Is It Worth Using Chat Bots For Customer Service?
Customer service is vital for any business; the happier your customers are, the better you’re doing. That is one of the reasons why saving on customer service has never been a good idea, and yet, in the last years, we’ve seen the rise of chat bots that aim to replace their human counterparts completely. But can they? Probably not. So, let’s figure out whether using chat bots for customer service is a good idea.
Chat bots for customer service: a bad idea?
On paper, chat bots sound like a perfect idea: cheap to maintain, easy to install, they can replace a human in many ways, but only if the issue is trivial. Most of the time, you can consider them an interactive FAQ. In that capacity, chat bots excel. But when your customer has a more severe problem, chat bots usually fail them, which leads to frustration, which is never good.
In 2022, many companies have shifted to completely automated customer service. In fact, more and more websites don’t have any kind of contact info at all, or it’s hidden so well that it’s impossible to find unless you make it your life’s goal. All users can see is the enticing chat button, which most of the time leads to a conversation with a chat bot, and not a human being, And I don’t know anyone who said, “oh yay, it’s a bot and not a person!”
In our experience, and according to the latest studies, people encounter significant issues when conversing with a chat bot, which usually doesn’t help them at all. Confused and infuriated, customers leave, never to return.
What to do?
Find a better chat bot? Sure, why not, but in the end, the underlying issues will stay the same. Hire human support? Now that’s a great option, but it will cost you a lot. It will solve the issue as people generally want to be heard. Seeing a chat bot instead of a human makes them feel neglected — and they don’t care how amazing your bot actually is.
The cheapest option is to actually… fix your website. After all, if a chat bot and a good-written FAQ don’t help your visitors, there must be some issue with the website’s overall structure. Figure out what’s been bothering your customers and fix it. I’ve known developers to consider all users stupid and clueless, but it’s on them if people can’t figure out essential functions. Actually, we at Beluga can analyze your site for free to tell you what’s wrong. Just contact us and we’ll help you, no strings attached!