We Can Stop Obsessing Over Personality (Of Chatbots)

Amid the cacophony of terms like personality, identity, aura, etc. getting associated with chatbots, we are forgetting about the spine of chatbots — conversation. The result? We are trying too hard to force a personality onto our chatbots.

Let’s not forget that the main purpose of your chatbot is to automate a set process of your organization and make it scalable. And that can be achieved only by developing an effective conversation, keeping in mind the use-case of the chatbot. Of course, there is no denying the importance of personality for your chatbot. But, the personality of your chatbot should be a result of the conversation it has with the users. As majority of businesses are in the experimental phase of chatbots, the conversation of the chatbot should be our primary focus. Afterall, it is the conversation that will guide them through solution. The personality can be an added feature we develop around our crisp, clean and error-free conversation. So, let’s bring our focus back to the basics — designing an effective conversation.

Here are 4 points to keep in mind while developing an effective conversation.

1. First Impressions Matter

Your chatbot’s first message sets the tone for the rest of the conversation. It is important that your bot explicitly tells the user what it can do.

Set the right expectations with the first message.

Initiating the conversation with an unclear “Hi, how may I help you?” will bring in a lot of vague queries that your bot is not trained to answer. This will lead to frustration from the user’s end. Instead, it is best to start off the conversation by exactly stating what your bot can help with. This will help your customers get a clear idea of what to expect from your bot.

2. Simple Conversation

Keep your conversation flow simple. A good chatbot conversation is one that is very simple to understand. Simplicity can be achieved by constructing clear and easy sentences. Opt for short and crisp sentences instead of long, unclear ones. Write exactly what you want to convey, in a crisp way.

Keep the conversation easy to understand.

It is also important to guide the user through the conversation with one topic at a given time. Offer help with one thing before attempting to help with another. With that, keep in mind not to appear stagnant with the conversation. Focus on one thing at a time but do so by keeping the conversation moving and fluid.

3. Importance of Fallback Answers

There are always going to be questions from users which your bot is not trained for. In such cases, a fallback response will guide the user as to what the next step might be. Never leave the customer clueless about what to do next.

Don’t the leave the user directionless when your chatbot is encountered with an unknown question.

Transferring to a live agent, asking for contact information to get back to the user or listing main topics from the domain are some ways to not let the customer get frustrated if his question is not listed. Provide some guidance to the user instead of saying ‘Sorry I did not understand that’ again and again.

4. Interactive Media

Back when messaging only included texts, it was half as fun as it is today. What changed? Emojis! Not just emojis, now chat platforms support all types of multimedia files.

Use emojis but remember to not overdo it.

Adding GIFs, emojis, images, videos wherever necessary will make your conversations more immersive and visually engaging, besides adding the friendly element to the conversation. But remember to not go overboard with emojis or GIFs. Stick to moderation. You wouldn’t want your chatbot to look frivolous or silly.

The crux of developing an effective conversation for your chatbot is to be able to offer solution to the user in a simple and clear way. And this doesn’t have to seem like an uphill task. Writing down the steps involved in the workflow is a simple way to get started.

While designing the conversation, it is important to eliminate the burden of giving the chatbot a personality.

Our company WotNot was built on the philosophy to make it extremely simple for the user to preview the bot before building it, and also the procedure in which they build the conversation flow. You just have to enter the website URL, select a template that suits you and get a quick glimpse of a bot on your website. Try it out at our website www.wotnot.io

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