Customer service standards are changing at such a rapid pace in today’s digital environment, that it can be difficult for businesses to keep up. Over the few years, with the advent of new platforms such as live chat, messenger apps, and social networks, the number of messages and customer inquiries has dramatically increased. At the same time, when asked about their desires, 24/7 availability, fast response times, and omnichannel delivery are high on the wish list of today’s customers. To overcome these problems, more and more companies are seeing the advantages of chatbots in customer service.
By 2021, 15 percent of all customer service transactions will be conducted exclusively by AI, artificial intelligence experts forecast. The adoption of chatbots by organizations is not only increasing, so is the desire of customers to be supported by a virtual assistant. The research found that 50 percent of customers no longer care whether they deal with people or AI-enabled technologies.
Table of Contents
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What are Chatbots?
- Benefits of using chatbots in customer service
- How are brands using chatbots?
- Future growth
- Conclusion
In this article, we will get to know about Chatbots and how they are replacing traditional customer support.
What are Chatbots?
A chatbot is an artificial intelligence application intended to simulate customer interactions. Via chat windows, texting, or voice apps, customers can communicate directly with chatbots.
There are basically two kinds of chatbots, chatbots for Flow and chatbots for AI. Flow chatbots are tree-based models, meaning a predetermined route established by a developer guides the user. AI chatbots are self-trained, so according to the information they obtain by communicating with customers, they can generate backlogs of knowledge. Chatbots have been used for some time by many online customer service systems to help control the number of phone calls, frequently asked questions, and other basic customer service queries.
Benefits of using chatbots in customer service
The response time and general settlement time can be significantly reduced by chatbots in customer service. Customers with a simple query, especially on channels like live chat, expect a fast answer. With a chatbot, questions from customers can be dealt with within seconds. It also increases the happiness of workers since a customer service employee’s job becomes more difficult and less mundane. Chatbots enable organizations, at a lower cost, to provide quicker and more effective service. In addition, because a chatbot is independent of place and time, it can assist clients at any time of the day, which includes on holidays and weekends.
Let’s look in more detail at these four benefits of chatbots:
- Providing quicker and simpler service with chatbots
- The option of answering outside office hours
- Increase satisfaction for customers and employees
- Reduce expenses
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How are brands using chatbots?
Chatbots are used by brands like Starbucks, Spotify, and eBay to boost their customer service. Bank of America designed one of the most innovative ones. The newly released “Erica” is designed to help customers make better decisions about the money. To help customers make payments, check accounts, save money and move funds, this chatbot utilizes artificial intelligence, algorithms, and predictive messaging. Erica allows users to connect in both text and voice and uses the information provided to provide the client with insights.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is another brand that has implemented chatbots into its customer service channel. With Facebook messenger, KLM increased consumer experiences by 40 percent. Without jeopardizing privacy, the airline decided to make communications between customers and employees simpler. KLM realized that its customers spend a lot of time on Facebook and Messenger, making it a perfect customer service tool for a chatbot. Booking information, boarding passes, and flight alerts can now be accessed by customers directly via Messenger. KLM now receives an average of five messages a minute on a typical day and, during busy times, over eleven messages a minute via Facebook Messenger.
Future Growth
Although chatbots are not expected to replace members of human customer service, a recent report by artificial intelligence experts predicted that more than 85% of customer service centers would be run by “bots” by 2020. We live in the digital age where customers demand easy, efficient customer service accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Chatbots fulfill the needs of these tech-savvy users with pleased customers and upgraded customer service capabilities. Chatbots have not only transformed customer experience, but the pace of enterprise adoption is an indication of how industries can be revolutionized overnight by AI.
However, the benefits and constraints of using chatbots are continuously evolving as more organizations improve and extend their capabilities with any digital technology and artificial intelligence. Just as with most of the AI there are obvious drawbacks to the creations. Though AI by communicating with customers, powered chatbots can learn and predict actions, the lack of emotional intelligence limits the reach and depth of communication. The efficacy of chatbots is also constrained by the availability and familiarity of qualified personnel with this emerging technology. With regard to accents and languages, chatbots may have essential limitations. This constraint is a vital obstacle for companies in multiple regions. Therefore, though companies will continue to build and utilize customer service chatbots, their use will be limited to performing relatively simple and recurring tasks, leaving people with more complicated, tailor-made communications.
Conclusion
Organizations today are having a hard time keeping up with their consumers’ ever-changing demands. One of the main variables of whether a customer can go from a one-time transactional consumer to a long-term brand supporter is customer experience. These variables are primarily dependent on how efficiently and easily problems are solved and how respected a client feels. Agents are unable to cope with the number of inquiries they have to cope with and disconnected antiquated devices in order to compound these difficulties.
Although companies are still taking steps to modernize how they serve customers, it will be crucial to invest in the right technologies. Emerging technologies, such as AI-powered chatbots, allow companies to provide faster solutions and simplify a customer service agent’s work. For performance, the symbiotic relationship between human agents and technology is crucial.
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