It is no secret to anyone that 2020 was a challenging year for the global economic and social agenda, in which virtually all companies were impacted by the lockdowns required to curb the spread of the virus. These measures forced leadership teams to implement urgent changes to their standard operational processes.
During pandemic times, customer service has had to adapt to new needs. The inability to manage requests in person has flooded corporate websites.
That is why here we are going to show you one of the tools companies are using to optimize their communication and support processes in order to stay afloat. We are referring, of course, to customer service bots or chatbots. They are used as a first line of support to gather requests, segment them, resolve the most basic ones, and route the rest to the appropriate department.
Some people may wonder: what is a chatbot? Chatbots or conversational bots are software programs designed to simulate conversations with people via text and, in some cases, even via voice.
There are two different types of chatbots:
Dumb Chatbots: They operate simply, based on a series of patterns. For each word, phrase, or question that the user types or speaks, the chatbot has a predetermined response programmed. This means it can only respond to the words or phrases it has registered.
Smart Chatbots: These chatbots run on Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. They are capable of simulating human behavior and can maintain much more fluid conversations than an automated answering system. Furthermore, after each conversation, they learn about user preferences, enabling them to make better decisions in future interactions.
What features of this solution have made it so compelling for businesses?
- It helps ensure that company communication with customers is efficient, relevant, and personalized.
- Users can request all kinds of information or ask for specific actions to be performed.
- Unlike apps, they do not need to be downloaded or updated, and they do not take up space on mobile device storage.
- Representatives receive clean, relevant information to manage requests.
- They are easy to customize.
- They are cost-effective and active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- They can be used on alternative channels such as WhatsApp
A bot that does not support customer service with an efficient process, with the necessary options to provide solutions, and with the ability to route requests it cannot solve to a representative, is a poorly configured bot. The bot's success depends on the developer's understanding of the full process flow it will manage. A well-programmed bot can resolve up to 35% of requests without requiring human intervention. Knowing this, it is easy to see why this solution has become a company's “best friend” in these times.
