The comeback of chatbots: opportunities, must-haves and pitfalls
Today, it's hard to imagine life without chatbots. After initial teething problems in 2016, these smart little helpers are now enjoying a revival. Back then, bots lacked a lot of customer-friendly features; today, thanks to technological progress, they're much better received.
But why is that, and what do you need to watch out for?
- Which industries are well placed?
- Which qualities are a must-have?
- Which points are especially important
- and what you'd better avoid.
The industries bots have already moved into
More than 11,000 Facebook Messenger bots were already out there to help back in 2016. Unfortunately, without success at first. Consumers were not convinced by the features they were offered.
Meanwhile, the tide has turned: if you book a table at the Italian place around the corner in the evening or have questions about shipping your goods, you're very likely to come across them today. These smart helpers have made everyday life easier.
So today you'll find chatbots in many different industries, for example:
- in customer service,
- in news,
- for product information,
- in public authorities,
- in tourism,
- in banking and insurance,
- in B2B,
- for branding,
- in shopping,
- or in entertainment.
AI chatbots on the rise
Not just prefabricated answers, but so much more: today's clever AI chatbots can learn and communicate with you very individually. At the end of 2022, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, which played a big part in the breakthrough.
Since then, new AI bots have been springing up like mushrooms. AI text generators are gaining popularity not only with small and mid-sized companies, but also with the big players. Corporations like Google and Meta have been researching and developing their own AI chatbots for years.
So which qualities should your chatbot have?
There are some universal qualities your chatbot should have. Depending on your industry, other things come into play too, of course.
Does the end justify the means?
First of all, it's important that the bot clearly fulfills its purpose. Why is it on your site? How can customers and employees alike benefit from it?
So make sure the chatbot always does what it's supposed to do. At melibo, for example, you can come to our training camp to train your AI bot accordingly.
Your bot makes things easier, not more complicated
New technologies can be a challenge. So make sure your chatbot makes things easier for everyone involved, not more complicated. Highly repetitive tasks are unpopular with most people – ideal for using a bot that helps out.
Customers and employees alike can benefit from getting quick, easy access to certain information. Here too, the bot should make the process easier and, for example, increase efficiency and save time.
Usability should be a top priority
To make everything as easy as possible for customers and employees, the chatbot's usability is enormously important. The simpler and more self-explanatory the application, the more likely everyone involved – especially your customers – will actually use the bot.
Keep in mind that many users go online on their phones and often quickly type in a question or place an order on the go. So it's best to reduce the bot to the essentials.
A chatbot with that special something …
Even if it should be clear and simple, a human touch means your customers will enjoy chatting with your bot. The prefabricated, static answers chatbots used to give a while back are no longer in demand.
A pinch of humor, friendliness of course, and some know-how are welcome. That way, your customers feel well looked after and almost feel like they're having a human conversation.
Your chatbot never stops learning
Since AI bots came along, chatbots can keep learning all the time. That avoids frustration when your users' questions aren't understood or are misinterpreted.
So chatbots should be able to learn and remember what they've already been told. For example, your customers feel taken seriously when the bot already knows their phone or customer number and they don't have to enter it again and again. Well-trained AI bots can also remember preferences. That makes them feel authentic and optimizes the customer experience.
Sensitivity in a chatbot? Absolutely!
It's all about the right balance – just as in normal human communication, chatbots today are able to find the right length for a customer conversation.
On the one hand, the bot has to keep users in the conversation long enough to answer the question; on the other, the conversation mustn't be too long. Several short, easy-to-understand messages are therefore ideal.
Networking is key for your bot too
For your bot to be truly helpful and make your work easier, it should ideally be integrated into your company's entire setup. It also makes sense to connect it to your CRM system. That's important so it can filter all customer-relevant information from existing datasets. Only then does it become a real AI chatbot that can give your users an individual answer through an omnichannel approach.
Your bot becomes more independent and can, for example, proactively pass on the current order status to your customers without them having to contact support.
Some aspects are especially important for your bot:
There are also a few points you should definitely commit to before you get started and your bot makes your work easier.
- It must always be clear that a bot is at work, so your customers should be told.
- Your bot should be able to answer your customers' questions reliably. Ideally, AI bots already know the key facts.
- Boring bots aren't very inviting – so it's important that your bot feels lively and charming. So train it until you're happy.
- Take into account the systems that already exist in your company. That gives your bot more functionality and, in the end, more value.
- Especially important at the start: if your bot can't do many things yet, it should first impress with what it already does well. In this case, less is more.
- At any time, there should be an option for customers to forward the current conversation to an employee if your bot gets stuck or doesn't have adequate answers. Ideally, the bot suggests this itself. That way, customers feel taken seriously and well looked after.
- For all the independence of today's AI bots: always remember to keep an eye on your bot's behavior and on your users. You should adjust it regularly and test it internally. That saves you unexpected answers and other annoyances. In internal tests, make sure your testers don't bring too much prior knowledge – that way you'll see whether your bot is self-explanatory.
- Once the bot is live, you should also regularly review the messages and answers it receives. That way you can tell early on whether your bot is well equipped or where you need to make improvements.
What you'd better avoid
- Large blocks of text shouldn't be sent to your chatbot's users. That can be frustrating and overwhelming, and in the worst case your customers might turn away. Make sure answers are easy to read, short and clear.
- We all know it: sometimes you just want to talk to someone in person. Being kept on hold in automated answering systems (so-called IVR) can be nerve-racking. So don't force anyone to use your bot who actually wants to talk to customer support. In such a case, your bot can forward the request, for example.
- Feel free to give up a little control: you won't be able to control and perfectly handle every situation. Instead, try to close any gaps iteratively and make sure there's a suitable fallback mechanism.
- Define goals – is it about saving money and resources? Then your chatbot can make sense in customer service or HR, for example. Should the bot help make your brand even better known? Then it makes sense to use a particularly interesting, eye-catching bot that users can interact with. You should also consider whether your bot should be integrated with third-party providers such as Facebook.
- When choosing the platforms on which your bot will be published, you should also be clear about whether images or buttons are important to you, for example, or whether there should be text-only answers.
Conclusion: get ready for the next generation of chatbots!
If you keep certain points in mind, you'll gain many benefits from using an AI bot.
The mistakes of the past are now old news! We've all learned a lot from the early mistakes, which makes today's bots especially efficient and useful.
If you approach building a chatbot cleverly, for example with partners like melibo, you can increase customer satisfaction and take a huge load off your employees.
A well-thought-out chatbot is also ideal as a figurehead for your brand. Regular training makes your digital assistant even better. We're happy to show you how and give you personal advice! https://www.melibo.de/en 👈
