One of the biggest priorities for businesses with a strong online presence today is the development or improvement of a chatbot. According to a Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report in 2023, about 72 percent of business leaders said expanding AI and chatbots across the customer experience is their priority over the next 12 months.
These are not “new” technologies. Bots and chatbots have been around for 20 years. The difference now is that recent advancements in AI, allow the benefits of these “intelligent” chatbots to become more obvious. AI has also allowed chatbots to become more accessible and affordable.
Chatbots are often one of the first personal interactions that customers have with a business. The chatbots can greet and engage with those customers or visitors in a friendly, convenient way. One of the primary benefits is that chatbots use natural language processing to better understand customer requests. This is how the technology becomes “smarter,” learning with every interaction.
Among the other key benefits are:
They offer fast and efficient customer service
Customers and visitors want fast and easy service, even during peak hours. When chatbots step in to handle the first interaction, they eliminate wait times with instant support. Because chatbots are always “on,” they can provide global, 24/7 support at the most convenient times for visitors.
Offer more personalized experiences
Customers understand that bots collect personal data but want them to use it to create a better customer experience. Zendesk estimates that 63 percent of business leaders agree that AI/bots can deliver hyper-personalized experiences to customers. With the help of experienced programmers at ARS, our chatbots can present information about a department or location that many visitors will need.
Deliver multilingual support
While most of our clients aren’t selling anything online or in person, breaking down communication barriers remains crucial for delivering a great customer experience. Chatbots can offer multilingual support to customers who speak different languages. At the start of a conversation, chatbots can ask for the customer’s preferred language or use AI to determine the language based on customer inputs.
Offer convenient self-service options
Past studies have indicated that customers can become visibly frustrated or stressed when they can’t complete simple tasks on their own. Chatbots can help mitigate that by providing self-service options so customers can take care of basic issues independently or quickly find information when it’s most convenient.
Improve service with every interaction
Chatbots use AI to provide better support through:
Tracking: AI customer service bots track responses to every answer they provide
Collecting: As chatbots gather customer data, they’ll continuously analyze it to provide more accurate and personalized responses.
Learning: With the knowledge a chatbot gains, it will learn which response is best in each type of situation.
Refining: The chatbot will improve at determining which questions it can answer and which are
Reduce business costs
In order to thrive, businesses need to keep costs under control while delivering more value. Most professionals believe that artificial intelligence and chatbots will drive cost savings over the coming years, so there is an awareness to invest in the technology.
Though customer service chatbots may require an investment upfront, they can help you save money over time. Chatbots can handle simple tasks, deflect tickets, provide wayfinding, highlight job opportunities and more.
Serve more customers at scale
Managers and department heads can deploy chatbots to increase productivity and efficiency. Because chatbots can handle simple tasks, they act as additional support agents that can address multiple customer questions simultaneously.
These aren’t the only benefits. There may be others specific to your situation. Connect with the team at ARS to learn more about how chatbots can help you.