How chatbots earned a spot in the customer support ecosystem

The world of customer support has a rich history. By the looks of it, it’s going to have a rich future as well. Breakthroughs in communications have introduced ways of improving the customer support sphere. One of those ways is chatbots.

Though they’re not considered a brand-new phenomenon, chatbots are still widely misunderstood. Since their massive popularity gain, more confusion seemed to accompany that hype. And all consumers want is their needs to be met without having to deal with any technical tangle. So, what can chatbots do exactly? And how did they get so popular?

The power and potential of modern chatbots

Chatbots as they exist today are usually part of a bigger communication ecosystem. By integrating several communication methods, businesses utilize chatbots and more to empower their conversational marketing and conversational commerce efforts. This leads to better customer engagement, higher sales and satisfaction rates, and more.

The chatbot market was valued at USD 17.17 billion in 2020. That number is expected to reach approximately USD 103 billion within the coming five years. That’s a staggering rate of growth which, if anything, compels us to take note. Chatbots are steadily replacing human agents and providing unlimited assistance across several industries. Bot-powered interactions are proving to be extremely fast and highly efficient. The two main types of chatbots are:

• Rule-based chatbots: They are automated assistants with the power to handle simple questions. Customers are usually presented with a set of predefined options which eventually leads them to the desired response.
• AI chatbots: Powered by Natural Language Processing, this type of bots is designed to understand the customers’ needs and interact accordingly, with no human guidance.

How businesses can benefit from chatbots

This range of chatbot solutions makes it more accessible for business of all sizes to deploy a helpful, automatic assistance in the form of a bot. And the best types of bots are those that cater to the business’s needs. Here are some benefits of chatbots for businesses:

1. Cost reduction

Chatbots reduces operational costs significantly by cutting back on the number of overnight employees and allowing for less complex customer issues to be handle automatically.

2. Increased sales

Bots can play a crucial role in the customer’s journey by guiding the customer throughout their purchase process and even help with upselling and cross-selling, just like a sales agent.

3. 24-hour availability

As chatbots exists within a machine world, they can function around the clock, providing newer dimensions of availability to businesses.

4. Higher customer interaction

The availability of chatbots also means an increase in customer interaction levels which signifies further retention for the business.

5. Instant responses

Not only are chatbots available all day long, but they also take no time to respond at all – which means better customer satisfaction.

6. Brand consistency

Having a fixed set of responses should be a top consideration for businesses as it plays a pivotal role is maintaining brand consistency.

7. Brand loyalty

Moreover, such consistency leads to loyal customers who will not hesitate to return to the brand that helped them once again.

Transforming support through chatbots

The popularity of chatbots can be traced back to their intelligence. Both customers and businesses alike have always dreamt of smart assistants to handle all their pending needs. And today’s assistants can do anything from booking a plane ticket to reserving a doctor’s appointment to helping someone buy a new t-shirt. The possibilities of chatbots within the customer support ecosystem are endless. They allow for a deeper transformation of traditional after sales services into a modern, more unique iteration – one with faster responses and higher help quality. Any sort of business in the digital age can make use of conversational support.

CEQUENS can help

CEQUENS is a global Communication-Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) provider that aims to bridge communication gaps in a communication-driven world.

Powered by innovation and guided by a cloud-first and mobile-first approach, CEQUENS provides omnichannel communication services and APIs that enable businesses to communicate with their customer base worldwide.

CEQUENS proprietary, PCI/DSS compliant Communication Platform leverages the latest cloud technologies and features a comprehensive portfolio of services that are industry-focused, agile, scalable, and cost-effective.

As an Endeavor Entrepreneur and GSMA Associate Member, CEQUENS plays a pivotal role in transforming business communication.