A decade ago, the only way for a customer to connect with a business is by contacting them through their company email id. Filling an online form in the contact us page provides a little convenience in terms of managing queries. This traditional approach works for renowned companies but not for small scale companies as customers would expect a timely response. Start-up businesses may lose customers if they rely only on the traditional approach. On the flip side, the business may overwhelm with the number of queries received and the response may be delayed. It is a loss-loss situation for both B2B and B2C companies.
Live chat and Chatbots
With the advent of live chat and chatbots, most businesses prefer to have software that can provide on-time solutions to their customers. Live chat (managed live chat) is a boon to such companies where highly trained professionals are manned to provide on-time support to the customers. These professionals work round the clock, just to provide well-organized technical support to customer queries.
On the other hand, chatbots are simply a set of computerized answers that give an instant response to the customers. The answers are pre-loaded in software that matches the queries with the possible solutions. Despite a very good success rate and a high customer satisfaction rating, live chat requires high-level manpower with seamless efficiency. They are a bit challenging for some companies (at least for a small business).
A chatbot is the most commonly used customer support software amongst product and service-based companies. Chatbots emerge as the next big thing in web development because of the following reasons –
1. Cost-effective
Live chat requires experts in the respective field to answer customer queries. To an extent, it is profitable. However, if the scale of the company is too big or too small, affording (or even managing) executives at a higher cost is not productive. Chatbots are AI integrated software. So, they are not inexpensive but they are affordable.
2. High Responsiveness
Responsiveness is the most important trait a customer would expect from the business. Chatbots may or may not provide an instant solution. But it would guarantee an immediate response to the questions asked. This would help to maintain a good relationship with customers.
3. Availability – 24×7
Customer support needs to be addressed round the clock. Chatbots are equipped with pre-loaded answers to support the customers. If required, chatbots can transfer the call to live support. This way, we can embed the live chat and chatbots efficiently.
Another important aspect is the AI advancement of chatbots. Nowadays, they are proactive in suggesting the users with the questions. It is also a marketing strategy because a set of pre-loaded answers are always available for all the suggested questions.
For instance, a shoe business may develop a chatbot that proactively asks users questions such as what colour/size/shoe model do you look for. This will enhance the response rate from the users and in turn the conversation rate.
Final Words
Shortly, almost every business will be equipped with online software that would answer most queries of a customer. There are still some areas that need to be addressed in terms of humanly response though. But, with the rise in technology, no innovation is impossible. With a moderate understanding of digital marketing, any business can get the full benefits of chatbots in web development.
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