When are Chatbots Most Effective?

A chatbot is essentially a high-touch feature incorporated into a website to help streamline searches by answering users’ questions. As with other high-touch services, using chatbots are not necessary or practical for every industry.

Who uses High-Touch Customer Service?

Businesses that deal with expensive, luxury, tech and other complex products and services integrate some form of in-person customer service to help create an exclusive and pleasant experience for customers.

Such positions include:

• Realtors
• Hospitality Personnel (Hotels, Casinos, entertainment)
• Geek Squad (Best Buy)
• etc.

Adapting High-Touch to the Internet

eCommerce has proven to be viable source of sales revenue for many business models. According the the U.S. Census Bureau, eCommerce accounted for approximately 8 percent of all sales revenue in the United States in 2016. To help accommodate the growing segment of online consumers, chatbots are used in much the same way that in-person representatives are in brick-and-mortar stores.

Good uses of Chatbots

Many companies that focus extensively on product or service features would benefit from using chatbots.

Example

Software companies like HubSpot and Salesforce integrate chatbots into their websites because consumers inquiring about the software have varying degrees of industry knowledge and experience. Chatbots can help answer simple questions much quicker than scouring FAQs, published content, submitting e-forms or calling the help desk. They also attempt to make passive visitors more engaged.

Poor uses of Chatbots

Search-driven websites that sell fast-moving consumer goods don’t need chatbots, just as grocery stores don’t need pesky customer service personnel bombarding you at every aisle asking, "Can I help you?" Shoppers know what they want or they want to browse at their leisure, just as online shoppers use the search feature to find, examine and read reviews before making purchases.

Example

Amazon and Google are both search-driven websites. Search-driven websites rely on simple UX and UI to index search queries for products and/or product categories. Chatbots just don’t make sense here. You can compare pages of search results including photos, pricing, and reviews instantly, eliminating the need for a chatbot.

Quick Tip

Most search-driven websites feature the search bar in the top-left corner of the desktop version and front and center on mobile.

Final Consideration

Still not sure whether chatbots will add value to your business?

Consider your sales process. Do your products sell themselves or does your current business model rely on highly trained sales professionals and extensive content marketing to drive sales revenue?

Quick Tip

See if your competition is using this feature. If so, did it seem helpful?

The more complex your sales process and product/service offering, the more likely you will see some benefit of incorporating chatbots into your marketing strategy.

Also consider how important your online presence is in the sales process. If you haven't invested in your website and don't create fresh content, is adding a pricey new feature going to create any ROI? Likely not.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.