Website Chatbot vs. Live Chat: Which is Best?

Ask business owners about their preferences for chatbots vs. live chat on websites, and they will laud AI customer support. On the other hand, ask customers, and they will likely favor using live chat software. Customer service is a concern for both sides of the discussion. However, where can you find the happy medium that satisfies business owners and customers?

A Human vs AI Support Comparison

In the chatbot vs. live chat discussion, let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of both solutions.

AI Customer Support

Pros of chatbots for e-commerce settings abound.

• Consistent responses. When dealing with live customer service agents, responses tend to vary from person to person, depending on their training and level of empathy.
• Consistent availability. No matter how busy your company is, the chatbot is always on.
• Efficient. Programming determines responses, which eliminates errors.
  

Live Chat With Human Customer Service Representatives (CSRs)

On the other hand, the live chat best practices make this solution so popular with customers.

• Personalized service. No matter how well it is programmed, AI misses nuances of human communication. CSRs can respond with empathy. AI may misunderstand the underlying issues.
• Flexibility. Complex issues sometimes require some slight rule-bending. This type of judgment call requires human understanding of the customer’s needs, the company’s policies, and the ability to satisfy both.
• Transparency. If a CSR makes a mistake, they can admit and correct it. Even when customers are unhappy with a decision, they may accept it when the CSR explains their reasoning. AI lacks this level of functionality.

Chatbot Integration with Human Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

What if the choice between chatbots vs live chat on websites does not have to be an either-or proposition? Chatbot integration with CRM could be a winning combination. Live CSRs handle sensitive topics, deal with complaints, offer negotiations, and oversee policy exceptions. On the other hand, AI is great for providing quick answers to frequently asked questions, facilitating order tracking, serving as a gateway to self-service options, and scheduling. When used with a well-defined handoff protocol from chatbot to agent, your website may have room for both.

How to Make Customer Experience Automation Work for Your Business

We have just discussed how to integrate AI with human-led CRM. Are we done? The answer is no. What makes chatbot integration so attractive is the relatively low expense compared to the actual cost of live chat agents. Moreover, customers now demand agents who are available around the clock. When 24/7 customer service is not feasible for your business model, the chatbot becomes an attractive alternative. So, how can you make customers happy and keep personnel costs reasonable?

Focus on Speedy Response Times

Chatbots easily reduce response time. Statistics reveal that 77% of polled consumers want a business to value their time. A staggering 55% will likely abandon a cart if they do not get quick answers to questions. When you prioritize quick response times, the chatbot wins. If you use it as a means of initial interaction with the customer, you may free up your CSRs to address issues that customers want to discuss with a human rather than a machine.

Know Your Customer Demographic

It has already been reported that millennials prefer interacting with technology rather than the human element. If they can get responses from chatbots, they consider it a positive customer service experience. On the other hand, older generations prefer to interact with humans. They get frustrated quickly when a chatbot fails to answer nuanced questions in kind. Depending on who is part of your ideal customer persona, where to place your emphasis becomes clear.

Adjust Chatbot Usage With an Eye on Scalability

For the company going through a growth period, it may take some time to bring new CSRs on board. In this situation, the determination of chatbots vs live chat on websites may depend on the nature of the incoming calls. For example, chatbots can field repetitive questions when you are still hiring CSRs. This way, chatbots free up available CSRs for the more complex calls. However, remember that you must make additional adjustments as the number of CSRs increases or business growth slows.

Boost Customer Engagement with Chatbots

One of the most overlooked advantages of using chatbots is the opportunity to increase customer engagement with your brand. Even small to mid-sized business owners who are on the fence about AI must admit that chatbots are fantastic tools for engagement.

• Around-the-clock immediate responses eliminate customer wait times and keep customers on your website. The same goes for the option of letting customers schedule appointments via AI.
• Starting a non-intrusive conversation with the customer can result in opportunities for product suggestions and special offers.
• AI-run contests, quizzes, and promotions keep customers connected to your brand and also increase participation in your promotions.
• Basic troubleshooting minimizes the customer’s need to look at third-party websites for answers when a product fails to perform as advertised.
• Chatbot personalization lets your business engage with returning customers, particularly those who might have abandoned a cart.
• Gauge customer satisfaction with post-sale or post-interaction feedback requests. You will likely get more responses than an emailed survey will ever generate.

Chatbot Use Beyond Simple Customer Service

Another advantage of the chatbot is that it generates leads that CSRs can interact with. If you have a chatbot programmed to ask customers for their product preferences, budget considerations, and service needs, AI will qualify leads that it can then pass on to CSRs. Moreover, you can eliminate the traditional signup form by collecting emails and phone numbers through the chatbot. From there, CSRs can be in their element with lead nurturing and needed follow-ups.

The Three Interactions You Should Never Route to a Chatbot

Customers will appreciate the speed with which AI can answer frequently asked questions. However, there are some customer interactions that you should never let the chatbot handle.

1. Customer complaints.
2. Customer feedback for individual employees.
3. Customer suggestions for improving any aspect of your business.

Hand-in-hand with this consideration is the warning never to pretend that a chatbot is a live CSR. It is tempting to do so, and you may get away with it for a short time. However, humans quickly notice when conversations are “off” in tone or nuance. When they learn that you deceived them, it damages the trustworthiness of your brand. Moreover, leading your customers on with a chatbot may be illegal. California and Utah have developed legislation that requires bots to identify themselves as AI.

That said, your AI does not have to sound artificial. Without crossing the line to impersonations, your chatbot can use informal language (if appropriate) and include emojis in its messages. Concurrently, it can personalize interactions by using the customer's first name. Of course, the best chat experience for a customer is when you have a protocol that immediately transfers the customer to a live CSR when the customer requests it. It is the equivalent of the old phone systems that let you press “0” for the operator.

What to Look for When Choosing a Website Chat Widget for Your Business

You have determined that artificial intelligence in the form of a chatbot has a place on your company’s website. Now it comes down to making the best selection for your business. What should you look for? You already know that you want relevant features and excellent customer support. But what else is there?

No-Code Customization

A small business without extensive IT support and employee technical know-how needs a chatbot that is easy to set up and use. Moreover, no-code customization lets you get the chatbot up and running quickly, typically with pre-built templates. For an initial foray into chatbot use, this is an excellent entry-level experience.

Self-Service Chat

Customers with routine inquiries into account balances, shipping dates, and inventory availability will appreciate having a chatbot give them this information without waiting for a CSR to enter the chat. If you have integrated accounting, shipping, and inventory software with your chat widget, it becomes a tremendous information powerhouse. For small businesses that are currently low on CSR staff, self-service chat is a viable option that is well worth exploring.

Quick Answer Flows

Some questions may not be in your website’s FAQ section but are nevertheless frequently asked. For this set of questions, integrate quick answer flows into the widget. Examples include questions such as “are you currently running any promotions? " " Are your ingredients organic?” or “What is your return policy?”

Conversational AI

A chatbot that uses conversational AI will mimic natural conversation patterns. The platform must incorporate natural language processing, large language models, and machine learning to achieve this goal. Because it can personalize interactions, it leads to increased customer satisfaction. If this appears to be a tall order for your small business now, consider it a future update.

Lead Capture Ability

Your chatbot should allow you to collect customer details such as names, phone numbers, and emails. Some platforms let you further segment customer data by product preferences and search terms. In this way, your team can easily identify qualified leads and take action on them.

Automated FAQ Support

Because the chatbot is active even if the business is closed, use its programming to provide visiting customers with answers to frequently asked questions. It should also alert customers to your regular business hours so they can interact with a CSR if they wish to do so.

Live Chat Integration

When the chatbot is out of its depth during business hours, there must be a protocol for transferring the conversation to a CSR. It is critical to keep the chat history visible so that the customer will not have to repeat their query and the CSR will not repeat responses the chatbot has already given.

Scalability

As your business grows, your chatbot platform needs to grow alongside it. If you are considering providers, look for those that offer a variety of tiers. Each level will add new functionalities that correspond with your company's needs. Another part of scalability is integrating the chatbot with existing systems you are already running. We have already discussed options such as CRM or accounting. Besides that, ensure that the platform selected has à la carte features such as multilingual support, currency conversion, and mobile responsiveness.

Along with scalability comes an increase in fees. Consider that chatbot widgets come with an upfront investment and subsequent ongoing fees. Moreover, adding new service tiers will also factor into the cost of operating a chatbot on your website. Therefore, do not invest in something you cannot use now. If you work with a provider that allows for ongoing scalability, it is easy to manage costs by only investing in the solutions that you need at the moment, versus those that would be nice to have in a year.

When you budget to incorporate a chatbot widget, remember that live chat software also has a cost factor. For example, you may find that platforms will charge you a monthly fee based on the number of agents using the software. Similarly, you must invest additional funds if you want the software to support multiple channels. And, as your business grows, and you rely more on live chat for customer interactions, so will the cost of doing so. Many platforms increase costs while keeping up with your growing live chat use. Moreover, if you want customer support available when you need it, there will -- once again -- be additional fees. It is possible to lower costs by allowing the vendor to include their branding.

What Affects a Chatbot’s Return on Investment (ROI)?

Chatbot ROI statistics depend significantly on selecting the right product for your business at the initial setup time. For example, IBM determined that conversational AI reduces “cost per contact by 23.5%” while increasing annual revenues by an average of 4%. Another option, self-service chat, lets customers handle routine interactions without calling during business hours. Interestingly, chatbot ROI will ultimately be affected by customers' increased acceptance of this technology. Before long, businesses with chatbots will outcompete those who have not invested in this technology.

A Real World Example of Affordable Chatbot Technology: InboxPro

If you are still on the fence about AI, chatbots, and CRM integration, consider the InboxPro software package. It has the power to capture leads, act as a centralized inbox for channels you are currently using, expand to perform AI voice reception tasks, and let you share the inbox with the team for better collaboration. This way, CSRs can immediately respond when a qualified lead makes inquiries.

If this foray into chatbots, AI, human integration, live chat software costs, and scalability sounds complicated, it does not have to be. Our team will gladly show you how even small businesses can leverage the technology already making large businesses thrive. Additionally, consider other options, such as automating your brand-reputation management and social media marketing. Schedule a call today!