Yes and no.

The decisive factors are the use case and the target group.

In the following, I will discuss when, in my opinion, it makes sense to use a chatbot instead of a classic form and when the good old form is still the better choice.

Direct vs. storytelling

It is obvious that a conversation with a chatbot usually takes more time than filling out a classic form.

The question you need to ask yourself here is “What do your users want?” Are you filling out the form anyway and just want to get to the end of the form quickly or is a bit of storytelling around it helpful?

The following is a comparison between the classic SBB timetable app and the BLS app, which has tried a conversational design.

Users of these apps simply want to have the right connection quickly and, in my view, a chatbot or conversational interface makes little sense here because it only delays the process of checking the timetable.

Lead forms with storytelling

Do you have a lead form on your website and still have problems getting leads? Then it may be that the target group is simply annoyed at constantly having to give their name and e-mail address in order to receive newsletters or similar sales inquiries.

The Swiss startup “Systemcredit” had exactly this problem and has now been using a chatbot for several months that brings them qualified leads. The Liquido bot asks users for their credit preferences and e-mail address and even generates a new lead contact directly in the Zoho CRM system in the background.

The use of a small, friendly chatbot certainly makes sense here.

Surveys

Opinions are really divided when it comes to surveys. Here it depends very much on the users and their need to complete the survey.

It may well be that it is easier for some of the target group to simply tick a box on a traditional form. But the opposite is often the case. The target groups are annoyed by long and boring surveys.

The Swiss B2B company IBV has been surveying its users through its butler “James”(https://ibvsolutions.com/en/survey/) for several months now

James was already announced as Buttler in the newsletter and now regularly surveys the users of your software about their user experience.

The chatbot is linked to a skill and motivates users to participate in the survey.

Product finder

Do you know the Swiss company Geschenkidee? Or do you know the bot Edi?

Edi is nothing more than a product finder in the form of a chatbot(https://www.geschenkidee.ch/chatbot/). The special thing about Edi is that it leads to a purchase for 50% of users.

The idea is a conversational design that helps users find the right gift. Here, too, the target group is very important. Tests have shown that Geschenkidee.ch customers are more likely to order if they find the gift using a chatbot.

This may also be the case for you…

You will quickly notice that all of the use cases presented here are very simple chatbots that do not require a large budget.

So the next time you create a form, think carefully about whether you want to go down the classic route again or try something innovative with a chatbot.

Or how about an A-B test for the existing forms. Compare the performance of your classic forms with the performance of a conversational interface.

My tip for implementation:

• Think carefully about who your target group is and how your chatbot should address this target group.
• And then it’s best to start directly with the first use case. To implement this, you can use a simple chatbot tool such as the Swiss company aiaibot(https://www.aiaibot.com/).

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

(Mail: sophie@hundertmark.ch)