Does Your Business Need a Bot? Keeping Customer Service Personal

Does your business need a bot? Well, before answering that question, it is important to note that having a bot is a huge investment that is not necessary for all businesses. If you invest in one without doing due diligence, you might end up regretting your investment.

The truth is that bots have the potential to modernize customer service, making it cost-efficient and fast. They, however, require a lot of time for any business to get to where they would like to be with their bots.

Bots come in different sizes and shapes with some of them being offered for free and ready to install. But does your business need them? Well, even if you might think that it does, it should not be for customer service. Customer service needs to be kept personal.

So, do you need a bot? You need to access several things first.

Adding Value to Your Business

Before deciding whether to invest in a bot for your business or not, you need to look at your business processes. There are things that bots can improve. Some of them might include reducing or eliminating cart abandonment, asking questions, and automating tasks.

But what about your business processes? Will investing in a bot improve these processes? Or rather do you have processes that will be better when handled by a bot? These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself before investing in a bot.

Well, using a bot might be a better option when it comes to living chats in your business. This is because it offers a communication direct line that can reduce waiting times and missed leads, and eliminate slow responses. If a bot can add value to your business, then you need it. 

Bot Maintenance After Launch

If you look at most animals, they can walk a few minutes after they are born. This is because they have enough gestation period, meaning that they are developed by the time they are being born.

Now, you should think of a bot in the same way. Of course, it takes a lot of time to develop and build a bot that can meet the requirements of a business. When the bot is implemented, it starts working right away.

However, you need to spend a significant amount of time learning, training other employees, and observing the bot to make sure that it meets your requirements. 

For instance, looking at the top retail bots today, you will realize that the developers are continuously adding features to match changing customer demands. Do you have this time and resources? If you do, maybe your business needs a bot.

Can it Make Your Business Cheap?

Bots do very well when implemented in industries that deal with heavy or busy service delivery. For instance, the chances of meeting a bot when booking flights or shopping for clothes are very high.

This is because they take users to different web pages, reserve tickets, and suggest products, times, and dates. These are tasks that a bot can easily predict compared to some other business tasks.

However, is this the same for luxurious industries and services? Imagine reserving a table at a luxurious restaurant in Florida and having to use a bot that asks you tons of questions! This is excessive technology that is not suitable. Instead, such a restaurant can invest in local phone numbers in Florida for their customers to call when reserving a table.

Does a Bot Have All The Functionalities Your Business Needs?

You will never find a bot with all the functionalities that a business needs. Even the best bots in the world have some limits. For instance, a bot might be built to respond to thousands of questions, but does it have empathy?

It is important to note that bots do not know how to bend rules to handle specific cases of customers. They also cannot detect a customer who is getting frustrated or maybe not satisfied with the answers they are getting.

This means that you are the only one who can control the social ability of your bot. The first thing is to check the questions that are asked by your customers. If they are repetitive and easy to answer, maybe your business needs a bot.

In conclusion, a bot can change your business. It can simplify processes and automate some of your tasks. However, investing in a bot needs research and due diligence. You should make sure that your business needs a bot and can benefit from having one before you start investing in one.