7 Top Tips to Create Customer-friendly Chatbots
Businesses are embracing chatbots in a big way as it is bringing new ideas to run customer service departments. But then, the bad news is that chatbots are facing increasing failure rates. The Facebook Messenger-based chatbots, for instance, are witnessing 70% failure rate. Meaning, only 3 of the ten customers facing issues were able to find answers to their queries via Facebook bots. So, if you are planning to run your customer service business around chatbots, you need to work hard to make sure your chatbots resonate with your customers. Chatbots are machines. They cannot apply common sense as we humans do. So, they might be good to replace humans in case of repetitive tasks. However, when human emotions are involved, they might become clueless, and in turn, add to your customer woes. That’s the last thing a brand needs.
Follow these seven steps to create customer-friendly chatbots:
#1. Set up AI chatbots and Not Simple Bots
Today, one can quickly develop a chatbot without knowing a single line of code. But then, you can only create simple bots that follow a predefined flow. There’s no question of customizing it as per your requirements. However, if you want your bot to act and sound intelligent, you need to integrate Artificial Intelligence with the help of developers. An AI-based bot helps make suggestions, more importantly, develop new responses based on data injected into the backend. But then, remember: To make your bot AI-friendly you need to invest some time and budget for it.
#2. Lend it a Human Touch
Though the consumers might know beforehand that they are interacting with a bot; however, it helps to lend the bot a personality of its own. A bot with a character would feel more human to the customers, and they might as well open up with their queries. Take Ruuh bot for instance. The bot speaks in a feminine tone and its known to keep the user hooked for hours together.
#3. Find Common Threads in Customer Issues
Wondering what sort of data to feed to your chatbot? Simple. Just look around, and you will find enough and more conversations that customers hold with your brand on a daily basis. For instance, if you ask your salespeople, given that they meet customers every single day, you will get an idea as to how the conversation goes back and forth between them and the customers. Even go through Facebook comments and posts to get an idea about common customer issues. Start collecting all that data and analyze them.
#4. Follow 80/20 Rule to Develop Standard Answers
As it turns out, the general 80/20 rule applies to chatbot conversations as well. Simply put, 80% of the queries revolve around 20% of the subjects. Customers end up asking the same questions over and over again. So, the companies need to identify the repetitive ones and develop standard answers for the same to feed their bots.
#5. Track, Analyse, Improve
You need to continually monitor your conversations. See how customers are responding to your chatbots’ answers. Try feeding multiple-answers for similar questions to your bots and then A/B test them, continuously. Keep what works. Improve that doesn’t. Develop new responses to emerging topics.
#6. Nail Down the Platform
Once your bot is up and running, your next step is to find a channel like a Facebook Messenger, Kik, Slack to introduce your bot. Your platform choice should depend on the target audience. Once you have nailed down the platform, your next step is to market your chatbot to secure users. For this, you could start using channels like email marketing, Facebook advertising, and more.
#7. Make Man and Machines Work in Harmony
Yes, make customer service a 50-50 process. Let the bots handle the oft-repeated, low-risk interactions. It’s because the chances of going wrong with repeated tasks are negligible, and the cost of being wrong doesn’t count much. Transferring mundane jobs to bots will leave the customer service reps more time to handle serious interactions that involve human emotions. Wrapping up Yes, you need to account for several things while engineering your AI chatbot. But then, the bright spot is that once you have it up and running, you don’t have to worry much on the maintenance part. Make sure to rope in a seasoned team of mobile developers to ensure that your chatbots work smoothly and efficiently once it's installed.