

That’s unfortunate, because using a chatbot for customer service can be incredibly effective when done right. Brands have seen interaction volume reduced, cost savings improve, and customer satisfaction boosted when implementing a chatbot. But you can’t achieve those results by just letting your chatbot loose on your customers, or you’ll end up with the kind of frustrating interaction you see below.


Our latest Forrester infographic, incorporating data from several panel surveys, consumer studies, and our Technographics Platform, is a window into the frustrations consumers experience when interacting with a chatbot.

What we found in our studies was alarming but not entirely surprising: 54% of US online consumers believe that interacting with a chatbot will have a negative impact on their quality of life. Consumers anticipate the worst when engaging with a chatbot today and haven’t yet seen a chatbot that can meet or even exceed those expectations.

Despite the negative impression, those customers aren’t a lost cause. Start by turning your chatbot inward — testing out new capabilities on your agents is a great way to see what works while boosting employee performance. From there, expand to simple customer-facing queries and limited use cases, but be clear with customers that the chatbot isn’t equipped to handle more complex questions. By taking it slow and steady, you’ll ensure that your customer service chatbot isn’t causing more problems than it’s resolving.

For more information on our findings, check out our recent infographic, “Forrester Infographic: Customer Service Chatbots Fail Consumers Today,” or set up an inquiry with me.

(Sarah Dawson contributed to this blog.)