Chatbots are practical helpers in customer service, but their use can also cause discomfort and frustration. Pegasystems explains what companies have to consider so that chatbots don’t scare their customers.
Chatbots are a popular addition to websites because they quickly help visitors with questions and problems. This prevents potential or existing customers from leaving the site in frustration if, for example, they cannot find information or a form. However, companies should plan carefully where and how they use the smart helpers.
Pegasystems, provider of innovative software for the drastic simplification of complex work processes, names the most important tips:
- Don’t build silos. To relieve their contact centers and meet the challenges of the pandemic, many companies have introduced digital self-service solutions or are in the process of doing so. This often also includes chatbots. But how do companies ensure that the new service channels really make customer service more efficient and better – and not more complex because new silos are created? For customers it would be horror if they first had to explain their problems to a chatbot in a cumbersome manner and, if the chatbot could not solve them, then describe them again in detail to a service employee. Companies should therefore avoid thinking in terms of channels and instead start with service journeys that can be orchestrated centrally and linked to individual channels as required. Data, processes as well as rules and intelligence are developed, maintained and optimized centrally. Customers can easily change the service channel or use several service channels at the same time without having to provide information several times and without losing the current processing status of their request.
- Use AI skillfully. Anyone who leaves thinking in terms of service channels has already cleared an important hurdle. Now it is important to personalize the service journeys and tailor them perfectly to individual customers. This cannot be achieved with a little process automation – like all services in the omnichannel world, chatbots need intelligence in order to be able to respond to each customer individually. Without intelligence, there are only one or a few service journeys, which are usually associated with many queries. With intelligence, on the other hand, the chatbot can save a lot of queries because, for example, it takes context information into account and continues to learn. In this way, he quickly recognizes the customer’s concern and can recommend the best possible solution. Often he is even able to anticipate problems and proactively address the customer or ensure that the problems do not arise at all.
- Know the limits. But be careful, AI does not make a chatbot human and can cause discomfort. When a chatbot or robot gets smarter, people usually first show it sympathy and enjoy interacting with it. With increasing intelligence, however, there comes a point at which acceptance drops rapidly – the Japanese robotist Masahiro Mori described this phenomenon as “Uncanny Valley” in 1970.1. Companies should therefore not promise too much and let expectations become too high. The best strategy is not to make the chatbot seem smarter than it really is and to know when it is time to bring in a human agent.
“Without intelligence, a chatbot remains a zombie that can at best answer simple questions and is more likely to scare off customers than help them. Conversely, a chatbot must not make customers believe that they are talking to someone, since nobody likes to be fooled, ”explains Peter van der Putten, Director Decisioning & AI Solutions at Pegasystems. “However, if companies use chatbots in a well-thought-out and targeted manner, they offer enormous added value in customer service because they improve customer satisfaction and relieve service employees.”
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1 de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_
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