Chatbots and the benefits of implementing them

Today, customer service is increasingly based on chat rooms. It is also expected to be the main channel through which customers communicate with companies. Its automation, even partially, is inevitable due to the growing number of inquiries. Therefore, chatbots are used for this purpose.

Why chat rooms?

Clients choose the telephone or e-mail less and less frequently for communication with companies. A phone call requires distraction from current activities and is more involving and for some even embarrassing. On the other hand, e-mail is too formal for many people and is associated with a longer waiting time for an answer.

Chat rooms do not have these drawbacks. You can use them to have an informal conversation similar to the one with a friend. In addition, we receive a prompt response and can ask additional questions. However, a dialogue does not always have to take place with people. Chatbots are a great help in communicating with customers.

• They provide an immediate answer to a user's question. Thanks to this, they don’t have to wait until a consultant is free. This reduces the risk that the customer will go to the competition.
• They are able to answer basic questions asked by customers and guide them to the next stage on the shopping path.
• Contact with chatbots engages the user.
• Chatbots relieve the customer service department. Consultants are not forced to answer frequently asked questions. Chatbots redirect the user to them only when the question is too complicated.
• More advanced chatbots using artificial intelligence can conduct the entire conversation with the client completely independently. Clients may feel as if they are talking to a human being.
• Unlike a consultant, they are able to serve many users at the same time.
• They collect and analyze data on conversations, being able, for example, to select frequently asked questions and adjust automatic answers to them.
• They save money. Consultants answer only the most complex questions of clients, without wasting time on simple issues. The consultant team may be smaller.

In e-commerce chatbots are able to:

• Guide the customer through the entire purchasing process - from information on the price and availability of goods to the finalization of the transaction. Thanks to this, the customer will make a purchase immediately, without browsing the store's website, which can be useful in the case of simpler consumer choices (e.g. when he wants to buy ink for the printer).
• Order a courier. After finalizing the transaction, the bot is able to use the courier companies' applications to call the courier to pick up the goods. As a result, the entire purchasing process is fully automatic, the employees only have to prepare the goods for shipment.

Chatbots for Facebook

At the Facebook level, without using any additional applications, we can set up automatic replies that appear when the client writes to us using Messenger. It is worth including a welcome message there, thanks to which the user will receive a response immediately, which will increase their involvement. Then they would be more willing to wait for a consultant. If the consultants are unavailable at that time, we can display a message when the client has the possibility to talk.

To set up a more complicated bot, we need to use an external application connected to our Facebook page. It can be, for example, Many Chat, in which we will program specific steps for conducting a conversation on Messenger (but also via Instagram).

With the help of Many Chat, we enable the user to choose the topic of conversation and configure its next stages. This way, we will find out what the basic needs of the client are. They get answers to basic questions and, if necessary, will be redirected to the consultant responsible for a given sales department.

Many Chat also allows you to send messages to people who have already started a conversation with us. It is a great marketing tool that allows you to present the customer new products in the assortment or services or to propose special offers.

Advanced chatbots

To use bots that are able to perform more complicated operations, we need to use solutions available outside Messenger.

Smooofly - a no-code system that automates the creation of advanced chatbots

Smooofly is a no-code platform for building chatbots to be embedded on a website. The system allows people without special technical knowledge to build advanced chatbots for various applications. For this purpose, it primarily uses an extensive drag & drop builder developed by WebMakers Software House.

Main fields of application

The platform is a tool system - a creator that can be used to build chatbots in various branches of business and in many processes. Examples of main application areas:

1. e-commerce - the platform can facilitate, among others, automation of frequently asked questions (including in a more advanced form, with supplements), the complaint process, presenting information about the offer or the organization of various types of contests.
2. recruitment - the platform can collect data or even pre-classify candidates, while maintaining the GDPR standards and the security of the information provided.
3. sales - the platform can support the sales process by providing information about the offer, answering questions, collecting information in the form of a chat discussion (question and possible instructions and supplements + answer), as well as in the field of lead generation, e.g. collecting contact details in return for providing information or a file.
4. marketing - the platform enables the implementation of chatbots conducting various campaigns, e.g. contests requiring answers to questions, data collection and marketing consents.
5. customer service - the platform can facilitate the work of the customer service department in various companies by automating answering frequently asked questions or classifying and guiding the user with a problem solution.

The advantages of Smooofly

• acceleration and automation of communication processes using chatbots operating in 24/7 mode;
• no-code solutions that make it easy to create chatbot scenarios using drag & drop;
• the ability to customize the appearance of chatbots without the need to involve specialists;
• easy to implement on any website;
• ability to measure statistics for each chatbot element;
• the ability to export data;
• openness to expansion and use of the tool as part of a larger system

As you can see, chatbots significantly contribute to the automation of customer contact and facilitate running online stores. In addition, they are a great recruitment support tool. According to the Gartner research institute, by the end of 2022, 35% of companies and other entities will be using chatbots. This is proof that the popularity of this type of feature, especially in the era of digitization, will grow.

If you want to create your own chatbot and improve your business processes using the dedicated Smooofly platform, please contact us.