Despite chatbots’ increasing popularity and adoption, they’re not exactly a common topic, which is why people can still get the wrong idea or impression about their applicability and effectiveness.
In case you need a refresher, a chatbot is an online software that can perform commands and converse with users on its own through artificial intelligence.
To shed more light on the reality of using chatbots, here are 5 totally incorrect assumptions that people usually make about chatbots:
#1: Chatbots are only good for big companies
Chatbots can automate repetitive and routine tasks, which are part of running ANY business – whether big or small. From responsibilities as simple as answering customer inquiries to much bigger roles such as screening applicants, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use chatbots to streamline daily operations and take care of different aspects of their business such as customer service and recruitment. Moreover, chatbots are actually cheaper than you think. Chatbots are ideal especially for small businesses that cannot afford to have employees working 24/7 and can even help cut down on human resource costs.
#2: Chatbots lack a human touch
It is definitely a myth that voice calls or human conversations feel more personal than interactions with a chatbot. Another advantage of a chatbot is that you can design its responses to follow your brand’s tone of voice and be as creative as possible with how you communicate with your customers through the use of emojis, images, stickers, GIFs, and other interactive media so that talking to your chatbot would feel as warm and friendly as talking to a real person. In addition, customers actually prefer messaging over calling to resolve their concerns, which means that a chatbot provides a better way for customers to get in touch with you.
#3: Chatbots will render human employees useless
Since chatbots can deliver instant, 24/7 services, they are better suited for dealing with customers and being in charge of day-to-day activities. Your chatbot can handle the operational part of the business so you and your employees can focus on the strategic part and increase overall productivity and profitability. At the same time, you can hybridize your services through a live chat support feature in which your chatbot will assist customers and connect them to a human customer service rep upon demand or when it is unable to resolve an issue.
#4: Chatbots are only good for customer service
Natural language processing (NLP) allows chatbots to distinguish the context of a message and respond accurately on the spot, letting them answer as many frequently asked questions as possible. This is why chatbots are known for being able to deliver excellent customer service, but they are in fact equally successful in other fields as well. Banking, food service, retail, and travel & hospitality are just some of the industries that chatbots currently dominate, while they also prove to be powerful solutions to marketing and sales because of their capacity for lead generation, consumer research, and processing different types of transactions.
#5: Chatbots are complicated
Although it takes some programming skills to develop one, you don’t really need to have an IT background to be able to grasp the main idea behind chatbots and recognize that your business needs one. You can already start building your chatbot by simply defining which services you want to augment, which will then lead you to identify your chatbot’s main features. And from there, you can leave it to an expert chatbot developer to let your vision come to life. Here at Alfafusion, we build reliable, serviceable bots and work with major brands such as McDonald’s and Samsung. Book a bot demo with us and begin your chatbot journey!
Designing experience since 1998, Alfafusion is a pioneer enterprise chatbot solutions provider in the Philippines.
Call +632-98-999-1576 or send an email to digital@alfafusion.com to book a bot demo.