The Internet boom and tech advancements gave rise to many new ways to communicate – from email to social media, mobile apps, and online forms. However, thanks to massive advancements in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, now we live in the era of AI chatbots- a sophisticated, interactive Conversational AI solution allowing customers to ask for whatever they need across multiple channels.
According to a Salesforce report, 69% of consumers prefer to use chatbots for the speed at which they can communicate with a brand.
Before we understand the benefits of using an AI chatbot, let’s discuss this technology and how it works.
An Intro:
Because chatbots are powered by AI, they are self-learning and can penetrate human language, not just computer commands. This way, it rapidly builds a more personalized and engaging customer experience, which delivers a wealth of customer information that is highly valuable for enterprises to understand their customers better.
Rising Demand for AI-Based Chatbots:
Key Stats
With almost everything moving to virtual, AI and chatbots are perfectly aligned to fill the communication gap between consumers and brands.
-
As per a report by ResearchandMarkets, The chatbot market is anticipated to grow at a substantial CAGR of 25.4% during 2021-2027. The growing investment and presence of major companies that provide AI-based chatbot solutions to various industries positively impact market growth.
-
Another survey by PSFK reveals a brand that uses chatbots is viewed as more effective (47%), innovative (40%) and helpful (36%) by consumers.
-
As per PwC, approx 28% of business executives selected chatbots as the most likely AI-powered tech to save on customer service costs by speeding up response times.
Why is it Necessary to Use an AI Chatbot for business?
By employing intelligent bots, businesses, in turn, can effortlessly meet customers’ demands and solve many challenges, such as
-
Long Wait Times
Speed and rapid responses win over customers today, far more than the price. For customers, getting help through conventional channels takes too long, which often results in a frustrating experience. -
Inefficient Customer Service
Without a significant increase in human resources, it becomes difficult for businesses to scale up customer service operations and handle queries. -
Lack of Personalization
Due to the high volume of queries, conventional support functions cannot offer customers a dedicated and personalized experience, which leads to a poor experience.
How can AI chatbots help?
Chatbots offer a broad range of applications and are not limited to one industry.
For example, common usage of chatbots for enterprises:
- Customer Service : Answering FAQs, support from problems
- Marketing : Lead generation, product consulting, data collection, increased engagement
- Sales: Support throughout the sales funnel
- IT Service Helpdesk: Support for internal & external service desk applications
- HR: Support in personnel development or onboarding process
The most sought after benefits organizations receive by engaging with chatbots are given below-
A closer look at how businesses can derive value from chatbots:
-
Maximize Staff Skills :
Conversational AI chatbots free up a lot of time to allow existing employees to focus on higher-value customer engagements by automating a proportion of the calls, emails, SMS and social media messages and live chat sessions that involve direct human involvement. -
Boost Open and Engagement Rate :
Messages bots send to the users have an open rate of 70-80% on average. Since the notification of these messages goes straight to the users’ devices, open rates of these messages can go up to 60% and increase engagement. -
Drive More Revenue :
Chatbots also help you initiate conversations that your sales executives can follow up on. Advanced chatbots remember customer preferences and provide advice, tips, and support, while gently upselling. -
Gain Customer Behaviour Insights :
Another significant advantage of chatbots for businesses is the insight and data they can provide into customer behavior. You can get actionable insights for future strategies from the questions, issues and products mentioned in the chatbot conversations. -
Cut Down on Operational Costs :
About 265 bn customer support requests are raised annually, costing businesses an enormous $1.3 trillion to service. These costs can be significantly reduced with AI chatbots by serving more customers without increasing their overhead and save up to 30 percent. -
Reach New Channels :
Chatbots allow you to reach new channels and network for automated sales conversations and provide personalized advice and support without the overhead of deploying new back-office teams to build and then run each new channel.Wrapping Up
Chatbots are massively transforming the way businesses operate, and it is the right time to deploy AI for companies aiming at improved performance and profitability. Whatever the business type you own, a well-designed, easy-to-use, and feature-enriched chatbot platform can streamline customer support operations. If you want to build an AI-based chatbot, consult our team of AI experts at Successive Digital and get started.
