5 types of chatbots for a great customer experience
People use chatbots for a variety of reasons, with productivity being the primary motivator. But what kind of bot do you need? They come in many shapes and sizes, and to be successful, you need to consider where to deploy a bot and what type. What do you want to achieve with the bot? In this guide, we'll walk you through some of the most successful chatbot examples from our global clients and show you how you can use them to improve the customer experience.
1. FAQ Chatbot
A FAQ (frequently asked questions) chatbot can be used to automate responses to some of the most common questions your organization may have. These types of questions can be a significant burden on your customer service team and often involve repetitive copy-and-paste responses that a machine can handle more easily and efficiently.
FAQ chatbots are effective because they allow customers to quickly access the information they need without having to scroll through pages and pages of FAQs. Not only do they allow customers to self-service and access answers to their questions without human interaction, but they also allow you to offer 24/7 customer service without increasing your staff overhead.
Chatbots that answer frequently asked questions can take the form of AI or scripted chatbots, although scripted chatbots are more common in customer service and marketing environments. Scripted bots can conduct simple conversations with customers based on a predefined script.
When a user submits a customer service inquiry, the bot can respond with a predefined answer based on its script. Like other types of chatbots, the FAQ variant can forward a query to a human agent if it can't resolve it to the customer's satisfaction.
With more advanced AI chatbot technology, you can create a dynamic FAQ module, where new frequently asked questions are dynamically displayed, with the best possible answer available. As a bot, it can determine answers to more complex questions based on the question format and the information your organization has available. For example, customers can phrase the question in any way, and the bot will search for the best answer across all connected databases (whether the website, your catalog, or previously asked questions). It can recognize questions based on entities and intent.
Advantages of a FAQ chatbot
FAQ chatbots save customers valuable time by avoiding hours on hold or spending a large portion of their day browsing FAQ pages. Allowing your customers to self-serve has two main advantages:
This means your customer service team can focus on providing quality service, rather than dealing with repetitive inquiries, which means they can take time off outside of business hours.
Customers can get the information they need with minimal effort and without having to speak to a customer service agent, which can be intimidating for some.
Types of FAQ chatbots
1. Verification chatbot
Verification chatbots are a simple and secure way to verify customer identity, allowing them to access and update their information online without having to contact customer service teams directly. These verification chatbots allow customers to securely correct payment or contact information, protecting them from fraudulent access.
These types of bots can make life easier for your customer service team.
If, for example, you need to verify a customer's identity before connecting them with a live agent to discuss sensitive account details, a verification chatbot can provide a layer of security without requiring customer service to spend time answering a series of security questions.
Verification chatbots are especially useful when financial information needs to be disclosed.
For example, to update payment details for standing orders, correct financial information, or apply for a financial product online. Using technologies like two-factor authentication (2FA), your chatbot can securely identify customers using their mobile numbers. It's easy to use: the customer is sent a code via SMS or voice—possibly after being asked a security question for added protection—and is asked to enter it into the chatbot to verify their identity.
Advantages of a verification chatbot
- Verification-focused chatbots offer organizations and customers a secure form of self-service.
- Customers can share sensitive information without human interference. Many people prefer this and give more honest answers to a machine.
- Customers can securely update their data.
- Organizations can quickly verify customers, saving customer service agents time.
2. AI Customer Service Chatbot
Automating the customer service question-answering process allows your team to use their time more efficiently to provide a better, more consistent experience for your customers. Your customer service chatbot can automatically respond to various queries and even use connected databases to find the answer to more complex questions. With the right data, the bot can be highly personalized. It can tailor responses based on known customer data and even make recommendations based on their preferences.
Additionally, advanced AI chatbots combine machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) and work based on context, not just keywords. This means your chatbot can infer the intent of responses, making it seem like the customer is talking to a human and providing exceptional customer service.
Analytics help you better understand your customers, allowing you to continually optimize your bot. Many organizations begin their automation journey with certain topics in mind, but once they get going, data shows that customers actually ask completely different questions. This data helps optimize not only your bot but also your live service.
Advantages of a customer service chatbot
If implemented correctly, a customer service chatbot can save you a lot of time and money. Some of the most important benefits include:
- 24/7 support for your customers with no waiting times.
- Faster problem resolution: Even if a handover occurs, agents will already have more data at their disposal.
3. Internal knowledge base chatbot
An internal knowledge base chatbot allows you to maintain a wealth of internal company information in one place. Not just for your customer service team to access, but for the entire company. This dynamic database can be updated by product experts and customer service agents to always have the best possible answers. This single source of truth is often based on your chatbot's customer-facing input and will be continuously optimized.
One of the main advantages of an internal knowledge base chatbot is that it can accelerate new employee training and enable newcomers to become more effective more quickly. The secondary effect is that it frees up more experienced employees to focus on quality customer service instead of line management and training.
But internal knowledge bases aren't just for newcomers: experienced colleagues can benefit from the depth of information they provide. It's virtually impossible for an employee to have all the information they need to do their job at all times, so an internal chatbot is a useful reference tool.
Knowledge leakage is also a concern, especially in high-turnover environments like customer service. A dynamic internal knowledge base solves the problem of knowledge retention by keeping vital information accessible to all team members.
Advantages of an internal knowledge base chatbot
A knowledge base chatbot can help employees in ways humans can't, providing them with the information they need to do their jobs effectively from day one.
- Increase the effectiveness of new and experienced employees.
- Allows teams to quickly find the right answers.
- More consistent and unified customer experiences.
How to use an internal knowledge base chatbot?
There are many areas of your business that could benefit from an internal chatbot.
Internal processes
Sometimes, chatbot functionality is smarter than some internal systems. A dynamic internal knowledge base can enhance legacy systems. Use it as a single source of truth to break down silos. Improve your employee experience while improving the customer experience. All employees can search for an answer, check if it's correct, and receive instructions on how to use it in their work—all from a single system. This leads to the best response, in any situation.
Internal processes
Searching for data across multiple systems is a thing of the past: you can find everything in your knowledge base. Make sure your company is up-to-date with and updates your knowledge base content, so your agents and bots always have the best answer available. Both use the same data, leading to a more consistent and unified customer experience.
4. Chatbot for live events
A live event chatbot allows customers to get quick answers to their questions before, during, and after a live event. Live event chatbots can quickly and easily answer all types of visitor questions about live events, leaving agents more time to address complex issues or problems.
In addition to automatically answering frequently asked questions, an AI-powered chatbot can understand context and recall detailed information to answer broader questions, creating a more conversational experience for consumers. It can use real-time data to provide the best, most personalized answers, such as directing visitors to the stage where it will perform.
The chatbot can handle the entire experience, only handing off to customer service agents when a query escalates to a level the chatbot can no longer handle or when the customer requests human assistance.
Event chatbots can serve multiple purposes. Use them for customer service, purely informational, or to enhance the event experience with added entertainment. Create a cohesive experience across marketing, service, and sales.
Advantages of a chatbot for live events
A chatbot can surprise your visitors before, during, and after the event, offering them exclusive content, offers, entertainment, or notifications to ensure they capture all the event's must-see attractions. A chatbot can also save you and your visitors a lot of time. With personalized conversations, you can help your visitors and gather feedback instantly, without having to wait until the event is over.
An improved experience benefits your event in the long run, creates a positive sentiment, and encourages your visitors to purchase tickets again.
Save time, effort, and resources. A chatbot helps visitors, taking the work off their plate.
5. Voicebot
A voicebot is a conversational agent that uses artificial intelligence and natural language understanding (NLU) to interpret the intent and meaning of its interlocutor's speech. This technology is also often referred to as "conversational IVR" (Conversational Interactive Voice Response).
In simple terms, conversational IVR allows users to interact with a self-service solution with their voice, using everyday language. A voice bot can understand complete sentences and context. It will respond in full sentences, allowing callers to steer the conversation.
Unlike traditional IVR, there's no static menu, and callers don't have to dial numbers. Conversational IVR offers a faster, smoother, and more personal experience for customers. They can speak to the bot just as they would to a human agent.
As with previous types of chatbots, if the conversation delves into complex territory that requires a response from a human agent, the voice bot can direct the query to the appropriate agent to facilitate a satisfactory response.
Advantages of a chatbot for live events
The feeling of "I want it all and I want it now" shows no signs of abating. In fact, 98% of customers admit that calling a service center takes too long and actively seek a faster method. Voicebots achieve this, as they are able to simultaneously handle multiple requests, virtually eliminating wait times. Not only is there no wait time, but a voicebot can provide assistance 24/7.
No wait times; 24/7 phone support.
Save time and resources. The bot will help reduce the number of calls between customers and live agents.
How to use a voice robot?
Your voicebot is a brilliant conversational tool that allows your customers to learn more about your business. Here are some of the things it can do:
Update customer information
A voicebot is the perfect assistant to help your customers update vital information without having to speak to a human customer service agent. Even better, you won't have to wait for help. Easily change an address, change the delivery time, or schedule an appointment.
Search for information about the company
Your voicebot is a helpful tool for customers to find important information about your business: from opening hours to important email and street addresses, your voicebot can ensure customers are well-informed and always enjoy a smooth and responsive customer service experience.
Check the status of an order
A voicebot can quickly and effectively inform customers who want to know the location of their orders, saving your customer service team valuable time and providing a much more efficient way to obtain order tracking information. When connected to the appropriate systems, the voicebot can change delivery times, addresses, or cancel the order.
Fountain: Chatbots
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