Chatbots And Smart Conversation: What You Need To Know As A Small Business Owner
In the age of technology, businesses rely heavily on platforms online to help them build a relationship with a customer. In fact, most customers will reach out to a company online before they ever leave the house to step foot in a store or pick up a phone to call. This new way of customer interaction means there is a greater need for intelligent answering systems that can work via chat, email, or instant messaging for your small business. Chatbots have been deemed as the idea solution. Here's what you need to know about chatbots and how they can help your company with online communications.
What exactly is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a conversational AI (Artificial Intelligence) application that is integrated into certain platforms to create more personal communication between a computer and a person. Normally, all small businesses had to rely on if there were not enough live reps to handle incoming customer communications, it meant the customer would get an automated generic reply to wait for someone who could answer. A chatbot has the ability to understand certain commands, which means simple requests for information can be handled by the bot.
What are the advantages of having chatbots?
Chatbots give your small business a presence even when there is not an actual employee available to assist someone who is reaching out for assistance. Beyond this, chatbots offer:
- The advantage of freeing up actual reps who have to tend to more complicated matters
- The advantage of around-the-clock presence online even after company hours
- The advantage of rapid assistance for customers in a hurry to get information
Chatbots cannot perform just as a human, but they can definitely beef up your service online. You can integrate a bot into your social media platforms, on your business website, and various other places relative to your online persona.
What are the limitations of chatbots?
While chatbots are definitely advantageous, they do have certain limitations. The technology of AI conversation is rapidly growing, but currently, chatbots are limited with how much they can understand. Therefore, the customer inputs must be pretty direct for the chatbot to understand and respond appropriately. The limited level of communication means that chatbots don't work well for all types of businesses. For example, an attorney may not reap benefits from a chatbot like an online retailer because the customer inputs can be more complicated for legal services.