AI technologies are changing our personal lives day-by-day. From predicting for us the next movie that matches our previous choices in Netflix to self-driving cars, Artificial Intelligence has come to make our lives easier and more convenient. By adopting AI & Machine Learning practices, businesses now can improve their sales funnel (forecasting and analyzing customers’ online performance, targeting next-best-products, analyzing data). The positive impact of these new technologies lies in the task automation, increased relevance & profit, time & costs saving, and resolution speed due to the use of cognitive technologies that offer more personalized experiences to customers. However, there are underlying risks such as security, data privacy, biased outcomes, etc. Despite these criticisms, consistently applying AI & ML technologies can benefit your business.
In the past few years, more and more businesses have been using chatbots to offer better customer service to their customers by simulating human-like conversation. For example, you might have noticed that while being on social media looking for clothes and sending a message about the price, sometimes the answers you receive are automated. That is how chatbot works. It understands the context and uses keywords to find the right answers to your questions, essentially mimicking human behavior.
As everything becomes more digital and automated, chatbots are helping businesses increase their sales and move a lead through the sales funnel. Virtual salespeople can communicate with the customers instantly, answering questions while also collecting data with regards to their interests. For instance, if you send a message to Facebook Messenger asking about a skirt you saw on the company’s Facebook page, the chatbot can answer the question requesting more info on the size or the address you want the item to be delivered (in case you have decided to purchase). If you now enrich chatbot with AI you could also have product recommendations based on the customer’s purchase history.
In addition, Marketing can take advantage of this solution, collecting customers’ data and predicting which lead is more likely to convert into a revenue opportunity. By identifying the most qualified leads, businesses can save resources and increase conversions. Insurance companies can communicate with an existing customer via chatbots to remind him of a contract renewal, while eCommerce websites can use chatbots to remind customers of items on abandoned carts.
Till now we have referred to chatbots’ use for sales and marketing, but what happens with customer service? All these three areas (sales, marketing, service) are interconnected. A case that has been successfully resolved via a chatbot could reach a salesperson as a lead for cross-selling. Imagine a client that has issues with his Internet connection speed; he chats to discuss about his problem and then the virtual representative could help him resolve this issue. In parallel, sales can get the lead for an upgrade of that Internet connection.
In general, chatbots using AI are an innovative solution that could be used for dealing with multiple business issues, boosting sales and customer experience. It is also really important that even Small & Medium-size businesses could take advantage of its use since they save resources.
Chatbot Benefits
Before applying such a system to your business, you need to define your needs, i.e. why do you want to implement it? To optimize customer service? Reduce costs? Improve CX? Having these in mind, you can develop the chatbot that meet your needs and help you quickly reach your KPIs. According to reports, consumers prefer to use chatbots versus other applications, email or phone due to the immediacy of the response they receive and the fact they can use it 24/7.
Businesses need to change and embed deeper into their strategy both chatbots and AI technologies. Either you are an e-commerce, retail or insurance, telecom, banking, etc. organization, you can build your own chatbot improving efficiency, customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Are you planning to adopt chatbots? The solution has been implemented by Cognity in leading organizations in Greece. For more information, please contact us here.