Chatbots are on the rise. Chatbots enable companies to automate a large part of their customer service process. 87% of the marketers believe that chatbots are the key to avoiding long customer service wait times, when they get high amounts of inquiries at the same time (Newsroom, 2018). However, to write the so-called conversational copy of content well, you really have to know what you’re doing. If you don’t, you will only frustrate the users.
Acquia has found that 45 per cent of consumers in the UK think of chatbots as “annoying”, and would prefer it if websites removed them completely or found an alternative (Newsroom, 2018). Thus, where marketeers are confident that chatbots are the solution, half of the consumers disagree and think that they are lacking.
But that must be done properly…
A chatbot has many advantages, as they can automate a large part of the customer contact therefore reducing the need of personal contact with the helpdesk, and they can be used 24/7. But it only works well if the conversational copy is properly written. If you don’t, you will mainly frustrate your customers. A frustrated customer feels misunderstood and much more likely to go to a competitor that does offer a good listening ear.
Be aware that most customers often only contact us if they are not completely satisfied. Emotions then run high. For example, they did not receive an important order at home that they now really need. Or, they have a very specific question, but after an hour of searching the website, the answer has still not come up. Irritations may then be present. If at such a moment they contact a chatbot that does not immediately help the customer in their way, it has a reinforcing effect on these negative emotions.
How to use chatbots properly
So what can companies do to prevent killing customer service? The important thing is that they have to keep improving their chatbots. There are, after all, many consumers who still like to use chatbots to get quick answers (Elliott, 2018). For more complex situations, consumers often prefer to talk to a human. The recommendation, therefore, would be go for a blended approach: do not try to replace the human agents but rather improve your customer service by adding chatbots to the current agents. However, if you decide to make use of chatbots, make sure you don’t rush in too quickly to implement it but to design it properly. Chatbots are only as they are trained to be.
After you’ve implemented a chatbot, monitor how it is used and where the potential bottlenecks are. Keep updating your script constantly so that you can continue to help customers well. Next to that, make sure that it is easy to get into conversation with a real person, so that the frustration does not rise too high.
Have you ever experienced a conversation with a chatbot that annoyed you and where you preferred to talk to an employee, or do you think chatbots will be able to replace the employees in the future?
References
D’Angelo, M. (2017). ‘Funniest Chatbot Fails’. Accessed on 17 October 2019 on https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10450-funniest-chatbot-fails.html/.
Elliott, C. (2018). ‘Chatbots Are Killing Customer Service. Here’s Why.’. Accessed on 17 October 2019 on https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2018/08/27/chatbots-are-killing-customer-service-heres-why/#41e269a013c5.
Newsroom (2018). ‘Consumers think chatbots are “annoying and impersonal”, discovered Acquia research’. Accessed on 17 October 2019 on https://lovelymobile.news/consumers-think-chatbots-are-annoying-and-impersonal-discovered-acquia-research/.
