AI Chatbots: Do You Need One for Your Business?
There are many benefits your business can get from AI chatbots. However, there are possible drawbacks to consider before integrating one into your business.
The disruption to the customer service domain by Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots continues as they replace live chats and agents. Companies now use them on their websites and apps to answer questions, guide leads through their funnels, and improve the overall experience.
However, despite the high adoption rate, they have drawbacks. And if you want to deploy one for your business, it's crucial to have a balanced perspective on them.
But what are the drawbacks?
We examine both the drawbacks and benefits in this post so you can make an informed decision on adoption. Let’s begin with the benefits.
AI Chatbot Benefits
Adopting an AI chatbot for your business can boost efficiency and productivity.
How is this?
Well, you can use these intelligent chatbots for various tasks, including:
- Handling repetitive tasks like form filling
- Answering frequently asked questions by customers
- Collecting customer data
- Conducting surveys
By helping you collect data, an AI chatbot gives you insights to help you personalize communication with each customer. Data collected can also help you identify purchase patterns, customer preferences, etc. This then makes it easier to recommend products, cross-sell, upsell, or direct leads to information that moves them along the sales funnel.
What's more?
AI chatbots can help you build a list of qualified leads. They can ask questions that help you get more information from the visitor, understand their position in the funnel, and segment them.
Best of all?
Their interactive nature can help users easily access the information they need and discover your offers. Now, let's see why using them may not be a great idea.
Drawbacks to AI Chatbot Adoption
One of the major problems marketers face with AI chatbot adoption is security and data privacy.
How do you ensure the safety of customer's personal information from hackers?
How will you also use this data?
Will you sell the information or only use it to improve a lead's experience with your brand?
An AI chatbot can help you collect relevant data from your audience, but it's your job to make it hacker-proof. It's your responsibility to use strong passwords, have firewalls, and provide your employees with data security training. Another challenge you may face is the complexity of conversations.
You can not always predict how your customers will communicate, and sometimes they may use slang, shortened words, cool words, etc. And if you have not equipped your AI chatbot to recognize these words, the customer may have a frustrating experience.
Worst of all?
An AI chatbot may not understand the sentiments or the customer's mood at the moment of communication. They may misinterpret emotions or lack the personal touch a human agent could offer your customer.
So should you use an AI chatbot?
You should. Most of the drawbacks have solutions, plus the benefits by far outweigh them. However, if you need further convincing, this Shane Barker infographic offers a detailed comparison to help you make an informed decision. Check it out!
Infographic via ShaneBarker.com