Did you know that the global chatbot market is valued at $4.6 billion this year and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20.6% to reach north of $14 billion by 2028?
Chatbots offer benefits not only for businesses but also for consumers. Over the last couple of decades, chatbots have gotten smarter. And much of that advancement comes from artificial intelligence.
Here’s a look at five ways chatbots help businesses offer better customer service.
1. Round-the-Clock Service
Did you know that almost eight of 10 consumers will patronize a business after a mishap if its customer service is excellent? Keep in mind that the digital age is upon us, and consumers don’t have to limit themselves to businesses that aren’t responsive on the customer service front.
When your company uses chatbots, you can offer your customers the help they need 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. It might be cost-prohibitive to employ staff to provide round-the-clock service, but using chatbots is a much more cost-effective way to offer help inside and outside of regular business hours.
Chatbots don’t require a salary, won’t require breaks, and won’t call in sick. Your clients will get the answers they want when they need them.
2. Lessen Case Volume
Chatbots will also reduce case volume. That’s a win-win for your customers and your customer service representatives. On the one hand, chatbots will handle customer care in cases when the involvement of a live human agent isn’t necessary.
Chatbots can be linked to your FAQ and knowledge base pages to provide the correct answers. On the other hand, your staff members can focus on customer requests that chatbots can’t resolve. So, customers who need help on complex matters won’t needlessly have to remain on hold listening to elevator music.
3. Task Automation
You can also use chatbots for task automation. Chatbots can step in to handle follow-up duties if human agents aren’t available at any given time. They can set up customer meetings and assign cases to your customer care representatives. You’re less likely to see anything fall between the cracks if you use chatbots to support your customer care representatives.
4. Consumers Like Online Chat
One source notes that customer satisfaction with live chat in 2020 was 86%. And between 2015 and 2019, it averaged a whopping 83.25% — and the figure never dipped south of 80% during that period.
It’s believed that one reason consumers like chat is that it’s simpler to say what they want via text than over the phone. Chatbots are an extension of live chat, which itself refers to human agents communicating with people over the internet. Using chatbots will help your customers by allowing them to interact with your company in a way that resonates with them.
With the advancement in AI technology, chatbots are becoming more and more human-like in their conversational skills. Conversational AI technology allows for better customer service since chatbots can more effectively communicate, ask questions, and resolve problems.
5. Seamless Integration
You can configure your chatbots to seamlessly transfer customers to human agents if the circumstances warrant doing so. The human agents will be able to refer to the chat logs to see what was discussed previously and to know what to do going forward.
Consider chatbot technology if your business wants to take customer care to the next level. It’ll help provide a higher level of customer service. Consumers have options nowadays. So, they won’t put up with lackluster treatment from the businesses they patronize. You can use chatbots to supplement your workforce so that customers get the help they need when they need it.