Chatbots are becoming increasingly popular for business websites. This is especially true of firms that target a global audience but there are downtimes in which no support or sales staff are to answer the company live chat support or telephone inquiries. However, communicating with potential customers or even existing clientele immediately is vitally important to maintaining brand image and popularity.
This is where chatbots come into the equation…
With a growing number of people using internet services for their shopping, financial/insurance quotes, IT support, and even house hunting, chatbots are now key to service delivery and sales. Chatbots are always online so when your office is closed, the chatbot can effectively act as an FAQ service for those seeking answers to questions they have about your business’s products or services.
Why are chatbots useful?
In today’s highly competitive markets, nearly every industry sector has companies that are making use of modern tech. The most common sales and customer service tools are those that sit on the company website. The most effective can be the live chat systems, email support forms, and chatbots. That said, website content, expansive FAQ sections, media, and other resources are also useful sales and customer support tools.
As for the chatbot, it is used to satisfy a particular segment of a company’s target market.
Online tools attract potential customers, increase sales, and help with customer communication – this is no secret. The latter, customer communication, is now the key to a business’s success. People are so used to instant communications that they expect any company they are dealing with to be ready and waiting for 24/7 in case of an issue.
This is especially true of potential buyers who feel that if they are interested in your service, you will be online to answer any questions they have. We all know that unless we are a company with huge economies of scale, it can be difficult to invest in a support team that is available 24/7. You can have a live chat open form 8 am to 6 pm, but what about non-business hours and weekends?
The chatbox is one of the best solutions. It is effectively an online chat system that acts as an FAQ for those that need instant answers. It is also perfect for businesses that do not run a 24/7 sales team or customer services department.
Is it worth targeting such demanding customers?
There are of course many different types of buyers. The most challenging are those that demand instantaneous answers. This type of buyer/customer will make up for a small percentage of your target market in most cases. Nonetheless, these clients or potential customers are part of the target market a business is looking to gain as bigger market share as possible.
If a business’s goal is to dominate market share, then catering for these demanding individuals is necessary.
Even if you have a website with a huge FAQ section, tons of blogs, easy to access information, there will be plenty of people that just do not have time to read or research the information on your website. These people would rather get answers quickly via a live chat system.
Therefore, the chatbox is certainly worthwhile. Your support or sales team may not be online, but the chatbox will be and 90% of the time it will be able to give those that are opening your live chat the answers they are looking for on-demand. Now imagine not having the chatbox and missing out on 90% of potential customers. Of course, there will be 10% of ‘demanding’ individuals that will not appreciate the automated chatbox which is why we have put the figure at roughly 90%.
Another benefit of implementing a chatbox on your website is the fact that it is affordable. Once you how to create a chatbot, you will be able to set up exactly how it answers certain questions. This will be in line with branding, your key brand messages, and you can even add in links to more information in your answers.
Weighing up all the point made in this article, it easy to see why so many businesses are now implementing chatbox technology. It still gives website visitors a way to connect with the brand, it covers out of office support hours, it is affordable, it is flexible, and it can help create sales when the business would otherwise lose the chance to make a sale.
