The New Age of Customer Service: Chatbots

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Chatbots are an incredibly interesting innovation, and they’ve taken customer service automation to another level.

When you implement a chatbot, an AI system can walk your customers through troubleshooting steps or take them to the FAQ before they have to connect with a human. They can also help answer simple questions, connect customers to specialized technical support, or just help them make basic choices.

Your customers get what they need, and customer service agents only deal with issues that aren’t as easy to fix.

So, how much do you know about chatbots? Here’s a quick primer.

What Is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is essentially a bot programmed to engage with messages in a personable way. It doesn’t require the intelligence of a true AI, but it’s programmed with enough friendly engagement that the customer feels cared for. Although a number of chatbots are just for fun, they’ve started to make their way into the mainstream because of how useful they are for companies of all kinds.

Businesses use chatbots because of their ability to help with simple questions and problems. Most chatbots automatically pop up to remind customers that there’s quick help available, and they give predetermined responses to the most commonly asked questions.

Chatbots aren’t as sophisticated as the most advanced artificial intelligence programs, but think of it as preliminary customer service. Once your chatbot has reached its limit, you can program it to turn the interaction over to a human representative to continue the conversation.

Why Are Chatbots Becoming More Popular?

Implementing a chatbot is easier and less expensive to implement than ever before.

These types of AI systems were once clunky and inaccessible. Instead of a chatbot serving as, essentially, an FAQ parrot, many businesses preferred to simply staff their help lines.

But bots have come a long way. It’s a faster, cost-effective way of managing initial leads and warming up potential customers prior to any interaction with a live representative. And if your customers have questions the bot can’t answer? You’ll still have those customer service lines waiting — they’ll just be much less clogged.

Why Should I Use a Chatbot?

These days, even very small businesses can benefit from a little automation. Chatbot services can be extremely inexpensive, so much so that they’re usually easy to fit into your budget.  Automated services like BotXO and SnatchBot, or our very own experts at MV3, can help you actually create a bot for your website, and you won’t have to worry about any coding.

Many customer service issues can be solved in just a few seconds using an automated system. With a chatbot on your site, you’re not just saving your business time and money—you’re also saving your customers time and money. That makes them more likely to come back.

Are Bots the Wave of the Future?

Until AIs can actually perform in-depth customer service duties, chatbots are the closest you’ll be able to get. If you program a bot correctly, it can help your customers and cement your brand image at the same time. Sounds like an incredible investment.

If you’re intent on improving your customer service skills, get out in front of the competition. Add a chatbot to your site; it can give your customer service representatives a break and improve your customers’ experiences.

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