In 1964, MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum developed what we could call the first prototype of a working chatbot. It was called ELIZA. ELIZA was a test case of the Turing test — a method of inquiry in Artificial Intelligence for determining whether or not a computer is capable of thinking like a human being.
Almost four decades later, in 2009, WeChat — a China-based multi-purpose messaging and social media app greeted the world. It rewrote all the expectations that the world had about chatbots until then. It proved with solid evidence that chatbots can drastically reduce the burden on businesses, their web admins, marketers, and most importantly, their support staff.
In 2016, Facebook launched the Messenger Bot, and the world of chatbots development became easily accessible for every business irrespective of size and scale.
It is safe to say that our fascination with chatbots has been long-drawn. But that raises a valid question:
Why Do Businesses Need AI Chatbots?
Chatbots are primarily used for getting quick replies without engaging human agents. It also helps businesses resolve customer complaints, provide detailed responses to frequently asked questions, and so on.
Furthermore, chatbots offer a slightly refined experience compared to traditional online experiences. For instance, websites are by nature difficult to navigate and do not provide real-time responses. Even answers to simple questions are typically difficult to find on a website. Whereas a chatbot can provide all of this with great ease without making the customer wait or take the long route to find information.
Although solving customer complaints and grievances quickly is a priority for every business, the way each business handles it changes from industry to industry and from vertical to vertical.
AI chatbots, once a new-age concept, have finally become mature for business applications. And there are countless use cases that can be tried across industries. A handful of them forms the crux of this article. Here are just four of the many uses for AI Chatbots, each of which is detailed, below:
- Emergency services in banking
- Booking arrangements in travel & hospitality
- Conducting surveys in marketing
- Store assistance in eCommerce
Chatbots For Emergency Services in Banking
Banks and financial institutions hold the most valuable and intimate assets of customers — their hard-earned money. When things go wrong, like a lost credit card, forgotten credentials, or worse, a fraudulent transaction; customers need instant support.
Unlike in other support scenarios where is some amount of time for respite, in these emergency scenarios, support needs to be provided in real-time. It is essential that customers be directed to the right customer service department like credit cards, online banking, or account management so that they can regain control over their funds.
Chatbots make it possible to handle large volumes of such transactions on a real-time basis. They can help banks and financial institutions segment customers based on their grievances and direct them towards the appropriate customer service department where a resolution can be found.
Chatbots For Booking Arrangements in Travel & Hospitality
This is the era of drag-and-drop travel planning. Mobile apps and web applications have made it easy for customers to quickly plan their travel itineraries without any hassles. However, the hassle is seeing the itinerary implemented with confirmed hotel bookings and ticket reservations.
Can chatbots help here? Of course, they can. Chatbots can act as virtual assistants on the website that can collect itinerary details from customers and help them make quick bookings. They can spare users from the need to hold long and unproductive conversations with customer support reps.
Be it instant flight booking or changing the dates for a hotel booking, everything is possible with chatbots.
Chatbots for Conducting Surveys in Marketing
At least once every year, every marketer is entrusted with the function of running surveys to gauge customer experience and to identify new avenues through which leads can be generated. Traditionally, surveys have been conducted by sending emails to target customers.
However, today there are umpteen tools available in the market that can help marketers conduct, manage, and collect survey data seamlessly. Chatbots are one among them.
Compared to traditional survey tools that require the customer to follow a linear path of questions, chatbots are more flexible and user-centric. They are capable of shifting gears based on the user’s feedback and hence drive maximum value out of the survey.
Chatbots for Store Assistance in eCommerce
Let’s face it. At some point, we all have found ourselves lost in an online store. Despite the best efforts of the eCommerce community, finding the right product from a vast online store is still like finding a needle in a haystack.
Unfortunately for online stores, if a customer is unable to find the product that they are looking for, they are quick to close the tab and move on to another online store. Some people will even abandon the idea of the purchase.
Chatbots can help turn that situation around. They can act as virtual store assistants that can help customers with product suggestions. They can help take customers straight to the product pages as a store assistant would do in an offline store. Even Suggests optimized content based on products viewed.
There is an AI Chatbot For Every Business Function
This is the best way to summarize the plot of this article. There is no industry and business function where a chatbot cannot make a positive influence. From tightly regulated banking and financial services to leisurely travel & hospitality, chatbots can make a huge difference to every business function. And yes, they can help you in your small B2B enterprise.
They can automate role tasks that otherwise require a large team of professionals to handle on a regular basis. In the process, they also deliver great insights about the customers and their preferences. That said, integrating a chatbot into your business function can grow your business in the forward direction.
Sign Up For Our Mailing List
If you’d like to receive more in-depth articles, videos, and Infographics in your inbox, please sign up below. We’ll also keep you abreast of our upcoming soup-to-nuts blogging class.
Sign up for the newest articles from Curatti, delivered straight to your inbox
Featured image: Origin unknown
Latest posts by Srushti Shah (see all)
- AI Chatbots: What Can They Do For Each Business Function? - May 20, 2021