Chatbots Must Take Their Second Chance
Despite the potential of chatbots, only 3% of consumers consider them their first choice of support channel. However, with advancements in conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and positive media and public sentiment towards solutions such as ChatGPT, could 2023 be the year chatbots emerge as a popular channel of customer contact?
Chat-based technology is not a new concept, with most brands now incorporating both live chat and AI-generated chatbot technology, known as conversational AI, into their customer experience (CX) portfolio. Business might have eagerly embraced chatbots, but customers are less excited. Over one-third of consumers consider live chat options, operated by human agents, as their first option when reaching out to a brand. This proportion is massively higher than those wanting to use chatbots in the first instance, but maybe we shouldn’t be surprised.
Customers seek empathy and the path of least resistance
Despite the convenience chatbots offer for the CX journey, they have not been a source of unalloyed joy for all. Many customers have had at least one poor experience with a chatbot, and bad experiences — even second-hand ones — continue to taint perceptions. Chatbots also traditionally struggle to provide the empathy desired when it comes to urgent queries, in which human customers almost always prefer to deal with human agents. When the chatbot can’t resolve an issue or lacks the empathy the customer needs, the customer will escalate to a human agent, sometimes angrily. In such circumstances the chatbot adds an extra step to the customer journey and very little else. As a result a brand’s customer effort score (CES), the key metric highlighting ease of customer interaction and resolution, will undoubtedly be damaged. A poor CES means customers are having to work harder to solve their queries. Thankfully, AI-driven advancements within chatbots will go a long way to making interactions more effective; but first customers must give the bots a second chance.
Riding on the coattails of ChatGPT
Changing established consumer perceptions is always a tough task, but the hype surrounding ChatGPT presents an opportunity to rewrite the narrative around conversational AI. ChatGPT is one of many AI technologies aiming for true conversational intelligence. What makes ChatGPT stand out, however, is its profile and standing in the popular imagination. The free-to-use version of ChatGPT allowed the public to test the technology’s potential and the breadth of its ability. Buoyed by intensive media attention, fuelled in part by the high-profile backers of its parent, OpenAI, ChatGPT became an overnight sensation and almost a household name, with commentators prophesying AI revolution.
Almost instantaneously, the public perception of AI changed. No longer clunky and confusing, now modern, flexible, and with limitless potential to solve problems and pass exams. If customer service chatbots could offer interactions of this quality, customer experiences would become effortless, and user hesitancy would evaporate.
The next generation of chatbots
What does modern conversational AI do differently? Rather than deviating from the core principles of a chatbot, solutions such as ChatGPT build on them. Early chatbots relied solely on Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology. This technology breaks text down into its component parts to draw out meaning. Whilst this works for simple enquiries, it can struggle with more complex ones, leading to confusion and frustration for the customer.
In contrast, today’s AI chatbots are built around Natural Language Understanding (NLU). NLU employs deep learning to identify sentiment, topics, and intent. By drawing on a broader knowledge base, NLU allows the chatbot to support its answers with understanding. Additionally, NLU allows the chatbot to respond in a human-like way, tailoring the response to the user, especially when integrated with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution.
Hesitancy around chatbots focuses on the fact that bots often fail to resolve actual issues, leaving the frustrated customer searching for a human. NLU reduces the likelihood of this; by drawing on a broad knowledge base, a conversational AI chatbot can provide informed, personalised responses to every request. Through harnessing the latest improvements, brands have a lot to gain. Chatbots can allow customers to resolve requests quickly, effectively, and without the need for human assistance.
The contact centre occupies the frontline of the AI revolution. Overcoming user hesitancy is the first step to making that big push forward a reality.
