Chatbots use artificial intelligence that is often quite advanced to answer many questions a user might have.  To learn more about what a chatbot is, check out our post, What are Chatbots?

Now on to how they are used.  Chatbots are very useful for a lot of different applications. From simple user contact to answering questions, and even helping the sales process along.

Benefits  of  Chatbots

Let’s look at the many benefits:

Fewer Employees

One of the biggest benefits of using Chatbots is that you can have fewer actual employees. Chatbots can take care of a lot of issues that might take up time from paid employees.  This frees up paid employees for more important tasks and allows them to have more time to help customers with major issues.

Improved Customer Service

Customers can get answers to questions and help with problems much faster than they might if they ended up contacting customer service through traditional means.

Increased Knowledge of Customer’s Needs

Bots can also provide you extremely valuable information about your customers if you log those conversations and analyze them because you can see the types of questions they are asking. Never overlook those logs as a way to find out more about them.

Drawbacks  of  Chatbots

While the benefits are great, there are a few drawbacks:

Technology is Not Perfect

No technology is perfect, and bots are no exception.   The biggest drawback is that artificial intelligence, no matter how advanced it may be, is not yet at the level that can replace actual humans.  This inevitably leads to failure to help customers sometimes.  This, in turn, may end up frustrating the user enough that they leave your site.  This is rare, but it can happen.  You must make sure your chatbot can direct customers to live help when needed.

Poor Programming

Many bots are poorly programmed because they have been rushed to market to take advantage of the surge in chatbot use.  You must be on the lookout for this when shopping for chatbots.

Serve Your Customers

The cheapest solution isn’t always the best.  Another reason it’s vital that you test your chatbot thoroughly to make sure there are no problems with it that could end up frustrating your customers.