I really received superior service the other day. I was trying to find something online on a website when I was asked if I needed help, I was a little confused because the question came from my Facebook Messenger. I responded and actually got the answer that I sought. I placed the order and was pretty satisfied with my purchase. I really thought that I had been speaking to someone when I realized what time it was. I soon realized it must have been a Chatbot.
Chatbots are considered applications but they do not have User Interface (Roggio, 2017). There are two types of Chatbots, a rule-based Chatbot can respond to specific commands and then there are artificial intelligence Chatbots that respond to natural language. An example of a rule based Chatbot would be when you see an advertisement telling you to text to a particular number to receive a coupon to your phone. That’s a specific command Chatbot. I interacted with an Artificial intelligence Chatbot that responded to my actual questions (Roggio, 2017). More and more companies are using Chatbots as they help improve customer service and sales (Hintz, 2017). Chatbots use messaging platform like Facebook Messenger, Slack or WhatsApp (Hintz, 2017)
I thought about how many brands are using this type of technology and if it works. I recognized that I really felt as if I had received good service and was very satisfied, I’m sure many others feel the same way, which means this type of technology is working. It keeps customers engaged and made to feel important. It felt really good to get an answer to my question. It was helpful and the sale was made. Companies are using this type of technology to maintain customer service to keep an open conversation with consumers, the bots can also get data and help businesses know what consumers are asking and looking at on their sites (Hintz, 2017). These are just a few examples and they’re all valid points of why a business would utilize this technology. Many companies and brands are using bots, even the NBA, almost 49% of marketers and digital business executives say they are already using are testing or planning to begin to use bots (Hintz, 2017). I really wasn’t aware of the technology but am glad to know and I also am a satisfied consumer who utilized it and can understand why such a high amount of businesses are also using it.
Reference
Hintz,E. (2017) Thinking about chatbots, consider this. Forbes retrieved from
Roggio, A. (2017) What are chatbots and how do they work, Practical Ecommerce retrieved from http://www.practicalecommerce.com/What-Are-Chatbots-and-How-Do-They-Work