Here’s why consumers prefer to engage with chatbots for customer support

Advanced, instant customer support and satisfaction have always been the ultimate goal for customer-facing departments. The ability to get there, however, wasn’t always as possible as it is today. Real-time customer support has become a frustration for both customers and agents, but with the help of the innovative chatbot, businesses can now offer their customers a convenient, self-service solution.

Before chatbots, customers waited in virtual – and physical – queues for pretty long periods of wasted valuable time. Whether it was to inquire about a doctor’s appointment or to request a call-back on a vehicle quote, we’d all most likely become frustrated before being helped. Thankfully, the latest artificially intelligent tools, such as chatbots, have brought customers plenty of happy business interactions. They’ve made it easier for customers to receive the answers they need within a matter of minutes, without having to speak to a human unless it’s absolutely necessary.

But do customers actually like chatbots?

Yes! At first, many people thought it was strange to speak to a bot. But the more ‘helpful’ they become, the more people start to learn about the benefits of these artificial tools and how much more convenient they can make your life. With self-service being the new norm, more businesses have learned that customers want to solve problems without having to speak to someone over the phone. Of course, this can only be possible up to a certain degree before the conversation is handed over to a human agent, but for what it’s worth, these tools are designed to improve customer experiences. Not replace humans.

Another reason why customers like the idea of a chatbot is because they’re able to personalize the customer experience with a business. Based on recent interactions, chatbots can collect customer data and respond with a message or a solution that would directly suit your needs or preferences. Personalized interactions also make customers feel special. And, because they don’t have to respond immediately, it allows customers to take their time and not be rushed. Everything is on their own time, and at their own pace.

Chatbots are here to improve customer support

The combination of a chatbot and a human provides customers with a results-driven service. Customers can choose the channel they want to communicate on, based on their degree of urgency. Having the option of a presence, even if it’s not a real person, communicating with you via your preferred messaging service, at any given time, is convenient and fast for customers. The fact that you don’t have to spend money on calls or sit in lengthy call center queues before you’re helped is a major perk, as well as the fact that you can leave a conversation whenever you feel like it and resume a day later without the conversation disappearing.

The around-the-clock service that chatbots can offer makes it more convenient for customers who might come across an urgent issue after working hours or simply just want to inquire about something, and provide suggestions or feedback without having to speak over the phone. In essence, they act as the middleman or the ‘virtual assistant’ between customers and employees to help solve basic, and now more technical, queries before the need to interact with a human.

Happy chatting

What customers (and employees for that matter) should remember is that chatbots and other artificial intelligence tools are not ready to jump in and replace customer support for good. These intelligent solutions are here to make employees’ lives easier by allowing them to stop wasting time on time-consuming tasks that don’t improve the business’ revenue feed. Giving your customers the option of speaking to a conversational chatbot can provide them with a quick, seamless customer experience, which is exactly what they want.

If you want to improve your customer service, read our recent article to see how your employees can seek help from chatbot assistants and take advantage of their ability to increase productivity and customer satisfaction.