The Future Is Yesterday
It’s 2020. Millennials are in their 30s and Gen Z is graduating from high school. The consumers of tomorrow have never waited on hold for an hour just to be disconnected and start all over. They have grown up in a world of instant satisfaction. Text messaging has replaced calling and emails have replaced going to the post office. The workforce of tomorrow is changing too. Self-driving vehicles, automated machinery, and AI are taking over. And now, the new face of customer service has arrived, the chatbot.
What Are Chatbots?
Chatbots are automated response programs designed to carry out a text conversation with customers. They can be used for a wide array of tasks to support your team and manage a variety of customer interactions. In terms of customer service, their use is almost limitless. Chatbots can be programmed for many interactions and are beginning to replace call centers, FAQ pages, and customer satisfaction surveys as a primary tool for businesses to communicate with and assist their customers. From simple bots that allow customers to select from multiple choices and then provide direction and answers, to more complex bots that employ machine learning and language recognition to go in-depth and provide an experience akin to talking to a human representative, chatbots are a versatile new asset for businesses, allowing them to be more efficient and still deliver quality service to their customers.
Why Are Chatbots Important?
According to Forbes, “62% of US consumers like using chatbots to interact with businesses.” That’s a 10% increase from the previous year, showing a growing trend in their use. 64% of businesses intend to expand their use of AI and chatbots as well. With all that chatbots have to offer, it’s no surprise that customers and businesses alike are gravitating towards their use.
In our 24-hour world, the number of people who are interacting with businesses outside of usual business hours is increasing and chatbots allow for 24-hour customer engagement.
IBM states that “chatbots can help reduce customer service costs by 30%.” By cutting response times for basic inquiries by 99%, allowing human representatives to field more complex requests much quicker, chatbots can take a huge bite out of the 265 billion customer service requests made every year. This can help save businesses from the $1.3 trillion spent on customer service requests annually.
I Want To Talk To A Robot
The younger generations are taking over the marketplace and inundating it with new and more advanced technology. With more and more businesses and consumers recognizing the benefits and turning to chatbots for their needs, it won’t be long before the cliché, “I hate robots. Can I talk to a real person?” is replaced with, “I hate waiting to talk to people. Can I just text a chatbot?”
If you’re interested in learning more about how chatbots can support your customer service team in providing the best possible experience for your customers while saving you money, contact our well-qualified team at Empowered Pulse today and start your business on the path to the future.