop with a business that features message interaction
- 79% of customers prefer live chats because they provide immediate answers (vs. calling a help line and being put on hold)
