Utilizing Chatbots for Customer Service Automation

In recent years, the increasing popularity of chatbots has led to increased automation in a number of fields, the most significant being customer service. Unfortunately, customer service team members are limited in the number of calls and emails they can address on any given day. And so deploying chatbots to enable customer service automation can alleviate the workload of these teams to help consumers to handle such tasks as booking flights, making dinner reservations, finding a resolution to a product performance issue, and much more.

Advancements is technology are significantly transforming the way in which customers interact with their favorite brands. In fact, it is estimated that by the year 2020, more than 85% of all customer interactions will be handled without any involvement from human agents. And as it happens, the increasing efficiencies of customer service automation tools align very nicely with growing consumer expectations with regard to the customer service experience and their willingness to communicate with brands in ways that do not involve the telephone.

How Chatbots Can Increase Your Level of Customer Service

Chatbots are software programs developed to initiate and manage online chat communications. Seen by many experts as the new standard in customer care, chatbots are the result of an industry shift towards consumer self-service and their willingness (if not preference) to be guided to the information and solutions they need through online chat communications.

Some of the benefits of deploying chatbots for customer service include:

Immediate Customer Attention

Chatbots are increasingly replacing phone, email, and even live chat as a preferred method of customer interactions given their ability to provide instant customer service. Chatbot communications are driven by word and phrase recognition to deliver the information and resolution the customer is looking for, without having to wait in queue. And chatbots eliminate the need to for customers to navigate confusing menus or sort through high volumes of information in order to achieve the outcome they desire.

24/7 Availability

With chatbots, automated customer service is not restricted to offering assistance during business hours. This gives brands the opportunity to deliver continuously-available customer service to resolve issues any time they arise. This continuous availability can greatly influence the customer’s level of satisfaction and loyalty to the brand.

Chatbots Only Need to be Trained Once

As any customer service manager knows, hiring and training staff can take a great deal of time and money and these costs can easily multiply with staff attrition. Chatbots, on the other hand, only need to be trained (programmed) once and they will continue to run on a 24/7 basis as a cost-effective alternative to these high labor costs.

Cost-Effective Scalability

Unlike human agents, a single chatbot can handle multiple interactions simultaneously with no degradation to the level of service. Chatbots, therefore, offer businesses the ability to scale their customer service operations at unprecedented speed and allow them to respond instantaneously to massive surges in customer inquiries.

Get Started with Chatbots for Customer Service Automation

Are you interested in customer service automation for your company? Contact us to discuss the development of a customized chatbot.