Boosting Business through Chat bots? How we took advantage.

A few months back I was approached by a puzzled man who was actively figuring out ways to solve a business problem he was facing. It turns out that his medium scale baking business has been catching the eyes of many around the place and also on social media but on the contrary, he was perplexed as to why so little business materializes in spite of so much interaction with people. After a couple of sit downs over a cup of coffee ( and cakes! ) We drilled down and found that it was the process of engaging with people that had to be streamlined.

So, what was the solution? A long document of strategic plans, tweaks to their brand voice, marketing techniques and so on. But, the cherry on the top was a little technology.

We chalked out a plan to have a messenger bot interact with people on their social media and it worked wonders.

The surprising thing was that we were able to achieve way more than what we expected just by implementing this. So, here are a few things that we observed that other businesses can also leverage upon.

1. The customers were made to feel they steps away from the store.

It’s very natural that people will love quick and warm responses to the queries they put out, this was exactly programmed into the bot. The bot’s welcome messages and responses let the customers know they are in touch.

Tip : Reducing the bot-ish tone of the programmed responses helps a lot. Keep it friendly and consistent.

2. Bots led the customers towards their needs.

The bot acted as an innovative method to streamline sales aspects with considerable efficiency. It showed the path for customers in some cases through the planned sales funnel using relevant responses. Sometimes, Chat bots can also invoke interest in additional products and services.

Tip : Using analytic data from the bot can aid further sales and marketing efforts. The bot kept the business active online 24x7 Always open to engaging with potential customers with instant and appropriate responses

3. Customer Service and Support had drastic improvement.

Fundamentally a business needs to keep its customers happy to thrive. Chat bots provided 24x7 interactions, reduced human errors, established personalized communication with customers and most importantly no one was kept waiting. The bot attended to each query then and there, resulting in enhanced support to customers

Tip : Visual content or information about the brand like offers, events etc can keep the customer interested and satisfied

An example of how brilliant the Domino’s Pizza chat bot is!

4. Bots were an innovative way for sales and post sale activities

Businesses in general always push hard for innovative sales techniques. The bot can reach out to a massive audience on social media and showcase relevant product or service information to the right people. They can monitor consumer behavior and track interests and use simple push notifications to reach out without much fuss.

Tip : Use bots to send simple feedback surveys, due to its simplicity valuable reviews can be acquired more effectively than conventional ways.

5. The brand was taken to the next level.

Chat bots provide great engagement that improves how the brand is perceived. Due to the flexibility in deploying a bot they can be made to align with the brand voice and be professional. The experience of communicating with the brand was made fun. Sending the right information to the right people increased interest among them and enhanced the reputation of the brand.

Tip : Adopting a bot is one thing, letting people know you use bots can give your brand a fresh feel.

It’s not a surprise to see chat bots becoming more and more popular among consumer facing businesses as they mitigate consumer pain points, perform well-defined tasks, provide good customer service and increase the satisfaction levels as we found out. All things definitely point towards this technology inevitably becoming a standard in business operations online.