Bots for Business

7 Ways a Chatbot Helped My Business Thrive

Chatbots have been around for some time, but it is only recently that they have been applied to businesses in a way that can truly make any impact on a company’s functioning or its bottom line.

Today, chatbots are more than a mere frivolity—they are new age tools that impact the business and the way that operations are carried out within the organization.
Chatbots have brought about a disruption in the business world with a strong impact on a number of aspects, including customer experience, query resolution, lead qualification, meeting scheduling, and more. Customers are especially delighted with their chatbot interactions, and studies suggest that they are more inclined to make a purchase through chatbots.

Chatbots today are more than just predefined, standardized scripts that run the same way for everyone. Today, empowered by cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, chatbots are mimicking human intelligence and helping to ease human workloads. The novelty may have worn off, but the value and applications of chatbots for businesses are out there for everyone to see. Though there are a lot of hypothetical scenarios being discussed about the kind of disruption brought about by chatbots, I decided to speak to a few industry insiders who have actually integrated chatbots into their business operations. To protect our client base, their names have been omitted. The following responses are sourced from a variety of Q&A sessions, as well as surveys and general interviews.

Appy Pie has a DIY, no-code chatbot builder that allows anyone to build a chatbot for their website or app, irrespective of their technical prowess. Customers who have built their own chatbots on such a platform were happy to discuss all the benefits that they have enjoyed after integrating the chatbot on their platforms. Here are the most popular answers, brought together in one list:

Round the clock availability

This is one of the most popular benefits enjoyed by small business owners. Having a chatbot on their website or app means that customers can reach out anytime, any day, and at least get the basic queries addressed. This means that the chances of customers abandoning you for your competitors are definitely lowered.

Reduced workload on humans

This is particularly for customer support teams. When you have a chatbot on the website to take care of the preliminary, basic queries or FAQs, it means that a chunk of the job of your live agents is reduced. This in no way means that chatbots are able to replace services or people.

Reduced cost of operation

As per a recent study by Chatbots Magazine, you can save up to 30 percent by implementing a chatbot or a virtual agent for your business. Of course, they will not wipe out the need for live agents, but they can definitely take on the repetitive queries and bring down the costs of operation significantly.

Higher engagement

When implemented in the right manner, chatbots have the ability to establish personalized customer interactions while offering them credible options and advice based on customer history and preferences. This means if your client has just made an online booking, your chatbot can easily navigate them to a relevant purchase page and even close a sale—without creating any friction.

Increase organizational efficiency

For most businesses, backend support can eat into valuable resources and time, and introducing a chatbot can help you find the right way out! Chatbots can help improve the efficiency of the system without having to bring in more employees or tying up valuable employees on mundane queries.

Real-time responses

Chatbots have the ability to offer real-time responses to customer complaints and queries. This is one of the reasons why they enjoy a higher open rate. The tendency or the probability of users interacting with the chatbots for any query and even completing a purchase is much higher.

Drive sales without being frivolous

A well-designed chatbot has the ability to drive sales in the most unassuming of ways. It doesn’t push, it doesn’t expect a reaction, it simply presents options to the buyers without overwhelming them. This is, in fact, one of the major reasons for higher response rates and greater conversions through chatbots.

Chatbots today are changing the landscape of user experience in the digital world. The experts concur that the technology behind chatbots is still in its mere infancy and we have only scratched the surface of what the future may look like with chatbots in it.

However, one thing is clear—chatbots are definitely here to stay! The technology has tangible impact on both sides of the spectrum—the business side and the customer side. This is especially of significance for small business owners who are planning to increase their business online. Chatbots can be key to the extent of success they achieve in the digital realm.