How will Customer Support Chatbots Improve Your Customer Experience?

By: Harmeet Singh

And AI said, "Let there be human emulation," and Chatbots appeared on the world stage. Replace "said" with "support," and there's an answer to address all the irregularities with customer care. But let's not directly assume that the conventional customer support system has flaws, for it has been serving the needs of numerous people for quite some time now. However, there's no denying that it can be enhanced just like every other domain that has embraced contemporary technology.

The enhancer, in the present day, presents itself in the name of Chatbot—chatting + robot. You all know it from somewhere. Don't you? What about your regular Google assistant or the widely proclaimed Siri working under your belt as your virtual partner? For long, these virtual assistants have been presenting themselves as win-win representatives for customer support. Most importantly, you know them so well.

Thus, all-in-all, we are talking about bringing in these Internet bots to give you a world-class experience while you strive to solve your problem. Not as unexpected as it appears to be. Isn't it? But admittedly—extraordinary.

First off, let's understand the sophistication of chatbots

In straightforward terms, chatbots are computer programs designed specifically to emulate humans. This is done by saturating these programs by:

—Pre-written generic responses

—Information extraction algorithms

—Knowledge about their operational domain/environment

Chatbots, with the help of these aspects, are able to parse the customer input. Subsequently, they search for the keywords from associated databases and present a viable solution. This is what a straightforwardly designed chatbot can potentially achieve.

However, upon integrating the concept with Artificial Intelligence, things become interesting. Because AI successfully leverages Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), it is able to facilitate a bot good at decision-making and swiftly strategizing the responses.

ML and NLP continually improve chatbot's approach to solving your problem. Let us consider the case of Mr. X to understand this.

Mr. X, an entrepreneur, consistently moaned about his computer's slow-working. He messaged Support Genie to gather information about how to solve the issue. Instantly, a screen popped up with Support Genie's bot inquiring about Mr. X's problem.

Frustrated as he was, X constantly complained about the disruption in his routine activities due to the computer's slow processing. The bot responded with some solutions and even offered to connect X with a real agent. The issue was soon resolved.

After a few days, X returned with a similar problem; however, now the problem resided on a different television. God knows how X used his digital devices.

Anyways, everything remained the same except the bot's responses, which were more detailed, authentic, and engaging. The bot, this time, managed to offer solutions without having to send a suggestion of "connecting to a human agent."

It did that by learning from previous conversations. Such systems, which have been prepared to understand human emotions, can consistently improve—a fact liked by all the prominent entrepreneurs of the world and, unsurprisingly, by Mr. X.

How Are Customer Service Chatbots Redefining Support?

Chatbots can be helping tools as well as virtual humans. For this precise reason, the possibilities of their success cannot be scaled. Nevertheless, the baseline for the same can be put into words.

1. Reduction in dependence on the human workforce: Every time a customer rings the support bell, a human has to be assigned to inhale the queries. But that can be readily achieved through customer support chatbots. For simple questions, the pre-written responses can provide relevant solutions, thus, entirely eliminating the need for assigning a customer service representative. This further enables the organization to reserve their competent agents for more intricate cases.

2. Bridging the gap between humans and technology: Let's call a chatbot an Interface. When a consumer reaches customer support, the chatbot instantly rises to the occasion. It engages the consumer in a conversation and, upon request or the analysis of the complexity of the case, transfers the conversation to a representative. In that light, it acts as an integrating interface.

3. Defining the word "availability": Now, this is something that overpowers every predicament that opposes the consolidation of customer service chatbots. No human can be available for 24*7 and 7 days a week. It's only possible when the organization invests in hiring night- and weekend-shift staff. However, a chatbot can achieve this feat, and you know that. Programs never get exhausted, period.

4. Saving additional costs: This is in direct association with the aforementioned aspect. Because the customer service domain is one of the busiest, organizations need to recruit and administer a considerable workforce. Considering the fact that chatbots exist in the present day, the money spent by these firms appears to be ill-directed. In short, invest in chatbots and expect the ROI to increase significantly.

Chatbots influence the customer experience

The surroundings enriched with the regulation of digital media and the prominence of social media reflect upon the changing user behavior. The same applies to the case of chatbots, which are no more oblivious to the common eye. In simple words, the existence of numerous chatbots in the market has actually scaled the expectations and trust in customer support.

The changing customer feels

A decade ago, hardly anyone nodded to the thought of resolving problems using an Internet bot. The scenario, however, has significantly changed since then, and people are more inclined towards using chatbots for their daily requirements.

Strong belief on productivity

Because chatbots successfully engage the consumers by enabling them to access diverse content, they are gradually being assigned the virtue "productivity." These programs associate relevant and authentic information on the web with the consumer's requirements and, thus, prove them about their effectiveness and efficiency.

The rising gratification

Why do people use Instagram? Presumably, because this social networking site facilitates seamless interaction and satisfies people's specific needs. This is exactly what chatbots manage to do when they support the consumer's short-term objectives.

A source of motivation and enhanced engagement

Numerous people like Mr. X find it feasible to talk to a chatbot. Simply put, the human's digital emulation, with its consistently learning potential, intrigues the consumers. Hence, people feel motivated to return to these programs to resolve their problems.

"Chatbots can make an exact replica of the human experience" can be a statement that might appear exaggerated at the moment. However, considering the modern-growth, current scenario of organizational functioning, and the possibilities within the domain of AI, these programs can be the most powerful tools to empower the customer service sector in the forthcoming days. Their contribution to the changing consumer expectations and the overall experience further strengthens their current stance pertaining to being the most time-serving technology.