Use chatbots and save money

That sounds good, doesn’t it? Read the following article to find out how this can work.

For most companies, the Pareto principle can be applied to customer service. As a rule, 80% of customer inquiries can be processed automatically with a chatbot and only 20% really need a human advisor. The basis for this is that the chatbot is used sensibly and has the necessary functions to be able to answer customer inquiries satisfactorily.

Where is the quickest way to save money with chatbots?

1. chatbots to query the order status or delivery status

Where is my delivery? When will my parcel arrive? Have my goods already been shipped? These are questions that customers should actually find out in the customer portal of the respective supplier. However, very few customers bother to log in and click through their profile until they find the order status. It is much easier to send an e-mail or make a phone call to a customer service employee. The latter must then record the relevant customer data, search for the order in the system and inform the customer of the status. If the customer has the request outside of business hours, the answer may even be delayed and the customer may be dissatisfied because he has to wait too long.

These tasks are almost routine activities for a chatbot. Customers can ask the chatbot about their status around the clock and receive an answer around the clock. All the chatbot has to do is ask a few questions to identify the customer, enter them into the internal system, query the status and pass them on to the user.

This type of chatbot is very easy to implement. All that is needed is a short chat dialog and an interface to the internal system in which the customer status is recorded.

2. change of address

There are so-called relocation waves several times a year. The majority of customers change their home and address. In principle, most companies even allow customers to change their address themselves in the customer login area. But very few customers do this. It is much easier for customers if they send an e-mail or make a phone call. This means additional work for the customer advisors. You must receive the data, question it again if necessary and then adjust it independently in the system.

This is one of the easiest tasks for a chatbot (as the Sympany Insurance chatbot in the picture below says itself). To ensure that not just anyone can customize any customer address via chatbot, it is advisable to add authentication. For example, the chatbot can ask the user for their cell phone number, compare this number with the stored customer profile and, if it is correct, send a code to the user’s smartphone. The customer then enters the code in the chatbot and can first be authenticated. The customer can then enter their new address and the chatbot adjusts it directly in the system. The best thing about the change of address chatbot is that it can handle the process around the clock. Customer service staff are usually only available during traditional office hours and customers often make such inquiries in the evening or at weekends when no human advisor is available.

This type of chatbot also only requires a short dialog in the chatbot and then an interface to the company’s CRM system. Such a chatbot can therefore be implemented very easily and quickly, but offers incredible added value and cost savings for companies and customers.

3. create IT tickets via chatbot

Especially in companies with more than 10 employees, IT problems regularly occur or employees have problems with their software or hardware. And although most companies have an IT ticket system that is actually well structured and easy to use, there are always problems in this area. The employees who are currently facing an IT problem either only half fill out the tickets or they write an e-mail directly to the help desk or call it. The IT service employees then spend a lot of time coordinating the individual tickets correctly and have to manually add the requests from emails and telephone calls to the system.

At the Alpnach school in the Swiss canton of Obwalden, staff can now send their IT problems to the IT helpdesk around the clock via chatbot. This feels simple, uncomplicated and pleasant for the employees and, above all, is even faster than email or telephone. The IT service employees are pleased that they now receive all ticket requests in the same structured form from the chatbot and no longer in an uncoordinated manner via email or telephone. It is even possible for the chatbot to answer simple IT questions automatically before creating a ticket for complex issues.

This use case is not witchcraft for the chatbot. He only needs to know which questions to ask the employees so that a ticket can be created. A simple connection to the ticket system is then sufficient and the chatbot is in direct contact with the IT helpdesk, so to speak. This use case saves a great deal of time for all employees involved and ultimately also saves unnecessary employee working hours, which can be put to better use.

How is it implemented?

The use cases described above can all be implemented quickly and easily. The following steps are the most important for implementation:

1. choose your use case carefully. Ask yourself which use case will save you or your team the most money. This use case should then be implemented first with a chatbot.

2. write down chatbot dialogs. How does the chatbot greet users? What questions does he need to ask so that the chatbot can handle the request satisfactorily for everyone involved?

3. determine interfaces. Depending on which process the chatbot is supposed to handle for you and your team, it needs the right interfaces. These should be known before implementation.

4. program or implement a chatbot. Most use cases of this type can be implemented most cost-effectively with existing chatbot tools. The tools usually already have a number of the most important functions integrated and only the dialogs need to be supplemented and a few adjustments made for the interface. The Swiss tool aiaibot.com is particularly popular here. Thanks to its high level of data security, it can also be used by companies with sensitive data.

5. testing. Before the chatbot is allowed to chat with all customers and colleagues, it should be thoroughly tested for accuracy. The chatbot can then be used by the masses and help them save money.

Want to get started?

Then send me an e-mail or give me a call and we can discuss your use case without obligation. You can book an appointment with me directly here.