Bot’s all the fuss about?

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Does your business need to start utilising chatbots? Our Scottish PR agency explains all

Scottish PR agency explains all about how businesses can start utilising chatbots to enhance their customer support offering.

EVERYONE’S been there. Hold music ringing in your ears as you pace around your living room, shaking your head at your partner and tutting loudly while you wait patiently in a phone queue.

There aren’t many things more frustrating than an operator telling you that ‘your call is very important to us’ and that ‘you’re number 47 in the queue’.

So why, in a world where it’s people’s eyes rather than their ears that are glued to their phones, do so many businesses overlook the power of chatbots?

Let our Scottish PR agency explain why it’s time to step into the 21st century and slide into your customer’s DMs.


WHAT IS A CHATBOT?

A chatbot is a software that uses artificial intelligence to mimic human conversations.

These bots can often appear on Facebook or websites to offer help or more information when a user visits a page.

The technology also ‘learns’ and develops with each interaction it gets, therefore becoming more adept at dealing with different situations as time goes on.

Things have developed so much now that users can be left confused as to whether they’re speaking to a bot or an actual human.


CAN CHATBOTS GET MY BUSINESS INTO BOTHER?

A big fear for many business owners can be that they’re leaving the public persona of their company in the hands of a robot.

While this has caused controversies in the past with people exploiting bots by messaging them to deliberately evoke a bizarre response, nowadays the technology is becoming far more advanced.

There’s been a sea change in the use of bots over the last couple of years which has seen them move into the realm of sales and marketing, rather than being confined to the realm of customer support.

The advancement in the technology used means messaging bots can now help to drive more sales and improve bottom lines for businesses.


Scottish PR agency explains all about how businesses can start utilising chatbots to enhance their customer support offering.

SO WHY SHOULD I USE THEM?

In the past, people’s first thought when they needed to speak to a company was to pick up the phone and give them a call.

But in a world where 65 billion WhatsApp messages are sent daily around the world, it’s no surprise that people prefer to send a message instead.

How many times do you see someone complaining about their delayed train by mentioning the train company on Twitter?

And you don’t have to trawl very far through a big firm’s Facebook page either to find a host of posts moaning about faulty goods.

So it’s clear that the way the public expect to interact with your business is changing and it’s time to make sure you don’t lose custom to rivals who are using chatbots to provide a quick, smart and easy way to interact.


PROVIDE ROUND THE CLOCK SUPPORT WITH CHATBOTS

Customer problems can strike at any hour of the day, yet depending on the size of your business, you might not have a human support team in place 24/7.

This is where the bots come in.

They can be programmed to respond to a host of frequently asked questions and help your customers solve problems efficiently.

Not only does this enhance your customer support offering, it keeps them happy, builds the reputation of your firm and saves you the money you’d have to spend to keep a help team in place round the clock.


KEEP YOUR BUSINESS FRONT OF MIND WITH CUSTOMERS

One way to utilise chatbots is to get them to send updates or newsletter style updates to customers or people who have shown an interest in your page.

While it’s not clever to do this too often, it does provide a really powerful way of getting your company’s key messages out there.


Scottish PR agency explains all about how businesses can start utilising chatbots to enhance their customer support offering.

INCREASE YOUR SALES

Business boils down to making money and chatbots can provide another revenue stream.

For example, bots can be programmed to guide a customer through the buying process.

A bot could ask the age of person someone is buying for and offer a selection of options for the buyer to pick from.

Or it could ask what problem they’re looking to solve and suggest a choice of remedies that the business sells.

Used correctly, chatbots can make some people feel more at ease than if they have to speak to a sales person over the phone.

You could find yourself making sales while you sleep soundly in your bed at night!


SO ‘BOT’ ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

It’s time to take a step away from making your customers pace around their front room listening to dull hold music.

Chatbots may seem like a scary new technology but any successful business has to move with the times and know its audience.

73% of people now prefer using live chat – and that’s a large audience that you don’t want to be losing out on.


WHY NOT HAVE A CHAT WITH US AND LET US EXPLAIN HOW UTILISING OUR SCOTTISH PR AGENCY CAN IMPROVE YOUR BOTTOM LINE?

Fill out the contact form below or give us a call on 0131 561 2242 today!

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