In 1951, Alan Turing developed a mind experiment called “Imitation Game,” according to which a man and a woman had to communicate via computers with the third person – a judge – who had to decide which one of the two was a man. Later, Turing proposed a modification according to which, a judge had to communicate with a person and artificial intelligence and guess which one is a human being. If a judge’s guessing accuracy was less than 50%, it meant that AI mimicked a human being well enough for it to be considered intelligent and that humanity achieved something extraordinary amazing, or extraordinary terrifying. That’s how a legendary in the pop culture Turing Test came to life.
Chatbots Save Time
Chatbots Save Money
Chatbots Improve Customer Experience
Chatbots Improve Company’s Digital Presence
Since then, AI-developers are pretty much obsessed with the idea of creating a human-like artificial intelligence. Chatbots are not an exception, and even though they are far from beating the Turing Test, they came a long way and now are an irreplaceable business asset, which significantly improves a company’s productivity, efficiency, and customer experience. Business Insider predicts that by 2020, 80% of companies will be using chatbots to boost their performance.
Even though there are plenty of chatbot solutions for different needs, to get the maximum out of the chatbot’s capabilities, an enterprise should invest in developing custom bots for their goals. Such an investment is always justified because there are 4 weighty reasons why a well-tuned chatbot benefits an enterprise.
1. Chatbots Save Time
Time is an invaluable and irretrievable resource, and this is where one of the main appeals of chatbots lies. Chatbots provide instant responses to the most common questions and queries your customers have. There is no need for your customers to wait until their request will be processed as well as no need for a company’s employees to deal with monotonous work that could be easily automated. Moreover, the bigger the company, the more apparent chatbots’ time-efficiency becomes because more work can be automated.
Besides, Salesforce stated that 69% of customers prefer chatbots over a human for quick interactions with a company.
2. Chatbots Save Money
Chatbots would not be that popular if they were not cost-efficient. The more complex chatbot should be, the more significant investment it requires. However, more complex chatbots handle more complex tasks, thus, decreasing the necessity for additional employees. After the investment, chatbots work for free, with no need for vacations, insurance, and sick leaves. In addition, chatbots negate the possibility of a human error due to fatigue and other factors that are often a source of additional costs and lost clientele.
Therefore, in the long run, chatbots are significantly cheaper than hiring more employees. For instance, in the US, according to Human Tableau, 29% of customer service positions can be automated with the help of chatbots, “which will result in $23 billion of savings from salaries.”
3. Chatbots Improve Customer Experience
There are several factors that help bots to improve customer experience:
1) chatbots are available 24/7
2) chatbots’ response times are minuscule
3) chatbots react quickly regardless of the workload
4) chatbots are immune to the mood swings that may negatively affect their style of communication
5) chatbots negate human error
6) chatbots customize the interaction of users with a website
Bots can help users with site or app navigation as well as suggest customers’ products based on their search history. The more customers feel like their time is being valued and convenience ensured, the more likely they come back to you.
Also, chatbots can gather customers’ feedback effortlessly, which can be used to improve service.
Therefore, chatbots can make basic customer interaction with your company silky-smooth, quick, and personal.
4. Chatbots Improve Company’s Digital Presence
The number of mobile applications grows like mushrooms after the rain. However, at the same time, users predominantly use the same popular apps. This is where chatbots can help you to reach customers who are sticking to their “communication guns.” You can add your bot to a popular messenger platform, like Facebook or WhatsApp, for some basic interaction with your clients. There are several benefits to it:
1) If a person is not a standing client, he or she is more likely to interact with your company via an app that the person uses every day than search and download a new one.
2) Chatbots do not need any free space on the phone. And free space is quite a precious resource now.
3) Chatbots help your company connect with a client more personally because he or she has access to the bot in the app that is used to connect with close ones.
Conclusion
The development of AI and chatbots is now a quickly moving freight train, the final destination of which holds a lot of secrets and pleasant surprises. It is a good idea to hop on this train in order to move along with the progress and benefit from its power. Developing a custom, well-tuned chatbot for your company will grant you a way of connecting with your clients more tightly and improving their experience. Save time, money, and obtain more loyal customers by harnessing the abilities of a chatbot.