Automation of the research and discovery processes using chatbots is now empowering customers with a real-time, on-demand, personalized experience.
Chat and messenger apps are becoming the preferred way for consumers to research about products, interact with businesses and make purchase decisions. With advances in Artificial Intelligence, these contact point experiences enable consumers to interact with their favorite brands without cumbersome and lengthy call center connect which more often botch up their conversations finally. In fact, a recent survey reports that 89 percent of consumers are more comfortable to talk with CRMs over instant messaging and 66 percent prefer messaging over any other communication channel.
For expensive purchases like vehicles, integrating conversational AI into core marketing strategies can be a significant move. Here are three ways chatbots are can add value to your customer’s experience:
Discoverability and awareness
While company and channel websites offer sufficient information for buyers as they take their time for deciding on a purchase, these sites are often at the mercy of traditional digital channels like paid search, display and email to drive discoverability and consumer traffic to their site. Chatbots that deliver conversational marketing allows dealers to create awareness of the most valuable features and information capabilities of their website and their products. With chatbots on apps like Facebook Messenger, and more than 1.3 billion active users every month, it’s easy to reach an expansive audience of potential customers. This allows dealers to broaden their dealership awareness and simplify the customers’ access to the information they need during the research and consideration phases of the purchase journey.
Right Answers, on time
Purchase decisions can be a stressful and pressured activity, especially high-value ones. Since their core is of intelligence technologies (even if artificial), to dynamically respond to a range of simple to complex questions, they do not need to rely on human input or intervention. They can automatically generate answers to customer and dealer-specific inquiries, so customers can leave with a feeling of satisfaction that they received relevant information and answers to their questions before they even enter a shop or portal. Unlike traditional online experiences, chatbots can solve customer problems more efficiently and effectively.
Travel with the sun
In today’s digital economy, customers demand just the basic ease and accessibility. Their expectations are for a meaningful, customer-first experience, with an always-on solution. Chatbots are the most efficient and cost-effective way to catch the target customers’ dynamic expectations.
Beyond the perks of providing the key, qualifying information, chatbots also provide buyers an on-demand, personalized experience around the clock, with zero downtime, unlike what is required for a salesperson to respond to an email inquiry or deal with a flurry of phone calls. Instead, chatbots enable consumers to take control over their buying experience and seamlessly glean the information they want, in the channel they want, whenever they want it.
And, from the marketer perspective, chatbots can help take the stress off customer service people and customer-facing teams by serving as the first line of contact with shoppers, assisting with their needs and vetting the inquiry. From there, if an intervention is needed, they can be programmed to pass along the request for next steps.
With the consumers increasingly looking for more meaningful, personalized experiences, every industry will have to continue to evolve and embrace the future of buying – embracing both humans and chatbots.
