Use chatbots to elevate your Customer Experience

Imagine this:
You run a thriving company with a lot of customers. But, said customers have a lot of questions. So you have to hire a bunch of customer service representatives to answer all those questions. So far, so good.

But all is not well.

Your customers expect you to help with their questions around the clock while your customer service reps are overwhelmed by the amount of work.

You need a chatbot!

Chatbots elevate your Customer Experience

We have talked to three of our colleagues and asked them why and how chatbots can deliver excellent Customer Experience (CX) — but also what the pitfalls might be.

Martin Nebelong is Chief Technical Officer at Charlie Tango:

What is so great about chatbots, Martin?

Looking at the big picture, it is their ability to automate your workflows. Put simply, you take all your boring tasks and give them to a robot. And that is really interesting!

Right now, they are best suited for helping with customer service — but that is a good start. As a customer I get “personal” service whenever I want it without having to wait for a representative, while the company can use its resources to provide better service for those customers that do require a human to help them. That is great Customer Experience!

Rasmus Sanko is our Chief Experience Officer:

Rasmus, are chatbots as good as Martin says they are?

Chatbots are perfect for navigating a user through a very complex system without revealing its complexity. And it has a built in affordance — sort of like a chair — you just know instinctively how to use it. And, by using a chatbot you shield your employees from the most trivial, repetitive queries.

So chatbots mean happier customers and happier employees. But is a chatbot just a chatbot?

Luong Lu is creative director at Charlie Tango:

Can you use chatbots to brand your business, Luong?

Yes, you can. First off, you need to make sure your chatbot has your brand’s DNA. When you train your chatbot, you can choose the way that it speaks, and this has to reflect your existing tone-of-voice.

Can the addition of a chatbot change the perception of a company?

Basically, a chatbot is just an interface. So it depends on how you design that interface.

Because it is still not common for companies to have chatbots helping their customers, they still possess some sort of a cool factor. And that really adds to the CX. Especially if you are in a line of business, where the addition of a well-designed chatbot sets you apart from the competition.

I think they will become ubiquitous at some point and then it can probably be detrimental for a brand to not have one.

The pitfalls of chatbots

In other words, chatbots can do wonders for your business. But, there are some pitfalls that you need to consider.

Rasmus, what can go wrong?

First of all, your company needs to have a certain level of digital maturity. Otherwise, you can risk that your chatbot looks out of place. Also, the technology could become a gimmick – something you do to please the CEO but at the end of the day it is not adding anything to your CX.

Chatbots could be in the same position that apps were in five years ago, where everyone had to have an app, whether they needed one or not.

Other things you need to be aware of, Martin?

You need to give your chatbot simple tasks. And you need a lot of data to train your chatbot. Actually, chatbots in themselves are not that interesting  — it is the system of intelligence surrounding them, that really matters. You cannot just pick the chatbot — you really need to have the whole system in place around it. But that is a good thing, because it will give your CX a boost.

Can you add anything, Luong?

Yes, two things. 
One, you cannot replace people with chatbots. You can help people with chatbots. And two, you must always tell your customers, that they are talking to a bot. Otherwise, your customers will feel you are deceiving them.

Here is what you need to know

All in all, chatbots are amazing for your customer experience, because;

• You can help your customers quickly and efficiently, 24/7
• You free up resources, allowing your customer service representatives to provide better service
• You strengthen your brand
• They force you to build a stronger system of intelligence