Will ChatBots take your job in the future? Here's our take on a much-discussed topic, and before you panic, we still think humans are very much an essential part of the marketing and sales process. And we really love tech.
A few years from now, you might walk into an Apple store to be met by a NS-5. They may stroll up to you to discuss the new iPhone quasar, or ask which eyeball you are thinking of replacing with the latest visual accelerator module.
The NS-5 could put you out of a job. You will never have the general knowledge these guys have, their sales pitch will always be perfect, they never have bad breath and their posture is flawless. However, as the NS-5 doesn't exist yet, lets consider the role of a simpler type of technology - ChatBots.
We are more inclined than ever to 'message' customer services when communicating with companies, and in turn many brands are moving to a conversational version of customer support. You can engage with your customers and warm up your leads up with conversations that may not be as connecting as a face-to-face chat over a brew - but they are enough, that's the point, they are enough.
As a generality, we are happy talking to ChatBots because they give us the information we need when we need it. As ecommerce keeps on growing, it only makes sense that questions surrounding these purchases will also be handled online. This is especially relevant in the case of Millennials and Centennials, who don't like talking to anyone on the phone. ChatBots can act as the perfect front-of-house for these interactions.
ChatBots can start conversations with leads when you just can't get to them in time, get rid of any time wasters and engage the people who are genuinely interested. All it takes is a bit of time building a ChatBot to do your qualifying for you.
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We can also program ChatBots to look for questions which we predict that people will ask. They can then offer answers on what we think will solve their problems. For instance, if someone asks for delivery information your ChatBot could share a link to the relevant webpage.
These are simple solutions to simple problems, however, and pre-programming will only ever get you so far. If anything ever confuses your ChatBot, we would recommend a stock response along the lines of "I can't really help with that, why don't I put you in touch with my creator?" It's helpful, friendly and succinct.
ChatBots can qualify tyre kickers for you, answer questions you don't need to waste time with, and generally act as the unsung heroes of your business, taking simple tasks off your plate so that you can deal with the important stuff.
So give ChatBots a chance. Let them into your life, train them up and start them working on your website. They won't take over the world, but they could help your company towards achieving global domination!