Customer Service Chatbots: How to Leverage Them in 5 Ways

What is customer service chatbot? 

A customer service chatbot is an AI-powered tool designed to interact with customers via chat or messaging to provide automated support and assistance. Often referred to as chatbots, these also use natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to customer queries conversationally. 

Today, AI-powered chatbots not only respond to your customers promptly in a personalized manner but also expedite issue resolution, liberating your agents to tackle the most intricate concerns. Chatbots ensure that every customer receives the attention they deserve by automating responses to routine queries.   

Benefits of using chatbots in customer service  

"How do I renew my subscription?"  

"I need to change the delivery address."  

"Can you reschedule my dentist appointment for tomorrow?"  

Today, chatbots are doing more than just answering FAQs. They're changing how you interact with customers and the impact has been massive. Not only has it resulted in accelerating customer self-service, but it has also drastically reduced call volumes, saving costs for businesses.   

Let's check out the top benefits of chatbots, making it an indispensable tool for businesses today. 

Cost-efficiency  

AI-powered chatbots integrate with your existing FAQs and knowledge base and automate answers to routine queries. As a result, it reduces the number of customer service representatives you need to employ.  

Also, chatbots are typically much less expensive to develop and maintain than human customer service representatives. This is because chatbots can be deployed on a large scale without hiring and training additional staff. 

24/7 availability 

Chatbots, operating around the clock, cater to the global nature of today's business landscape. Customers from different time zones or with varying schedules can receive assistance at their convenience. This ensures that your business is accessible and responsive regardless of when a customer reaches out.  

Improved customer satisfaction  

One of the most exciting aspects of using chatbots in customer service is their ability to offer personalized interactions. Based on past interactions and data analysis, chatbots can provide product recommendations, offer tailored solutions and even remember customer preferences. This level of personalization, delivered instantly and at scale, significantly improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.  

Good to know: Advanced conversational AI bots can resume interruptions, decipher deep sentiments and contextual fallbacks and switch intents and languages, enhancing user journey and intelligent handling of out-of-context queries. 

High scalability  

Chatbots can simultaneously handle a high volume of customer interactions, making them highly scalable. This is especially important when your business experiences a spike in customer inquiries during peak times or special promotions.    Also, whether handling a few inquiries or a large volume, chatbots maintain a consistent level of service. This consistency is vital in ensuring that your customers receive the same quality of assistance, regardless of the number of inquiries being managed.  

Suggested read: How Conversational AI helps brands be human@scale   

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Multilingual support  

AI-powered chatbots can be programmed to communicate in multiple languages, making them an invaluable tool for serving a diverse customer base. Multilingual care console desktop ensures that your customers, regardless of their native language, can receive assistance. This inclusivity can significantly improve the customer experience, demonstrate your cultural sensitivity and help build a positive brand image. 
 
💡Sprinklr tips:   

• Use geo-location to automatically set the chatbot's language based on the user's location. 

• Offer a manual language selection option at the beginning of the interaction. 

• Regularly update language databases to include colloquialisms and slang for more natural conversations. 

Data collection and analysis  

AI-powered chatbots are capable of collecting and analyzing customer data during interactions. Chatbots gather valuable information about customer behavior, preferences and pain points through interactions. This data can provide consumer insights such as what your customers are looking for, what problems they encounter and what they like or dislike about your products or services.     

By analyzing the data collected by chatbots, you can identify areas for improvement, rework marketing strategies, make informed decisions and enhance product or service offerings based on real customer feedback. 

5 Ways to use chatbots in customer service 

In the modern era, customers anticipate accessibility at their convenience, spanning various devices, channels and touchpoints. It's a stark reality that customers are more likely to recall the instances when assistance wasn't readily available rather than when it was. 

To circumvent this, brands harness the power of chatbots to ensure customer service is not only prompt but also extraordinary. Here's how they achieve it. 

1. Automating frequently asked questions (FAQs) 

FAQ chatbots excel at handling routine queries, allowing your human agents to focus on tasks that require a more personalized touch. By automating the regular FAQs, you speed up response times and free up valuable human resources. 

Pro tips: 

• Use A/B testing to refine automated responses for higher customer satisfaction. 

• Implement a "fallback" option for queries the chatbot can't handle, directing customers to human agents. 

• Regularly update the FAQ database based on emerging customer queries and seasonal trends. 

Do you know: Modern chatbot software lets your contact center shift customers from disjointed IVR journeys to cost-effective, near-instant digital support channels. Nearly 80% of digital interactions get automated, leaving customers happier and more satisfied.  

2. Personalizing product recommendations  

You can't deny that today's customers crave personalization. You can use a chatbot to sift through vast customer data and behavior. This will ensure you're offering tailored shopping or product suggestions to your customers that align with their preferences.   

This will not only boost sales but also enhance customer loyalty. When you recommend the products they choose (by understanding their interests), they will feel heard and valued. Data-driven insights can refine product recommendations, so consider investing in a tool that offers in-depth product insights based on consumer intelligence.   

Watch now: How personalized experiences can drive business growth 

Pro tips:  

• Segment your customer base for more targeted product suggestions.  

• Include a feedback loop where customers can rate the relevance of recommendations.   

Good to know: From awareness campaigns on paid media to proactive, cross-channel engagement recommending the right products and services, the new-age conversational commerce platform sparks customer desire, builds relationships and delivers the value that turns prospects into revenue-driving customers. 

3. Streamlining customer onboarding 

Providing a seamless onboarding experience remains a significant challenge for many. However, chatbots have become a powerful solution in today's technological landscape. Be it customer onboarding or employee onboarding, They facilitate everything from account setup to feature walkthroughs, ensuring that the onboarding process is not only hassle-free but also time-efficient.   

Pro tips:  

• Utilize chatbots to offer an interactive, step-by-step tutorial tailored for new users.   

• Implement a brief survey after onboarding to gather initial impressions and insights.  

• Integrate a "Help" button throughout onboarding to provide immediate chatbot assistance. 

4. Collecting customer feedback 

Chatbots initiate conversations with customers at strategic touchpoints along the customer journey, such as after a purchase or when a support interaction concludes. They can ask specific questions to gather feedback on the customer's experience. 

Example:

After a customer completes a support interaction, a chatbot might ask, "How would you rate the assistance you received today on a scale of 1 to 5?" 

Whether it's a product review or service feedback, chatbots can collect it all, helping you fine-tune your offerings based on genuine customer insights. 

Pro tips: 

• Use sentiment analysis to gauge the mood of customer responses. 

• Offer incentives like discounts or freebies for completing feedback surveys. 

• Time the feedback request strategically, such as after a successful transaction.   

Good to know: Collecting customer feedback is as easy as pie now. With modern omnichannel survey software, you can gather customer feedback across channels & fill in the missing gaps with AI-powered CSAT predictions.

5. Integrating with CRM systems 

The power of a chatbot in customer service multiplies when integrated with your existing CRM systems. Such integrations ensure customer data is constantly updated, interactions are streamlined and service levels are consistently high. 

For businesses like yours looking to make this integration as smooth as possible, there are integration platforms worth exploring that specialize in ensuring your chatbot and CRM systems work in perfect harmony. 

Pro tips:  

• Ensure two-way data sync between the chatbot and CRM for real-time updates. 

• Use chatbot interactions to update customer profiles in the CRM automatically. 

• Set up alerts for high-priority customer interactions that require immediate human intervention. 

Also read: Integrate to accelerate: Why contact centers need integrations for seamless CX 

KLM Airline enables self-service flight booking and real-time updates  

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is a leading global airline and BlueBot is its chatbot that provides customer service on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. 

BlueBot can handle a wide range of customer queries, including: 

• Booking and managing flights 

• Checking flight status 

• Getting information about baggage and other travel services 

• Resolving customer issues 

BlueBot also personalizes its responses to each customer based on their travel history and preferences.  

For example, a customer can use BlueBot to book a flight and then receive real-time updates on their flight status and information about their baggage and other travel services. If the customer has any problems, they can also use BlueBot to get help from a human customer service representative.  

• Bluebot enables KLM to handle 2x flight bookings  

• BlueBot has received positive reviews from customers, with a rating of 4.7/5 in the Apple App Store  

Build a customer-first chatbot with Sprinklr  

While customer inquiries are natural and straightforward, conversations can often grow intricate, laden with intent and layers of nuance. 

The success of a chatbot hinges not only on its responsiveness but also its accuracy and ability to engage in meaningful conversations, understanding and meeting customer needs. Numerous brands have achieved this and now you can do the same for your brand. 

Experience a 30-day Free Trial of Sprinklr's omnichannel, no-code and multilingual chatbots. Customize them to resonate with your brand's unique voice. Seamlessly blend visual and textual branding – all without the need for developer intervention. 

Book a demo with our experts today! 

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