ACtion Magazine - May 2017 - 12

Are chatbots
right for your business?

Angie Kilbourne

Customer service is a critical - and expensive - component to an automotive service and repair shop. Can chatbots help your bottom line without
hurting customer relations?

or years now, companies have been using social media as
a customer service tool for listening and responding to clients. Although effective, it also is expensive, as someone on
staff has to watch for those messages. However, Twitter recently began offering companies the ability to respond automatically
through chatbots to direct messages sent to their brands, and Facebook Messenger is using them as part of its experience too.
"Bots are the new apps," says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, at the
company's recent annual Build developers conference. He sketched
a vision for the way humans will interact with machines in the future:
"The world you're going to see in the years to come will see a shift
from people-to-people conversations to people-to-digital assistants,
people-to-bots and digital assistants-to-bots conversations."
"This shift in the digital horizon is based on solid reasons," added
Bryan Kramer, CEO of PureMatter, a strategic social media consultant. "Not only do chatbots foster greater engagement and provide
convenient support of customers, they also counter the tedium of
app fatigue. Consumers don't want to spend their time installing new
apps; they'd rather spend it on messenger platforms."

Nuts and Bolts
Today, smart businesses are finding ways to connect with consumers via messenger chatbots, according to Kramer. But how would
a business get started? He explains:
How do chatbots work? A chatbot is a digital interface built to
recognize the keywords being used. It then leverages speech analysis
and patterns to determine the next action. In essence, they are able to
access a compiled database of phrases to give a predefined response.
It is simply a tool that - without wasting consumers' or employees'
time - helps companies reach real conversations more quickly on
the channels consumers are already using, such as social media.
Why do shops need a chatbot strategy now? Integrating chatbot
technology into your business can be a positive step forward, creating
an online customer service interaction that is quicker, straightforward
and 24/7. Chatbots can answer simple, fundamental questions and
offer basic advice, freeing up your front desk staff to answer more
complex questions.
How easily can a chatbot be created? "Chatbots will vary in cost,
depending on the amount of support you need going forward, the
functionality you want, the platform you're using and the amount of
interactions," Kramer explained. The first step is to prepare a mockup
prototype of your chatbot to test out the language, conversational capabilities, functionality and tone of your bot.

ACTION * May 2017

First Things First
"When you're building [a chatbot], the most important aspect to keep
in mind is to focus on customer needs and experience," noted Kramer. "Be
sure your chatbox (messaging platform) provides answers to commonly
asked questions and makes it easier to find support through messenger
apps. In addition, ensure your content includes real-time updates and engaging marketing messages that can be delivered and suggested to your
audiences."
Businesses can build their own bots directly through Facebook's Messenger Platform; visit Developers.Facebook.com and search "bots." Resources include full tutorial guides, case studies and a forum for Facebook
developers. If you find Facebook's methodology overwhelming, there are
alternatives to help you get started, such as Botframe.com, Chatfuel.com
or OnSequel.com. Each of these sites can help you create an easy-to-use
screenshot of what your chatbot will look like within Facebook Messenger
without the need to know how to code software.
Layer.com is a messaging design tool that helps develop and test
a chatbot's specific functionality. Remember, every function that a
chatbot carries out must enhance the customer experience, so testing
how it will work is the most critical aspect before launch.
Imagine a customer's smartphone conversing with digital assistant at midnight about planning a family vacation to the central California desert. This dialog then engages your shop's chatbot to book a
pre-trip appointment to check their vehicle's air conditioning system.
That's typical of what future online conversations could entail. The
businesses that recognize this now and prepare for the technological
advances will be the ones best-positioned when customers seek such
products and services. Whether you're ready and equipped in time,
well, that's your choice. ❆

Research from Sprinklr Inc.
found that 74 percent of consumers dislike contacting companies
multiple times for the same reason and that 66 percent dislike
repeating the same information
to different employees through
multiple channels.
Source: Sprinklr Inc.
h t t p s : / / w w w. s p r i n k l r. c o m / t h e way/big-list-customer-experience-statistics/

http://Developers.Facebook.com http://www.Botframe.com http://www.Chatfuel.com http://www.OnSequel.com http://www.Layer.com https://www.sprinklr.com/the-way/big-list-customer-experience-statistics/ https://www.sprinklr.com/the-way/big-list-customer-experience-statistics/ https://www.sprinklr.com/the-way/big-list-customer-experience-statistics/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - May 2017