15 Jun Chatbots: Virtual Customer Service Employees for Your Business

Websites and eCommerce stores have changed how we shop. A habit that has only been accelerated in recent months by Covid-19 and social distancing. With more customers visiting you online from all over the world, a chatbot that can engage with your customers and answer the most common questions is a useful tool.

Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages of using chatbots in your organization.

Positives from using chatbots

Instant response

Chatbots eliminate the frustration customers experience from being placed on hold, queued when making an inquiry. They give fast service by providing customers with an immediate response.

Satisfied customers

Customers like the instant answers they get. Chatbots are polite and consistent, providing a quick courteous response even if the customer is angry. There is no backchat, simple answers with the solution to the customer’s query. They never get bored either and give consistently good customer satisfaction.

No employee costs

Chatbots are always on duty 24/7. They have no mood swings, are not late for work, never get tired, and do not take a break. You do not have to pay them either, so you win with employee savings. Chatbots are immediately productive, bring them on board and they are fully productive from the first moment.

Versatility

Chatbots are suited to most industries. They have a multitude of uses that can chat to many customers at the same time, every customer is attended to immediately.

Leads

Chatbots can capture visitors and get their emails and contact details before leaving your website contributing to your email list and sales funnel.

Limitations of using a chatbot on your website

Restricted answers

While their responses are rapid, let us remember that they are robots after all. So, answers may not be perfect and are limited to answering the query on hand without any embellishment or further explanation.

Customer frustration

Since chatbots are programmed on a specific database of information, they cannot answer “out of the box”. This means they could get confused, resulting in a circular conversation with no conclusion, frustrating the customer.

More sophisticated Chatbots are pricey

In order to solve more complex customer queries, higher costs will be incurred in their development. This could outweigh the cost savings benefits of having chatbots in your business.

They not suited for all businesses

Chatbots are not for every business but could be useful in providing standard answers for routine inquiries. However, the more involved and intricate the organizations will require a developmental investment that may not be justifiable.