Technology and the speed at which it allows us to deliver information and services has had a profound effect on customer service. 54% of people have higher expectations for the speed and quality of the support they should receive from companies than just a year ago.

How fast you respond to a customer’s questions often can be the deciding factor to whether they use your company or a competitor. Often a person will purchase from the first company that gives them a meaningful experience, whether that means being on chat to instantly answer a question or having a salesperson call with a quote the same day they inquire.

These expectations for instant service can put a lot of strain on businesses, especially smaller companies that may be doing all they can just to keep up. But that same technology that’s created the expectation of instant gratification for customers can be strategically integrated into business processes to help expand your customer service without needing to hire a live 24/7 agent.

59% of online chats involve a chatbot.

Say someone is on your website at midnight on a Saturday and has a couple of simple questions, such as what colors you offer for an item and how fast it ships. They’re ready to purchase right now, but if they have to wait until Monday to get an answer, they may have moved on to buy from someone else by then.

But if they’re able to interact with an AI-powered chatbot and get those two questions answered immediately, you could be walking in Monday morning to a new sale that’s come through your online store.

Artificial intelligence has made it possible to program intelligent chatbots that can handle customer requests in more meaningful ways than just a few years ago. Things like decision trees and “personality packs” take chatbots beyond static replies and allow them to sound less robotic and more engaging.

Here are a few more eye-opening statistics about the benefits of enabling a chatbot on your site or using one on a platform like Facebook Messenger:

  • 57% of businesses say chatbots deliver excellent ROI with minimal effort
  • 90% of businesses say they resolve complaints faster using chatbots
  • 79% of Millennials have positive experiences interacting with a chatbot

Using a Chatbot to Power Your Lead Generation

Chatbots allow companies to be on call with their customers any time of day or night to answer their questions. While, they’re not the same as a live person, they can be programmed to answer multiple in-depth questions based upon keywords and a company knowledgebase.

Website visitors that are able to chat with an agent on a website are 82% more likely to become buying customers. 

Let’s take a look at what’s involved with today’s AI-powered chatbots and how you can use them to grow your business.

How Does a Chatbot Work?

A chatbot is a program that can simulate a conversation based upon user input. It’s typically done in a chat interface, either using a live chat on a website or in a messaging program like Facebook Messenger.

The chatbot analyses the words and phrases used by the person on the chat to choose answers from a database of pre-programmed information.

For example, your chatbot might have the following Q/A programmed in:

If keyword “dog bed” and “price” are used, cue the answer: “Thanks for asking about our dog bed. The price for that item is $35. Can I help you with any other questions?”

The effectiveness of a chatbot is dependent upon the information programmed into the system. The more data-rich, the more helpful it can be to customers.

Chatbot interfaces are making it easy to add a lot of product/service information by importing things like company FAQ’s that can be used to provide customer answers.

Using Chatbots to Drive Leads & Sales

Companies can improve the speed at which they respond to customers and offer them assistance during non-business hours using chatbots, which allows them to reduce their chance of losing those leads.

82% of people now expect an immediate response on a sales or marketing question. And most define “immediate” as 10 minutes or less.

That’s a tall order for most companies, unless you have the help of a salesperson that never sleeps in the form of an intelligent chatbot. 

Here are ways you can use one to capture more leads and sales:

  • Provide 24/7 support for live chat questions without needing to hire additional staff.
  • Using them as a first interaction on chat before escalating to a live agent to reduce response times and assist your customer service team.
  • Quickly getting customers basic information about their orders, like tracking or shipping times.
  • Using them on Facebook messenger as a way to drive engagement.
  • Giving customers a more interactive way to book appointments.
  • Automating your review requests and take customer surveys.
  • Add a “personality pack” to make your chatbot more personable and fun to interact with for your customers.

Capitalize on AI Chatbots with Help from Genuine Technology Group

With a little help from our experts at Genuine Technology Group you can take advantage of the sales and service capabilities of AI-powered chatbots in no time to drive more sales in 2020. 

Contact us today and to schedule a consultation. Call 971-288-0880 or reach us online.