Introduction
Artificial intelligence has long been out of the “science fiction” category. Now robots are actively communicating with users in different areas of the economy and helping to solve everyday problems more efficiently. Digital marketing is no exception. You can endlessly improve the quality of your products and services, but if there is no quality customer service, you can lose more than half of your clientele. At NIX Solutions company we believe that chatbots help provide 24/7 customer support, saving staff costs and increasing lead generation. Let’s take a closer look at this technology.
What are Chatbots?
Chatbots are AI-based virtual assistants that successfully replace live consultants and can perform many functions. They perfectly mimic human speech and, as a consequence, interact effectively with the audience, thanks to sophisticated machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics. In addition, chatbots use Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Generation (NLG) technologies. Since the beginning of the XXI century, for writing chatbots, a formal rules approach has been used, where semantically meaningful elements of phrases are highlighted, with codification, and then special programming languages are created that allow describing dialogue scenarios.
Of course, for members of the business community, such descriptions are not always clear, but this does not prevent them from using technologies to study the needs of their customers in detail. Most conversational solutions based on existing processing and analysis systems are quite difficult to implement. It takes a lot of human labor for a chatbot to communicate freely on various topics or to cover a particular area of knowledge as much as possible. But all the costs are more than repaid, the main thing is to choose the right application. This can be a primitive virtual assistant, which works according to a certain scenario and a given algorithm or opt for AI capable of self-learning. It learns the best speech understanding, prepares the answers by itself, grasping the theme of the survey, and selecting the appropriate suggestions. Today, many companies are using chatbots to speed up requests that used to be traditionally performed by humans.
Benefits of Chatbots Usage
Any company that is active in virtual space needs a chatbot to communicate in automatic mode. It will optimize the work process and solve many problems. One of the main advantages of chatbots is the ease of use and neutrality. They are always polite, patient and can work on a platform for any target group. All you have to do is make the right adjustments. Chatbots are user-friendly, need no extra memory, and can be part of your digital strategy because of the following criteria:
- always up and running and usable seven days a week, 365 days a year;
- an excellent tool for handling a large number of typical requests at the same time;
- enables you to know the real preferences of your customers;
- increases the level of customer service through the collection and processing of data;
- low maintenance costs.
Nowadays, a conversation with a chatbot completely mimics a conversation with a real person. It is increasingly difficult to recognize whether it is a human or a machine that is talking to you. Thus the rapid growth of technology guarantees a high level of learnability of digital assistants. A chatbot saves you time and money and tries to improve customer interaction. It takes care that the visitor is satisfied and gets answers to the needed questions. In turn, the customer understands that it is all for their convenience and appreciates such efforts.
Domains That Use Chatbots
In our world, mobility and digital technology are basic and necessary ingredients for a successful business. In turn, chatbots are key tools to reliably interact with customers both internally and externally. They can be used to get information on the weather, make a doctor’s appointment, study for an exam, find an apartment, buy a plane ticket or apply for a loan. Digital assistants are capable of sending text and audio messages, photos, and links in real-time in the form of responses to user requests. What distinguishes chatbots from apps is their simplicity of functionality. Virtually all operations take place in a chat between the user and the program.
Chatbots for e-commerce is becoming an increasingly common tool. Basically, customers get answers to frequently asked questions on delivery, payment, addresses of pickup points, and terms of refunds. In addition, the digital assistant can perform recommendation functions, namely to clarify information on the preferences of the buyer and prepare the best offer for them based on the collected data. Quite actively, chatbots are being introduced in the banking sector, which combines elements of the financial structure and modern IT infrastructure. There are thousands of daily requests from numerous customers, and chatbots perform the following operations:
- handling incoming inquiries to the customer support department;
- consulting on banking products;
- online calculation of loan costs and loan interest calculation;
- solving recruiting issues.
Another important area of our life where chatbots are actively used is medicine. Developments in technology and large amounts of medical data allow the creation of smart bots. They can analyze patients’ answers and ask clarifying questions based on them. This speeds up the collection of medical history and helps establish a preliminary diagnosis, thereby improving the quality and speed of medical care. Virtual assistants do not yet diagnose diseases, but they can remind patients to take their medications, provide information about possible side effects, or help you make an appointment with your doctor.
Summary
According to studies, about 1.5 billion people regularly use chatbots. In the company, NIX Solutions believes that chatbots make people’s lives much easier. Thanks to these technologies, customers get the information they need and take specific actions faster, in a more convenient way. Companies can more effectively promote their brand by building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with customers. Users want to pay more for a better experience. Digital assistants significantly reduce customer service time and are one of the hottest trends today. You’re dead wrong if you think having a website or a mobile app is enough to win the competition. Perhaps installing a virtual assistant will be the most effective solution for you.