5 Signs Your Business Needs a Chatbot

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 09:00:02 +0800

Chatbots are everywhere right now.

From small sellers with a side hustle to big businesses like Sephora, Autodesk, and JP Morgan Chase, automated assistants are more ubiquitous now than ever before.

It's gaining traction especially here in Asia and the Philippines, where experts are forecasting high adoption rates within the next few years.

Source: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/chatbot-market

But is it a fad or something that your business needs to seriously consider? It may be difficult to decide with new technologies like this. So we've made a list of five top signs that your business might need a chatbot.

Let's get started.

Sign #1 - Majority of Your Revenue is From E-commerce

If you are selling products online, it's likely that you've come across many instances where your customers need some form of assistance to complete their orders. Maybe it's asking for your recommendations, clarification on a product's specifications, or concerns regarding your shipping policies and the like.

Surveys show that 83% of online shoppers say that they are more likely to purchase if they had someone to assist them via chat. It's a

But hiring live chat salespeople and customer service staff can take a while to train, and may not be available to your customers 24/7 like an automated assistant or chatbot can be.

Sign #2 - You Deal With a High Volume of Simple, Repetitive Queries

This may be true whether you're in the e-commerce industry or otherwise. You may be seeing a trend with your sales and customer service teams fielding these kinds of routine questions:

How much is Product X?
Can I see a price list?
How long will it take to ship?
Can I return the item if it is defective?
Is there warranty included?
What happens if X?
Do you accept payment via X?
And so on

It might be time to invest in a chatbot.

Chatbots can respond faster and will free your time from these repetitive queries. This way, you can focus on things that need more brain cells, like this car rental company that automated 68% of their service calls with bots.

Sign #3 - Your Customer Support and/or Sales Team is Swamped

If queries are going unanswered for even hours because your team is busy addressing other issues, you may be losing out on valuable sales or leaving your customers dissatisfied. Everyone is online these days, where it's easy to find another seller or support a different brand. Your relationship with your customers is important.

That's why getting chatbots to answer routine queries will make your sales and aftersales support better. Routine question? Get an accurate, fast response. Complex issue? Human staff have more time to spend on making sure they address your customer's dilemma in the best way possible.

A faster and first-rate response from your team (chatbot and human representatives alike) will lead to more satisfied customers.

Sign #4 - You are Scaling Up Your Business Quickly

Hiring and training competent staff does not happen overnight. It takes time away from your veteran support specialists. We believe it's important to hire and train support staff correctly, but if you're quickly expanding your business, it might be tempting to cut corners and thrust new, untrained staff right into the thick of things.

However, a chatbot can help you quickly scale up sales and aftersales support without overly taxing your team. Your veterans will have time to train, your new staff have time to learn, and your customer service will continue to be top-notch throughout your expansion.

Sign #5 - You Need to Focus on Customer Experience

It's a challenging online business landscape these days. Customer experience is number 1, and it's easy for potential customers to find your competitors and switch.

When instant gratification drives many sales, 82% of consumers expect an immediate response when they have questions. That's difficult to maintain if your staff is swamped, and loss of sales momentum can lead to customers looking elsewhere.

Conclusion

If your business fits into many of the above scenarios, it might be time to build a strategy around conversational marketing and chatbots. Chatbots are cost-effective solutions to scaling up a business quickly and can vastly improve your current processes.

Just remember these five signs:

Majority of your revenue is from e-commerce
You deal with a high volume of simple, repetitive queries
Your customer support and/or sales team is swamped
You are scaling up your business quickly
You need to focus on customer experience

There are many benefits to installing a chatbot, and some of these benefits may even surprise you.

If an automated assistant is your next "hire", check out Chatbuddy. Whether it's order-taking or appointment-scheduling, or simply managing your customers' concerns, Chatbuddy can help you bring your business to the next level.