You might have already come across some chatbots while browsing an eCommerce site recently. You are casually checking for information about specific products you wish to buy when a small window pops up on your screen asking if they can help you with anything. Although you may not need to interact with the chatbot, you know that this modern ‘AI salesperson’ will be there if needed.
Chatbots are a reality for most retail shops available online now, but there is still some resistance from customers to actually interact with them.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. With a strong and structured strategy, you can easily turn your chatbot into a more appealing tool. Furthermore, there are ways to improve the bot’s performance to increase leads.
Want to know how you can make the most out of this technology? Then read on!
Give Thought to the Current User Interface
A user is more likely to try different features if the visual is appealing. Is your chatbot’s interface interactive enough for your customers? Think about all the ways you can make it easy for them to interact with your chatbot. Consider, for instance, having a user menu and a speech recognition feature.
Furthermore, be conscious about how the bot will be triggered. Make sure that the window won’t interfere in the customer journey. Make it meaningful, so the customer will feel like giving it a try. And don’t forget to make it as much mobile-friendly as possible. As people spend more time on their phones now, there is a higher chance that their first contact with your brand takes place through their smartphones.
Therefore, to ensure your chatbot won’t become an obstacle, use A/B tests to define which messages work best.
When Is Help From a Chatbot Most Needed?
Think of the way visitors engage with your company, and where are they more likely to interact with your chatbot. It can be everywhere, or maybe it works best if you integrate it with Facebook, as you have a large audience there. Always consider where your chatbot fits best in your business before launching it.
Make It Sound More… Human
Customers sometimes find it funny to interact with your chatbot, thus they will try to somehow test it. They might ask questions like “when is your birthday?”, and “are you a woman or a man?”.
Prepare the answers in a way that can indeed be funny, but that manages to speak in the same style of voice as your company, products, and services. This can result in an interactive way for customers to learn more about your company. After all, studies have already shown that consumers are interested in chatbots for their spontaneity.
Moreover, figure out ways to make introductions more personal and “human-like”. You can think of it as a helpful call to action as well. If there is a way to mention the name of the customer when the window pops up, go ahead! Otherwise, you can use the bot to redirect customers through the website.
Invite them to check the new collection, tell them about a current sale, or tell them to click on the following link to learn more about the delivery options. Try to go beyond the “Can I help you with anything?”.
Prepare Your Chatbot for Eventual Issues
Bots are surprisingly performing nowadays, but they are still not humans. They cannot prevent every possible scenario, so do expect some errors. Customers can make typos or express themselves in a way that might not be comprehensible for the bot.
With that in mind, prepare your bot to understand informal expressions, handle verbal abuse, and redirect the customer if needed. Some specific requests call for an investigation and cannot be easily solved by a chatbot.
Allow customers to freely interact with your chatbot — but make it easier to escalate. Build a workflow that allows those escalations to take place smoothly, without becoming a pain to customers.
What can be forwarded directly to a live chat agent? What kind of issue needs analysis and requires an email to be sent? Think cautiously about how to reply to those questions before your chatbot goes live.
Get Customers to Interact With Your Chatbot!
With the evolution of technologies like Artificial Intelligence, today a chatbot for sales is one of the best solutions to enhance the shopping experience and increase conversions. So while it reduces costs, it also boosts your productivity.
This type of tool offers a number of important competitive advantages, including automating the entire sales process, with great efficiency and results. Here you can find a selection of successful chatbots to inspire you.
Now that you know more about chatbots and their potential to boost results, you may be interested in discovering other ways to impact your customers. Start today!
