Is Online Chat Still Beating Chatbots For Customer Service?

In the past few years, we have seen a few marketing techniques, and communication with the customers remains at the top. Customer service is a prerequisite for any business organisation. In the era of online businesses, the trend of online shopping is rising considerably. It is essential to focus on customer relationship management and retain customers to survive in the cutthroat competition,

The argument now continues that artificial intelligence can beat the human touch. Technology is advancing rapidly, and this debate is bound to go on for the next few years. Both chatbot services and human support services, i.e., live chat, possess their advantages and disadvantages.

Live chat is considered the best option, and for instant business support services, chatbots are considered to be the best to ensure customer engagement. This article will dig deeper into the benefits and limitations of both and help any business to select for best customer service delivery.

What is superior: Chatbot or live chats?

The question is at the Centre for all the companies today, which customer service option is considered to be the best. Let us first understand what these online customer service options exactly are, along with their advantages and limitations carry.

To know who wins the debate, keep reading ahead!

What are chatbots?

We live in a world where virtual assistants are in charge. The chatbot is one form of assistant that is gaining in popularity. A chatbot is an instant messenger with responses pre-programmed.

A chatbot creates a guided dialogue with users who need answers on various topics. One of the most known chatbots is your Facebook Messenger.

A chatbot, also known as a virtual assistant, is an automated program that communicates with humans via a chat interface.

Advantages of using chatbots

1. Quick responses

It is considered to be the best advantage of using chatbots. Customers do not tend to wait for responses or answers. They expect a high rate of response. That is why it is essential to provide them with the answers they need right away. Fortunately, a chatbot prioritises timely responses. A chatbot will significantly reduce the time it takes for website users to receive a response because it comes pre-programmed with all of the details required to reply to a user and access to customer accounts.

2. Cost-effectiveness

According to reports, a chatbot will answer nearly 80% of customer questions. For your business, this means you can offer customer service to many users without having to recruit a full-time employee. As a result, a chatbot will help your company save a lot of money. The only cost associated is the production and maintenance of the chatbot, which is lower than hiring people for the same task.

3. All-time availability

Customers need assistance all the time. While your store might be closed on some holidays, that doesn't mean that curious customers won't visit your website. In the era of online shopping, people shop for mobile applications much. That is why it is essential to provide customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

4. No intervention

Businesses save money on maintenance costs because their chatbot can chat for as long as they want, at any hour of the day, without the assistance of a human agent. Because of the time and resources saved, you will devote your support agents to other support networks such as phone and email. Besides, humans get tired of answering the same questions over and over, while bots are content to answer the same questions over and over.

5. Multitasking capabilities

Chatbots, unlike their human counterparts, can handle an infinite number of questions at the same time. Consider the situation where you have 50 customers to serve simultaneously, and only one live chat operator is available. By the end of the day, you'll have a slew of dissatisfied customers who are sick of waiting and are considering switching to a rival.

6. Multiple language support

What if you're a multinational corporation? Hiring chat agents for every language spoken by your customers can be difficult (or expensive). On the other hand, Chatbots can be programmed to communicate with your customers in a variety of languages.

Disadvantages

1. Limited dissemination of information

The answers that the chatbots can answer are limited and already pre-designed by the technology and software. The answers they have to provide are generic and the same. They may not cater to every question or query that the customer might be asking.

2. Inappropriate responses or answers

The bots may just pick up the keyword from what the customers have to say and provide a fixed answer. It may not be relevant to what answer the customer is looking for and may get dissatisfied with the answer chatbots provide. It may be completely different from the actual ones.

3. No human touch and empathy

When it comes to chatbots, one key aspect is still missing: the human touch. Customers often overlook an emotional reaction from a human agent. Customers occasionally need a customer service agent to empathise with them and resolve a challenging problem. It's possible that if chatbots don't completely comprehend and answer consumer needs, it'll give the impression that your company isn't paying attention.

4. Spelling errors

If there are any grammar or spelling errors from the end of the customers, then the chatbots fail to understand the AI technology being used. They may be unable to answer the customers in this case.

What are live chats?

A live chatbot for business is a variant of your typical chatbot. The difference is that this real-time, instant messaging app links tourists with a live person.

In a matter of minutes, a qualified agent will answer customer service questions, gather lead information, and more. All of this enables you to form a personal link with chatter and have a case-by-case solution, all while increasing your ability to communicate with new, prospective companies and retaining trust with current customers.

Advantages

1. High customer satisfaction

According to reports, almost 73% of customers are happy with live chat experiences. When you use this communication tool, they are also much more likely to have a positive experience with your business. It's worth considering using a live chat because delivering quality, and enjoyable experiences for customers is one of the top priorities for companies today. It could be useful to you.

2. Providing the right information

When it comes to delivering the correct information, chatbots seldom outperform live chat members. If a company's chatbot may be delayed, service changes, such as return or swap policies, are often communicated to customer service representatives immediately. Furthermore, live chat members will answer questions that chatbots cannot.

3. Personalisation and better understanding

When it comes down to it, no one wants to feel like they've had a one-size-fits-all answer. When it comes to effective communication, personalisation is crucial. While a chatbot can offer some customisation, it can't match the amount of customisation that a real person can provide.

Disadvantages

1. Costly or a bit expensive

Hiring agents or employees solely for this purpose would prove highly expensive because this is one of the direct costs associated with any business organisation.

2. A limited number of agents

The business operations are large, and customers have numerous queries related to every aspect of the business. The communication comes in many forms from their end, and agents may not handle the inquiries or so many questions from different customers at once.

3. Slow responses

Humans cannot compete in technology, and we all know that. No matter how much time the agents are available and working towards business support services and online customer services, the response speed remains low as they cannot work 24 hours long.

Conclusion

Thus, after looking at the detailed discussion, we can conclude that for businesses to grow in a competitive environment, they need to adopt a model where there is an option for chatbots and live chat. It will ensure that they receive instant answers and responses 24*7 using the chatbots. If they are not well satisfied with the responses or still have some doubts, queries, or confusion, they can switch to live chat options. But business in the growing stage may not be able to afford both, a middle way would always prove to be fruitful.

Also read:

1) 10 Best Ways to Promote Your Small Business
2) How Many Social Media Sites Can I Promote My Online Business On?
3) Online Business Ideas You Can Start Quickly
4) 8 Online Business Ideas That Could Make You Hit Gold in 2020
5) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

FAQs

Q. Should you name your chatbot?

Ans. One should give a name to your chatbot to create a bond and humanise the bot.

Q. When was the first chatbot made?

Ans. The first chatbot was developed at MIT in 1966, known as ELIZA and answered simple decision tree questions.

Q. Is Alexa a chatbot?

Ans. Yes, Alexa is a chatbot.

Q. Which is the best AI chatbot for sales?

Ans. Drift is the best AI chatbot for sales.

Q. How many types of chatbots are there?

Ans. There are two types of chatbots: AI-based chatbot and rule-based.