The chatbot guide for beginners

Use cases

We now know why you should use an intelligent chatbot, so let’s take a deeper look into how you can use your AI chatbot. There is of course an unlimited number of ways you can use a chatbot, but we are going to highlight the three most common use cases.

Customer service

Probably the first department to come to mind when thinking of implementing a chatbot is customer service. Because service teams are often overwhelmed with customers asking questions at all times of the day, it becomes easy to understand how a chatbot can make a difference here.

In the case of customer service, your chatbot would be primarily focused on recognising the most frequently asked questions and providing the correct answers to them. Implementing this kind of chatbot would seem like it’d be as simple as loading your FAQ’s into the knowledge of the chatbot, but in reality there’s more to it.

Excellent customer service is not just about answering questions, but also about understanding your customers’ needs and guiding them to the solution best suited to them. Conversational is the key here, as oftentimes the real solution someone is trying to find goes beyond just the first question they ask.

Just like a real life agent would do, your chatbot can also ask follow up questions to better understand the underlying problems and provide a fitting solution. So when designing a Customer Service chatbot, it is important to consider the conversational side of the conversation. Think about how your customers ask their questions, how colleagues would respond to them and how customers would like to be guided through the appropriate steps.

Lead generation

Where the classic example of a chatbot goes above and beyond for your customers, a more recent trend puts your chatbot to use for your Marketing and Sales teams as well. With the proper setup, a commercial chatbot can easily bridge the gap between service and sales.

Picture this: your customers are browsing your website, looking for the right information. To help them along, your chatbot steps in and guides them through the wealth of information. But instead of leaving them with the answer to their questions, the conversation goes one step further. Right at the moment when your customers are satisfied with the service they received, your digital assistant asks one more important question: “Would you like to receive more information about this?” or perhaps “Can I help with a quote for the products you just found?”.

Your chatbot proceeds to ask them all the details you want to know; name, contact information, interests, maybe even about budgets. All this information is then shared with your Marketing and Sales teams, increasing the count of your fully qualified leads. Your colleagues can now continue with their Sales funnel, as they have a complete package of information, ready to use in their follow up.

HR & recruitment

A newer, interesting use case for Conversational AI combines the strengths of service chatbots and commercial chatbots, creating a powerful digital assistant for your Human Resources department.

Where service is usually focused towards your customers, it is important not to forget that your colleagues are in need of service too. Ask any HR manager and they’ll tell you that they too are sometimes overwhelmed with questions from their colleagues. Holidays, contracts, overtime or payments are just a few of the topics your colleagues can have troubles with. Here it becomes easy to see how your chatbot can come to the rescue.

When implementing an HR chatbot for internal service, your colleagues can be provided with answers to all their questions instantly. Further actions can be then taken by your chatbot to automate even more processes and alleviate most of the pressures your HR department is currently experiencing.

Sales is not the only team benefiting from lead generation. When your business is growing, new positions are opening up all the time, and it can be a challenge to find the right people to fulfil these new roles. In the same way your chatbot can generate new commercial leads, new applicants for your job openings can easily be qualified by asking the right questions automatically.

By asking questions about experience, education, salary expectations or skills, your chatbot can easily eliminate unqualified candidates and provide your HR department with only the right people for the job. Your colleagues can then spend their valuable time interviewing the qualified candidates to find the right match for your company.