Nowadays, every company is going through a digital transformation. Either for customer service or to enhance customer experience, companies are leaning on technologies to engage with customers. Customers are prone to communicate better due to advanced technology, and they expect companies to rise as well. It is where chatbots come into the role.

What is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is a software interface that communicates with the customers. It conducts a conversation via text or voice commands. Chatbots, powered by Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing based technologies make the customer experience more responsive, accurate, and intelligent.

Companies have observed a rise in customer satisfaction scores after implementing AI-powered chatbots. As a result, more and more businesses are enforcing chatbots to interact with prospective customers and convey the required information.

Here's a look at the most powerful ways customer support chatbots can transform the customer experience.

1. Seamless Live Chat

Chatbots streamline the interactions between services and people. They are programmed to have special language processing skills so that they can communicate in a human-like manner. Thus, they deliver an intimate and bespoke experience to the customers. They can provide recommendations to the users and give promotional offers, discounts or other incentives at optimal times. Customer support chatbots even respond to the customers' queries without hindering their purchase journey.

Let's say; you have logged in into an online shopping portal. Chatbots offer you the best outfits based on your needs. It frees you from the hassle of searching the finest from a given pool of options. It also personalizes the experience by providing suggestions like which accessories or footwear would match the selected outfit.

2. Enhanced Customer Engagement

Apart from being your assistant in your purchasing process, chatbots are also proficient at engaging in outbound marketing. It does this by interacting with the customers even after the product is purchased.

Different methods employed by chatbots to keep the customers engaged with their brand include:

•  Sending several follow-up messages

•  Wishing customers on their birthdays, anniversaries or special occasion

•  Offering discounts for the next purchase

•  Making announcements regarding new products and services

•  Sending feedback and survey forms

•  Providing support for post-purchase issues

•  Giving quality information

3. Boost in Lead Generation

Chatbots are designed to gather user-centric information like their purchase behavior, preferences, and likes. They are also helpful in developing customized marketing messages. For instance, whenever any user interacts with a chatbot, it first greets him/her, collects information about what he/she is looking for, and then provide them the appropriate information. Companies can also use help desk management software for better results.

As chatbots chat with consumers, answer their queries, and give information about discounts, they also notify them whenever there are exclusive promotions. This type of conversation initiated by chatbots helps to convert leads to sales and sales into profits with fine-tuned marketing strategies. Businesses can keep track of these conversations for future reference with help desk software.

4. Social Media Marketing Tool

At times, it becomes difficult for a customer care representative to respond to all the queries posted on social media. As chatbots can interact well with users, they can be integrated with social media platforms to draw user's information through Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, companies can execute marketing campaigns across the globe and reach out to customers irrespective of where their business is.

Companies use chatbots as their representative, i.e. the one who gives information on behalf of a company. That is why businesses concentrate a lot on the development of chatbots. Many enterprises build chatbots that offer creative and intuitive replies to personalize customer's experience.

Let's see an example.

User: What time is your store open in Toronto today?

Chatbot: Hi Lily! We're open until 8PM today. It's snowing in Toronto, so dress warm!

This type of conversation provides a sense of satisfaction to customers.

5. 24/7 Customer Service

Customers' queries often arise out of business hours or when the customer service staff is unavailable. Keeping the customers waiting until an employee is available creates a negative impression. However, chatbots help companies solve such issues by responding to customer's questions at any time. Furthermore, they are developed to offer the customers a feeling of conversing with a human operator.

According to a survey, customer support chatbots can respond with up to 99% accuracy and demonstrate a much higher response rate in comparison to individual staff. Thus, companies can free up their employees to focus on more valued work and customer issues that cannot be solved by chatbots.

Overall, customer support chatbots not only help companies achieve higher efficiency but assist a customer at different multitudes by solving their queries. By deploying intelligent search functions and streamlining processes, chatbots transform customer experience effectively.