Nowadays, most of the customer interactions are managed by chatbots.
The results? Businesses admit that the integration of the communicational AI programs increased their productivity significantly.
The manner in which they communicate with consumers saves time and resources and allows human agents to allocate their efforts to more complex inquiries and tasks.
Businesses love bots. But what do consumers really think about them?A survey done by Userlike, reveals that…
Around 60% of the interviewed would prefer to wait in a queue to speak with a human agent instead of a chatbot.
And before you jump to a conclusion, we need to clarify that in addition to their initial response, many of the participants in the survey stated that, in fact, they would not mind the help of an AI when looking for answers to more simple queries.
So, what do consumers really think about bots? – The answer is complicated and biased to say the least. You might think it depends entirely on the nature of the customer’s issue, but the truth is that people’s false notion of bots is deprived of a previous bad experience with poorly programmed ones.
Although chatbots are no longer an emerging technology, they do have their share of flaws, and if not done correctly, they tend to aggravate more than help. How?
Poorly programmed chatbots will often:
- Misunderstand the question
- Reply with the same response without proceeding further regardless of what the consumer taps
- Fail to deliver the correct information to the human agent when a transfer is required
And i.e., be found insufficient.
So, are chatbots really worth it?
Opposing to the stated above, well-designed bots will:
- Analyze and understand the consumer’s pattern of behaviour
- Improve following conversations through data collection
- Have a wide range of decision-making capabilities
And thus, reach and surpass consumers’ goals. What is key here is to do your research before hurrying to choose an AI partner. Obtain a clear knowledge of your users’ needs and find the appropriate program that has the features to reciprocate them.
All pain points indicate that customers will not oppose against the automated conversation if their issue is resolved adequately and has a satisfactory conclusion.
Chatbots are worth it. Their potential is yet to be discovered and developed. In the meantime, it’s up to you to support them.
Keep “feeding” them with real-time relevant data that will prevent them from becoming redundant. Moreover, integrate features, such as Interaction Analytics, that will make them more conversational and reflective of what the user is saying.
And crucially, utilize leverage data to optimize your customer success methodologies at all times.
Human agents are never out of trend
While bots are being perfected and further mastered, human agents are the best option, because:
- They can pick up the cues that the programmed specifically AI would miss out
- They are culturally sensitive
- They can deal with more complex matters
And most importantly, they can display empathy and provide emotional support rather than just technical – this never goes out of trend.
Final thoughts
The first step towards ensuring that your customers will not hate their bot-only chat is to understand the AI limitations and how important it is for you to be the one to train them.
As fictional as it may sound, even the most sophisticated robots are still very much dependant on humans and in order to improve they need extensive monitoring.
Of course, they have a long way to go before they are even close to mimicking human-to-human interaction, and if you are new to the chatbot-world, test the grounds with employing programs that cover the most needed features at first. For example, 24/7 service, multi-language asset and knowledge-based management.
Evaluate the results and determine whether the investment is justified. If your customers do not receive them as expected, investigate further and find the proper solution. And do not substitute your human customer support entirely, as no matter how advanced AI gets, human agents will always be the best option.
