Technology

Choosing the Right Chatbot for Your Business

By · 21 April 2019

Chatbots?! What are they and… do you need one?

Looking for a way to automate interactions between your website and visitors? Then a chatbot might just be the perfect solution for you. Running a successful website takes a lot of time and attention. Website owners find that they constantly need to attend to questions from visitors and customers, which often come down to the same thing over and over. Instead of wasting valuable resources hiring staff to handle each question individually, you might consider using a chatbot to automate these repetitive conversations.

What are chatbots?

A chatbot is a specialized software program or dedicated service, designed to automatically respond to messages or questions from website users. Chatbots used to give the same answers every time, but with advances in AI technology, they can now adapt and respond differently to queries, based on context or specific keywords.

The main uses of chatbots include:

  • Instant answers to frequently asked questions
  • Quickly resolving customer problems and issues
  • More detailed answers to basic questions
  • Routing users to a customer representative
  • Sending notifications about discounts, new products, service changes, etc.

Benefits of using a chatbot

    • Save money:
      Instead of hiring staff to answer customer questions, you can minimize overhead costs by using a chatbot. The cost of building a chatbot is a valuable one-time expense that will save you a lot in the long run. There are already some existing bots that might be immediately applicable to you.
    • Save time:
      Chatbots provide instant, accurate answers, saving both you and your customers time. Customers don’t have to wait long for a response when customer service is busy or has already gone home after hours. They can answer thousands of questions at once, regardless of the time of day.
    • Increased customer satisfaction:
      International customers can get answers in their native language, and customers shopping late at night will benefit from being able to ask a question and get answers right away. Chatbots also provide courteous answers, even when your customers are rude or in a bad mood. This will increase customer satisfaction and help inspire trust and credibility in your business or brand.
    • Minimize human error:
      It’s inevitable that human customer representatives will make mistakes from time to time when handling customer questions. These human errors can end up harming your business or brand. By using a chatbot, you can be sure customers get the right answers every time.

Our pick for the 3 best WordPress chatbot plugins

Collect.chat

Collect.chat is one of the most popular WordPress chatbot plugins, designed to systematically collect data from website visitors. With Collect.chat, your customers and site visitors can give their feedback, opinions, and reviews about your business. This chatbot plugin lets website owners use simple drag-and-drop templates to build interactive chatbots.

IBM Watson Assistant

IBM Watson Assistant is a powerful live chat plugin developed by IBM. This chatbot plugin eliminates the need for traditional website forms by giving website visitors direct answers to customer questions. IBM Watson Assistant can also provide helpful information, assist with website navigation, and much more.

You can download it here: Go to IBM Watson

WoowBot WooCommerce Bot

WoowBot is a simple yet powerful live chat plugin specifically designed as an automatic assistant for WooCommerce websites. It helps shoppers find what they’re looking for and offers handy tools like advanced search and the ability to add items straight to the cart through the chat window. WoowBot WooCommerce Bot requires no third-party integrations, making it very easy to implement.

You can download it here: Go to Woowbot