Moving Past an Outdated Perception of Chatbots

Technology moves at a very high rate in the digital age. It seems like every second a new product or service is introduced to the world, only to become obsolete the very next second as something better comes along. This has created a mixed situation for consumers; new technology means innovation, and leads to healthy competition for better products. On the other hand, consumers don’t spend enough time with an existing product, because they tend to move on to something new as soon as it comes out. This means that developers may ditch the future development of a new product due to lack of interest. Impatience among consumers had led to some tech not getting the respect it may deserve.

Businesses and enterprises are guilty of this too. For instance, chatbots are a great example of a technology that was once very promising, but was eventually disregarded due to limited functionality, as well as users moving on to alternative options. While that may have been true during the first few years it was introduced, time and consistent development have turned the technology into something incredibly useful.

Venture Beat recently published an article that makes the case that chatbots are an underrated component, as many customers are becoming more interested in companies that utilize chat-based service programs. In fact, a recent survey by LivePerson found that 77% of participants stated they are more likely to purchase from a company that offers customer service messaging. But offering this service with humans could be a tough task for smaller companies, especially as the global economy deals with ongoing labor shortages.

Chatbots could be the answer to keeping up with the new demands of customers in the post-pandemic economy. Business leaders that are hesitant to implement chatbot programs should understand that they are much more sophisticated than previous renditions, and can offer customers a positive experience that rivals the human experience. Advancements in machine learning, AI, and analytics have made it possible for chatbots to offer exceptional service, without having to wait for a human agent to complete simple tasks.

Business leaders may have been correct in the past when making the claim that chatbots weren’t capable of meeting the skills of humans. However, current chatbot programming has become incredibly useful for minor tasks, and does not deserve to be compared to earlier versions.