Growing up in the 80’s watching “Back to the Future,” featuring Marty McFly, Doc Brown and their DeLorean Time Machine, expanded the imagination on what could actually be. Could you imagine if Marty traveled to 2020 instead of 1955 and what he might have seen?
In this day and age, I feel like I’m traveling in my own time machine. From the powers of Alexa, to the modern conveniences of Uber Eats, this new era is filled with advances that change the way we operate.
When it comes to business, there is one advancement that has captivated my curiosity and that’s chatbots and conversational AI.
What is conversational AI?
Conversational artificial intelligence, conversational AI, or chatbots all refer to the same capability.
Conversational AI enables computers to simulate real-time conversations. Businesses often use it to automate customer facing conversations and engagements like customer service and lead generation inquiries.
What is the impact of conversational AI?
By adopting a conversational AI strategy, it can significantly transform how you engage with your customers.
The results are mostly positive and include:
- Real-Time Conversations: Today, we are becoming accustomed to instantaneous answers. If you have someone on your website ready to engage and you are unable to respond, they will move on to someone who can respond. If you are driving lead generation, we found a 50% increase in the number of responses when following up in real-time.
- 24/7 Customer Access: Business hours are expanding beyond the traditional 9am -5pm workday and by offering 24/7 access, you are increasing your customer service satisfaction and lead generation conversion rates by 5x.
- Resource Burden: I don’t know many customer service or lead generations teams who are not overloaded. I often hear skepticism and fear when the topic of Conversational AI is first raised. There are concerns that Conversational AI will replace jobs. On the contrary, Conversational AI acts as a very important member of the team that helps provide quality leads or helps answer many of the rudimentary customers service inquiries. Your Chatbot will become your most prized assistant. Who doesn’t need an assistant?
- Customer Satisfaction: The business outcomes are vast but most importantly, you will be able to service your customer in real-time and at any time of the day, even outside of standard business hours. In the world of “instant,” this will help drive your NPS scores and overall customer loyalty.
- Higher Lead Conversions: When using conversational AI for lead generation, you can expect higher response rates. You’ll find a great deal of data that shows when responding to a prospect within the first 5 minutes not only do your chances of conversion rise 5x, but the organization that responds first often wins the business to close.
It’s the future – now is the time not to fear chatbots but to embrace them. Get started on your conversational strategy and start driving improved customer service and lead generation outcomes.
