How to Automate Customer Service with a Chatbot
How Important is Automating Customer Service?
Automating customer service inquiries with a chatbot is a strategy that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate a conversation with customers to help answer their questions, provide guidance, and resolve their issues.
A chatbot offers the potential to expedite and simplify the customer service process by providing 24/7 customer service and reducing the cost of manual customer support. As such, businesses that are in need of more efficient and cost-effective customer service can benefit from using chatbot technology.
For example, businesses that receive a large volume of customer inquiries and/or operate in multiple locations around the world could benefit from using a chatbot as it could help them manage customer support in multiple languages with no additional staff costs.
Customer Service Automation Chatbot Software Recommendations
1. Drift: Drift is an AI-powered conversation platform that helps businesses automate customer support. It allows businesses to quickly set up a chatbot and AI-driven assistant that answers customer inquiries in real-time. What stands out about this tool is its built-in analytics, which enable businesses to track customer interactions and conversations, providing data-driven insights into customer service.
2. Flow XO: Flow XO is a chatbot builder that helps businesses automate customer-facing processes like support inquiries and sales questions. This tool stands out because it allows businesses to integrate their chatbot with their existing customer service software, enabling a seamless customer service experience.
3. Chatfuel: Chatfuel is an AI-powered chatbot platform that helps businesses automate customer service inquiries. What stands out about this tool is that it has a drag-and-drop builder that makes it easy to customize and create an effective chatbot.
4. BotFlo: BotFlo is a conversational AI platform that allows businesses to easily build and deploy custom chatbots. What stands out about this tool is that it is integrated with popular messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and Slack, which makes it easier for businesses to reach more customers.
5. ManyChat: ManyChat is a chatbot building platform that helps businesses automate customer service inquiries. What stands out about this tool is that it enables businesses to create automated workflows and send personalized messages to customers, allowing for a more personalized customer experience.
How to Set Up a Chatbot on a Website
1. Research suitable Chatbot Applications: Research chatbot applications that are suitable for your business to use. Make sure to consider the cost, scalability, and customer service features offered.
2. Select Application: Select the chatbot application that best meets your business’s needs.
3. Set Up Application: Set up the application. This will likely involve entering in some basic information about your business and creating an account.
4. Train Chatbot: Train the chatbot to respond to customer inquiries. This will involve inputting key words and phrases and providing sample replies to match customer inquiries.
5. Test the Bot: Test the chatbot by querying it with questions and making sure it responds accurately and consistently.
6. Integrate with an Existing System: If your business already has an existing customer service system, you will need to integrate the chatbot into it.
7. Monitor Performance: Monitor the performance of the chatbot to ensure it is responding accurately and quickly. Make adjustments and improvements as needed.
