Published: 05-Oct-2024 |
| Let me give a short story: On Friday I needed to contact 2 different companies, so I visited their websites and filled in their "contact me" forms. On Sunday I saw an advert on another website that interested me so I sent in an enquiry. The first two companies have still not responded. The third one responded quickly asking how they could help. The form I filled in was a direct result of their advert, so I could have expected them to know that I was requesting more information. Two emails later I had the information I required. The 2 other businesses: Why have a form if you have no one to respond, or simply don't bother? These are not isolated incidents. Many companies get quite excited when they first implement a form. Over time they start getting busy and simply forget about this new method of communication. The reality is even 1 or 2 enquiries per day adds up to more than a couple of hundred per year. Once the web designer hands this over to the commercial people, it often collapses. Is there a better way? Yes, of course. The data from the form needs to be added to the customer support system or the ticket system and processed properly. Even then, most enquiries via a contact form are simple queries. They are not detailed support issues. More like "What is the price". "Where can I purchase", "Do you have the product in stock". Once the form goes "into the system", it could take from an hour to 48 hours for a support person to respond or for a call centre agent to call. Then when they do they often ask what the query entails without reading the ticket properly. Is there an even better way? Yes, absolutely. Our support AI Chatbot. It can answer these simple questions with ease. Our service of course goes further. We monitor all questions and responses and if there is a question our Chatbot could not answer properly we ask our client to write up a response which we use to further train the Chatbot. For example, just today a potential customer visited our client's website and used the Chatbot to ask the following question: "How does the GPS tracker work?". Two weeks ago the Chatbot would have given a generic answer. Today it gave a detailed, but fully explanatory answer. The potential customer then asked: "Which devices does the app support?" Again, two weeks ago the Chatbot would have given a generic answer. Today it gave a really good answer including where to download the apps for the devices supported. The user then said: "Nice, thanks!" to which the Chatbot responded "You're welcome! I'm glad I could help. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask. We're here to ensure your satisfaction with our products and services." It's exciting that the potential customer had his answers within seconds. I need to mention that he visited the website and received these great answers at 4:21 am this morning! |