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How Chat bots have Transformed Customer Service

How Chat bots have Transformed Customer Service

We are living in a world surrounded by technologies and we cannot ignore them. We have become so much addicted to technologies that without them we will be incomplete. This post will talk about one defining technology that has transformed the way businesses used to interact with their customers. Yes, you guessed it right, we are talking about chatbots. 

Chat bots have made it easier for companies to connect with clients and audiences 24/7 without hiring a special staff. This is just an example of how they have helped businesses, here is a lot that we will talk about in this article. We must say that introduction to chatbots is just revolutionary for businesses and their marketing strategies. Let us start with a brief of what chatbots are before moving on to their benefits for customer engagement. 

What is a chatbot?

You might have come across a chatbot on many websites you have visited and even had an interaction without knowing that you are talking to a bot. A chatbot is a programmed system designed to mimic human conversation on digital platforms and answer to the queries of people. One of the most important things about chatbots is that they can be customized according to the needs and requirements of companies. They do not require any human intervention for interacting with customers for basic questions asked by customers (but they need to be programmed too). Plus, they are known for delivering instant response irrespective of the time when the query is asked. 

How chatbots have transformed customer service?

Chatbots are the future of customer service and the time is not far when they will completely take over human customer service agents. You will completely understand the reason why we have said that by reading this post.

  • Seamless experience

One of the reasons why chatbots are becoming popular is because of their seamless performance. They don’t even let the user feel that he/she is talking to a bot. The interaction is so smooth that it looks like one to one communication between a client and a customer support executive. They can also be used with your social media marketing strategy to improve results and ensure better customer engagement.  

  • Round the clock service

As we have also shared this example above, one of the most important benefits provided by the chatbots is their round the clock availability. Placing a bot on your website or mobile app lets you ensure your presence 24/7 to the customers. This not only creates trust but also tells your client that how important they are for you. This means, that your clients don’t have to wait for the response until your company’s working hours and this will create your identity of being there for customers anytime. 

  • Multiple interactions

This is one of the strongest points of having a chatbot installed on your website. It can take endless queries without getting tired and can handle more than one customer at a time, or even hundreds of customers simultaneously. This probably is impossible for any efficient and highly experienced customer service agent, or we must say that it will sound ridiculous if we ask any of our employees to even handle 10 customers at a time. That’s where a chatbot becomes a revolutionary introduction to the customer service field. 

  • Keeps anger aside

Being a programmed bot, it has zero chances of using any rude or abusive language even when a customer is angry and talking rudely. We, humans, are emotional folks, it doesn’t matter how much we try, we somehow use our emotional sense while talking to someone and it depends on the language they are using. So, when an angry customer is talking to a service agent, especially when the query raised by the customer is not of the company’s fault, it becomes quite difficult for the service agent to solve the issue politely. And if anyhow the service agent uses angry tone, it will directly affect the company’s reputation and that could be serious as well.

In such situations, chatbots are the best as they just interact with customers the way they have been programmed. So, there is no chance of making a customer unhappy. 

  • Reduced cost of customer support

If we look in the long run, chatbots can significantly save the cost of customer support without compromising the quality of your service. Implementing a chatbot will ensure fewer numbers of customer support executives and thus, you will save the cost of their salary. Considering this could be highly beneficial for businesses that experience a high number of customer queries throughout the year or for a particular time. Plus, as we mentioned earlier, with the implementation of a chatbot, you would be able to handle more queries than your entire customer support team can.

  • Customized customer experience

Not only with solving queries, but chatbots can also help customers while making the purchase. Chatbots have numerous features and one of the interesting features is that they can pop up on any webpage to give suggestions to the customer, a discount coupon, or something else of their use. They can also analyze the search pattern of users and accordingly deliver the customized user experience. This will probably help drop down cart abandonment rates.

  • Highly convenient

Everyone wants to get things done in an easy manner and this pleases them as well. So, if people find interacting with you convenient, they will trust you more and rely on your brand. That’s where a chatbot comes in place. It can ease things for your customers related to any question they have regarding your brand or product. To get answers, all they need to do is type their query in the chatbox and an instant response will be there. Another convenience that chatbots offer is that you don’t have to worry about network issues as in the case of on-call customer support. With an active internet connection, customers can get answers to any of their queries related to your products/services. 

  • Automize social media support

Placing a bot on social media could also improve customer engagement as well as customer experience. As we know, that social media is a hub of the target audience for businesses and when your target audience will interact with the bot placed by you, it will help generate more leads through social media automatically. 

It could also be the case that one of your customers has a query and he/she might ask it through social media bot. Thus, getting a quick response will help strengthen relationships and you will be able to connect with customers more efficiently. 

  • Humanizes your brand

The ability of chatbots to connect with people in many ways makes it more useful. What we mean by saying this is, that a chatbot can serve as a technical support agent, provide sales information, and also ensures account management. Besides, based on the customer’s search history, it can also provide exclusive content to users and this ensures better customer service & engagement. It can be designed to connect with people in different conversational styles including professional, semi-professional, and friendly.

  • Removes the frustration of IVR

Interactive voice response not only requires time to connect with the most appropriate service agent but it is also annoying for most customers to type numbers one by one on the dial pad to get their query solved. With chatbots, this is not the case, here all customers have to do is just type the problem they have and they will receive an instant response. Plus, it is time-saving as well. 

  • Improved customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a must for any business to ensure their loyalty and long-term relationships. In this process to satisfy your customers, chatbots can play a very important role. You must know that every customer wants to be heard without much delay, and chatbots solve this problem efficiently. When your clients get answers to their problems instantly, they will be satisfied with your service. And when customers are satisfied, they not only make a brand their priority but also recommend it to others as well. Thus, in this way, you will also experience improved lead generation and sales. 

  • Ensures error-free performance

We are well aware of this fact that manual work is prone to errors, be it small or big. When we talk about errors in customer service, the most common could be wrong information related to any product in terms of price, availability, or any other key information. With chatbots, this is not the case. As they are programmed entities, the chances of errors are negligible. They will kill the chances of human errors and provide correct information. So, implementing a chatbot could be helpful in many ways. 

Final Words

From the last few decades, technology has improved a lot of things for businesses, be it marketing strategies or promotions. Along with these, customer interaction has also improved a lot and that has benefited businesses a lot. And one of the main reasons behind that improvement is the implementation of chatbots. They have eased the way people used to interact with brands and the way their queries used to be solved.

The days of IVR are becoming outdated where customers have to call the customer care and then press the required number to connect to the right customer service agent. Technology has evolved and so does the customer service. Now, typing a message can get customer’s queries solved that too instantly. This means, now customers don’t have to wait for the service agents to become free before they could attend them. Plus, chatbots have also improved the way companies used to get leads and maintain a record of customer queries. 

This post would have told you how impactful implementation of chatbots has become to ensure better customer service, and many businesses have started to create one for them to match with the latest trends and stand strong in this competitive market.