Testimonial from Alberto Pasquale Ferrara (Founder of Easy to Customers)
Alberto, you recently launched a chatbot. How did you come up with this idea?
Customers’ purchasing and usage behavior has changed massively with the use of digital technologies. When it comes to digitalization, many companies are focusing on optimizing processes, reducing costs and increasing their own efficiency. They are missing out on the opportunity to use the digital transformation for new offers/services or business models. I approach digitalization from the customer’s perspective and thus bring added value to companies during the digitalization process.
We all use different messenger services to communicate with our friends and colleagues – especially on our cell phones. But only a few entrepreneurs use this channel. The chatbot also has a bad reputation – wrongly so.
I have been fascinated by the applications of chatbots for a long time. Of course, some are still in their infancy. But there are already quite good chatbots and live chats. I like using them myself and have already been very positively surprised.
I have taken up the current topic of home office to show a practical application of a chatbot.
You’ve already told me that your chatbot was somewhat based on my chatbot articles and workshops. What exactly did you take away from my input?
Yes, in your workshops I was able to see some approaches on how to set up a chatbot correctly. I received a lot of great and valuable input: The most important thing is to start with the chatbot canvas: Which personas do I want to address and what benefits do I want to create. The Customer Journey workshop was all about thinking about what a chatbot should be used for and when in communication and interaction with the customer. I found the event at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts on machine learning in chatbots very exciting. But this requires professionals.
And which of my formats has helped you the most? Blog article, LinkedIn post, webinar, offline event, presentation, etc.?
Certainly the workshops and now the webinars. I also enjoy following your activities on Linkedin and accepting invitations to your events. The blog has very exciting articles. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the virtual AI conference last week.
What exactly is the use case of your chatbot and who is the target group?
For current reasons, since the beginning of March I have been increasingly asked by my friends/colleagues and also via Linkedin contacts about working from home. Because I was repeatedly confronted with the same questions, I wanted to make my knowledge available to everyone as quickly as possible. I have divided the questions into three clusters so that I can also offer added value on the topic. Every woman and every man can benefit.
How did you proceed with the implementation? Did you happen to use my chatbot Canvas as well?
I’m already used to working with Canvas. Yes, the canvas is a very good tool for demonstrating,
– which customer needs I can/will cover,
– which interaction options (consulting, sales and support) I can/would like to offer,
– which partners I can rely on for implementation,
– what added value I can offer my customer
and
what revenue I can generate.
Before implementation, I recommend outlining a talk flow (user guidance) in advance:
– How do I structure the chatbot, e.g. by topic?
– How do I guide the user to the goal (Canvas)
And how long did it take you to complete your chatbot project – from start to finish?
Surprisingly, a chatbot can be created very quickly. Today’s tools are very easy to use. I was technically able to create the chatbot in 2 – 3 days.
It is important that the use case is clearly defined beforehand, that CANVAS has been considered and, very importantly, that the talk flow has been outlined. Why? This can save a lot of time! I took two weeks to test it.
Will you continue to develop the chatbot?
Of course, if I receive further input/suggestions from users, I would be happy to do so. I would rather tackle a new customer project 😉
And now a quick word about you? What do you offer your customers? Who are your target groups?
My core competencies lie in the digital transformation of companies. I accompany them through digitalization and always keep the focus on the customer. We must learn to offer added value.
I also have many years of experience in digital marketing and customer relationship management. I enjoy following all the trends and technologies. I show how the digital customer relationship can be used successfully in sales promotion.
I am happy to support small SMEs in the digitalization of their customer care. It is important – also thanks to cloud solutions – to always have up-to-date customer data available everywhere (in the office or on the move). This also simplifies communication between employees. Only in this way can companies react quickly to opportunities or, as is the case now, to changes and create competitive advantages.
Dear Sophie, thank you for your interest in my work.
