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hatbots is the latest mantra guiding business strategy. This technology fad is creating ripples in the world of commerce today. But let’s be honest. How many of us really understand the use of chatbots in handling typical business scenarios?  There is a lot of speculation around the use of chatbots in business processes. Chatbots can be deployed as virtual assistants or messaging apps designed to handle multiple user queries. 

The entire rationale behind the use of chatbots for your business is based on the principle of ensuring round the clock assistance to customers. Essentially, bots are a cost-effective means of delivering users with on-demand information. However, the scope and applications of bots are restricted to the use cases they are programmed to handle. The question is how to build bots that deliver improved support services to users.

Chatbot applications 

Companies are still learning how to use chatbots to automate customer service tasks. Well, let’s face it – chatbots do not know everything. You need to program or script the bots to guide customer service interactions. And, of course, techies apply routine use case scenarios to script the bot conversations. Hence, out-of-the-box queries are routed to the available human agent.  Typically, bots are programmed to answer routine queries such as how to change the system password or what is the price of a specific product. Online retailers use bots as virtual shopping assistants. Some famous chatbots like Siri, Alexa, or Cortana illustrate more advanced bot applications since they are powered by machine learning and use artificial intelligence to serve customer needs. 

Tips on building great chatbots

While instant responses and complaint resolution capabilities are common applications of chatbots, your creative ideas can expand the scope and potentials of bots extensively. Here are 6 great tips on building a chatbot for your business.

Make sure your bots collect vital user information at the onset

User-related data plays a crucial role in shaping your marketing strategies. User data gives you an idea about their requirements, their choice, and expectations from the specified product or service category. So, make sure your bots ask the right questions to the users. Train your bots to gather vital user-related data right at the onset. 

Script your bots to provide tailored information to your customers

User interactions with the bots have a significant influence on user decisions. It is all about shaping a positive customer experience for your prospects. Remember, when a prospect reaches out to you with specific queries related to your product or service, they are contemplating a purchase. Hence, script your bots to research specific user requirements before providing them the customized solution that satisfies their needs perfectly. 

Make sure your bots follow a logical flow of actions

Your customer service expectations from your business is a vital starting point for building a perfect bot. Spend some time introspecting your customer needs. What is the various category of requests your customers can have? What are some of the most common queries you face from your customers? Answers to these questions are constructive pointers for building an efficient chatbot. Create a logical conversation flow that will prompt your customers to select the precise information need and get the desired details. Hence, the entire flow of bot conversations should consider the various possibilities and how the logical flow will guide the users to their desired information. 

Make sure your bots are simple to use 

People love technologies that are not only simple to use but also provide prompt and accurate responses. Remember, complicated bot flows will only confuse your users and have a negative impact on their purchase intent. Basically, users do not have the patience or the time to engage in confusing and complicated pre-programmed conversations. So, make sure your bots are simple to use, easy to follow, and ready with the right answers.

Identify possible use case scenarios before creating bots

You know your business and product best. Hence, you are in the perfect position to identify the various use case customer support scenarios. Chalk down the multiple support query segments. Define possible customer support cases and script your bot conversations to provide answers to the selected queries. Use customer interaction archives to identify possible use case scenarios. Additionally, your bot should facilitate customer interactions to flow smoothly without any hitches.

Monitor and update your bots regularly

Customer service needs and expectations change over a period of time. The same is also true for your product or service. So, if your bot does not reflect these changes, it will not remain relevant to your needs any longer. Monitor your bot conversations at regular intervals, make necessary updates to ensure it provides accurate and relevant information to the customers. Outdated and irrelevant information will not make your customers happy. And, that is something you surely do not want to happen. Further, make sure you keep a tab on your user experience and make improvements to your bot accordingly. 

In conclusion, your bot design should consider your customer needs and requirements. The bot script and conversation tone should take into account your target audience. Additionally, it always makes sense to route your customers to live agents if the query falls beyond the scope of the current bot. 

Tune in to our integrated CRM platform and build your own custom bots to automate some of your customer support tasks.