Artificial intelligence is modifying the business model as we traditionally know it. What used to be based only on offline strategies now needs to encompass strategies for the online world and, even more, unify these two into one. With technology, we have more and more access to consumer data, which allows us to develop more appropriate, fast, and efficient solutions to communicate with them. For this reason, it is understandable that more and more, we see that customer service is done through chatbot as a solution that continues to gain followers in the market. 

But what are chatbots? 

According to the definition proposed by Camila Mariano, a specialist in strategic business management and professor at FIAP in Sao Paulo: “It is a new technology developed to improve communication with the client and automate many marketing functions. This small automation promises to make life easier for companies and connect in a closer and more personal way to the consumer, to improve their experience in communicating with the company, thus being another service channel option.”

With our day to day more and more connected, phone contact is being replaced by online attention, either by chat or email. I don’t know about you, but when I need to talk to a company, the first thing I do is look for the website’s chat option. I know that it is the most agile and easy way to talk to someone who will probably be able to solve my problem or give me a correct orientation of how to proceed. Otherwise, I would have to waste time waiting endlessly with the great probability that they will hang up the call or not give me the attention for what I need. 

It is understandable why the chatbot is a fast-growing technology. If fed with information and programmed in the right way, it manages to react similarly to human thought, and it can learn every time it is fed with new information. 

For this reason, it is very important that the management of the company or department that is planning to implement and program the chatbot as a service option understands that there is a fine and delicate line between personalization and automatization, that can compromise the entire customer experience. The chatbot can and should be used to facilitate customer service, but there are times when people need or want to talk to a human, and that possibility should be offered. Just as in the case of telephone service, we can talk to an assistant if the company’s automatic message does not have the desired solution.

Bots can be the gateway to the initial interaction with the customer, while more complex queries can be referred to the customer service team, thus providing a more pleasant experience. Intelligent use of the chatbot will help the customer relations team with customer information to provide even more personalized and efficient service. 

The union of these two agents (virtual and physical) is what the market already presents as a reality. With this new ally, the service team may be increasingly prepared and equipped with information to solve cases in a more autonomous and personalized way.

Remember: experience and personalization are essential words and real market trends that must be present in your plan of action every day.

Optime Consulting, which has been in the market for 22 years with solutions that positively influence and modify human behavior, now has its virtual friend: Berto!  Visit www.optimeconsulting.com and meet the new member of our team.

Curated Content – THE CHATBOT, YOUR NEW ALLY IN CUSTOMER SERVICE
By: Mariana Gil – October 2020