Get a Handle on COVID-19 Anxiety with a Chatbot in Your Customer Support Team

chatbot customer support photo by freepik

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s mental health has manifested in different ways, particularly in the demand for extensive customer service. Even at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak in mid to late March 2020, a study found that companies have already been having a hard time dealing with usual customer issues due to the anxiety of customers over the pandemic, with the percentage of calls scoring “difficult” in the effort level scale for customer interaction climbing from a typical 10% to more than 20%.

To address this underlying problem, businesses need to double down on their customer support so providing and getting assistance will be less challenging as we endure the ongoing crisis. A chatbot can streamline service processes and automate responses to promote a better experience for both agents and customers and keep the worry and fear that the pandemic has brought about at bay. Here’s how:

Convenient Accessibility

Customers can easily get the help they need if your services are right where they can easily access them. With a chatbot, customers can reach you straight through an app they use every day – which is Facebook Messenger. 89% of internet users in the Philippines used Facebook Messenger over the past month in 2020, and a chatbot on Facebook Messenger can provide customers a direct line to your customer service and allow them to just chat their concerns, eliminating the hassle of going to a website, sending an email, or downloading an app. Plus, since Facebook is free on mobile, customers can still send you a message even if they don’t have an internet or mobile data connection.

24/7 Instant Service

Chatbots work 24/7, 365, and respond automatically to any user input. When you have a chatbot for your brand, your customer service is available all the time even when your agents are actually only there half the time, and customers always get a reply right away. By making your customers feel that you are ready to accommodate them whenever they are in need, you can prevent them from getting agitated or impatient and impart a good impression right from the get-go.

AI-Powered Customer Care

33% of customers worldwide believe that getting an issue resolved in a single interaction is what makes a good customer service experience, while 31% believe it is a knowledgeable customer service representative. A chatbot can do both with its natural language processing (NLP) capabilities and capacity for a rich knowledge base. Together, they enable the chatbot to recognize the nature of a customer’s message and respond accurately; sorting out straightforward issues on the spot. By being intelligent and effective at the same time, a chatbot can optimize your customer service and deliver a pleasant customer experience.

Handy FAQs Menu

With a chatbot, you can provide a user-friendly way to display information so customers no longer need to talk to an agent to get an answer to a simple question. They can just browse through a carousel menu of frequently asked questions to find what they are looking for, which saves time and effort for both customers and agents. Customers can simply view topics such as how to process an insurance claim or request for flight rebooking and the chatbot will have complete and helpful information on hand.

Seamless Agent Hand-off

Not only does a chatbot make your agents’ lives easier, but since it already takes care of common inquiries and concerns, your human customer service can then serve as your last line of defense. Your chatbot can have a live chat feature to connect customers with agents and escalate an issue in real-time so they can be in charge of cases that require in-depth assessment. This way, your agents and chatbot work side by side to make sure that all customer issues, big or small, are dealt with in the best possible way.

Let’s not contribute to the stress that this pandemic has caused us anymore. Improve your customer service and get a chatbot now!

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.

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