Chatbot and its role
In this customer oriented marketing era, lot many potential customers want to gather or seek fast online information for products through social media like Facebook or WhatsApp.
In the past few years use of Chatbots has registered a widespread increase in marketing sector. Use of Chatbots has been found beneficial for both sellers as well as customers.
Chatbot, in the true sense is software automated to perform certain specific purposes through its artificial intelligence like answering FAQs, queries and/or completing a work-flow.
Accordingly, Chatbots have been integrated into social networks like Facebook as well as on the websites of various companies. Chatbots live in chat platforms or on social media is being used to answer the pre-purchase queries and promote product.
In other words, a Chatbot can be defined as software that can have conversations with humans.
Merits of a Chatbot
Among top merits, Chatbots can help:
- Improve Customer Service – by providing an Extensive Customer Assistance. Chatbots are programmed to offer an interactive communication and ask questions to understand the real query of customer.
- Chatbots are the emerging technologies that by virtue of their Artificial Intelligence (AI), created through sensors have generated additional online sales.
- Round the clock i.e. 24/7 customer service- being the most important and crucial factor for the success of every business.
Bots are programmed with automatednarrativeand answerseven for repetitive questions immediately or forward the more complicated ones to the concerned person when further or necessary actions are needed.
They save time of human customer service representatives as well as help making sales global and generate more ROI.
· Open new vistas for sale – by remaining available for 24×7 all throughout 365 days and solving almost all customer care problems; you can approach Global Markets faster.
In order to communicate efficiently all over the world, Chatbots can be programmed to answer in multiple languages.
This can help in creating awareness of your brand in various international markets and increase your sales and income multifold.
- Save customer’s time and interest in product – by providing very specific and relevant answers and engage customers in meaningful and flowing conversation.
- Reaching new customers – by reaching to new customers through social mediaplatforms such as Facebook and Messenger.
Being continuously active on these platforms helps companies reach new customers who may otherwise not want to reach out to the company with an email or call
- Cost Saving measure – having Chatbots can provide better customer service at a reduced cost.
Its proper programming and effective implementation can result in faster yet cheaper functioning than engaging staff for each function.
Feedback obtained from Chatbots can not only compliment the working of employees but also prevent possible human errors.
- Generate trust and improve engagement – By creating an environment of trust between your business and prospective or potential customers and convert them into real customers.
- Easy and quick management of multiple clients – The human resources can serve only a limited number of customers while Chatbots can serve multiple customers simultaneously without restriction.
As a result most customers are attended satisfactorily, leaving no chance for customers to be left unattended.
- Management of multiple clients –
Humans can serve a limited number of customers at the same time. This restriction does not exist for Chatbots, and they can manage all the necessary queries simultaneously.
Updating technology, many Chatbots companies are working on developing voice Chatbot services for even better customer service to the clients.
- Ability to send information and news of the company – some of more advanced Chatbots with better AI have ability to intimate potential buyers news and information such as new introduction, revision of price or bonus offer etc. in an automated way
Despite many beneficial effects and merits of Chatbots, there are few demerits also.
Demerits of Chatbots
When it comes to finding drawbacks or demerits of Chatbot, the main disadvantages or demerits include:
- The robotic way of answering can easily be detected by the customers
- Often customers do not feel satisfied due to limited response as programmed which can frustrate customers
- Not suitable for all type of businesses; cannot manage complex businesses especially requiring technical knowledge
- Complex Chatbots requiring more sophisticated Artificial Intelligence in Chatbots can prove too expensive which can defeat the purpose of providing cost-effective customer service.
- Mostly, Chatbots have bad memory and are not able to memorize a conversation already had with the client.
The customer is left with no option but either to memorize the key points by him or herself or to write the same thing every time they converse.
- Of course Chatbots have ability to learn from interacting with people and can prepare themselves to some extent for conversation with future persons but still cannot match the efficiency of a real human.
A Chatbot cannot add a human touch and use empathy with the customers.
