Chatbots: More than a Buzzword

You may have heard a certain buzz happening around chatbots over the last couple of years – and for good reason.

The Future Platforms team recently explored the hype around these virtual assistants and to dissect the different values they can bring to a business at our Exploring the Business Benefits of Chatbots event.

Our speakers discussed the business benefits of chatbots, how you can create a compelling user experience, and how to begin building the perfect bot. Here are the key takeaways?

Chatbots are here to stay

There are numerous different types of chatbots, all of which can serve different industries. They’re not just a passing trend either, with Gartner predicting:

Businesses can save big

By integrating chatbots, businesses could save a significant amount in spend on customer service calls each year and, consequently, increase their revenue. IBM reported that businesses spend up to $1.3 trillion on 265 billion calls per year, which means some companies could see a saving of up to $1.105T.

Combined benefits

It’s not just businesses that benefit from chatbots but customers too. Clients become more engaged, benefit from a more personalised experience, and receive speedier responses.

Where businesses fail

The biggest benefit of a chatbot, when done right, is its ability to hold an open and honest conversation with customers, which is more personal and clearly conveys the company’s voice.

If they’re not designed right, however, chatbots failed to provide the right kind of experience and, therefore, businesses would not see much of a return on investment. You can create a compelling experience by considering your users above all else. Here is how:

• Create a character – your chatbot should be reflective of the tone of voice of your business, and feel as if you’re chatting to a “real” person.
• Create conversation flows and clearly define how you want your bot to interact with users.
• Define interactions clearly.

Build from the ground up

There is no right or wrong way to build your bot but there is a clear starting point: start simple, conduct lots of user testing, and use your data findings to understand customer pain points.

The most important consideration businesses need to make is to ensure their responses are high-quality and that the intended input is clearly interpreted.