Modern technology exerts an ever-greater influence on people's lives and their mutual relationships. In the area of interpersonal communication, social media are achieving particular influence, led by Facebook with more than a billion users.
With the development of mobile technologies, we have learned to use text messages, voice calls and video calls in applications for communication. Today, chat, and in particular the Messenger instant messaging app, is a hot channel that is gaining ever-greater importance also in the area of business. Aleksander Siczek, Business Development Manager at Infobip, writes about how to use chatbots in communication with customers.
The potential of the Messenger app has been noticed by companies and brands looking for new channels through which they can reach business partners directly as part of B2B communication. The advantages that marketers see include not only the guarantee of reaching their audiences through channels where they are present every day, but above all the possibility of establishing interaction with them and personalizing the message. This approach is right, but before we start using Facebook Messenger as another way to engage customers and build our own chatbots, it is worth considering what practices we can implement to achieve the best possible results.
Make sure your messages are real and personal
Automated, intelligent chatbots have been with us since 2016. Many experts imagined that soon they would, among other things, help us order products in our favorite stores, and would do it better and faster than a human ever had before. Reality shows, however, that this is not so easy. Opinions about the first chatbots are definitely mixed. In many of them it is even hard to see simple logic and command of language. Every chatbot actually learns everything from people, adjusts its answers and updates its database based, among other things, on feedback when its answers miss the mark. However, when you start engaging bots in business communication, it is people who are responsible for preparing the messages that the bot will pass on to customers. So do not complicate things and focus on clarity and transparency of language. Keep messages short and readable. This way you will minimize the risk of misunderstandings and unnecessary stress on the customer's side. It must be remembered that although chatbots automate many interactions, they are still far from perfect.
Remember that bots will not replace a real conversation
Just as with sometimes irritating IVR phone systems, sometimes a customer wants to talk to a real person, so it is worth making that possible for customers. It would be best if answers to difficult questions were given by real people, which will also help add a (truly) human touch to the conversations. Of course, your people do not have to work 24/7 – it is enough to post the hours when they are available on the site and use Facebook's automated response systems to inform about the team's working hours. If employees handle online conversations with customers, make sure the chat is integrated with CRM systems.
Build relationships with customers in chat
Chat is perceived as more personal contact than, for example, e-mail. Use this fact by building relationships with your audiences. Even if a chatbot performs simple tasks such as updating contact details or helping to pay a bill, a quick and easy interaction from the customer's point of view will make them satisfied with the contact with the company, and this will help build stronger relationships. Interactions must bring added value and make customers' lives easier by generating profits or freeing them from a problem. Regardless of the technology, every time you do one of these two things for a customer (preferably both), you earn points with them!
The use of online chat, regardless of whether it is Facebook Messenger, WeChat, WhatsApp or Viber, definitely expands the space for B2C and B2B communication. The emergence of intelligent chatbots in 2016 aroused interest, and in 2017 companies began to take this form of communication quite seriously. Taking the above tips into account, online chats will be another tool for business. This is the right time to look at how you can improve your communication with customers using chat and how to make chat part of larger communication strategies.
Concepts from the article
B2C — Business-to-Consumer / company to consumer. A business model in which a company sells directly to an individual customer. Communication often focuses on benefits, emotions, convenience, price and a fast purchase process.
Why it matters: It lets you play on emotions and convenience: the consumer decides quickly, alone and with their heart more often than with a spreadsheet. A simple purchase path can mean more than an argument.
When it is used: When selling to consumers: product campaigns, promotions, e-commerce, communication of everyday brands. Used in two areas: consumer marketing and as a business model (company-to-consumer sales).
What omitting it risks: Communication written like a tender offer bores the consumer — the winner is the one who speaks more briefly, more warmly and makes buying easier.
CRM — Customer Relationship Management / managing relationships with customers. A system that stores contacts, leads, communication history, sales opportunities, tasks and marketing consents. It helps sales and marketing teams work on shared customer data.
Why it matters: It keeps all knowledge about the customer in one place: who talked to whom, about what and when, and at what stage the sale is. The salesperson leaves — the knowledge stays.
When it is used: In sales and marketing: from first contact through quotations to servicing regular customers and marketing consents.
What omitting it risks: Without CRM, customer history lives in inboxes and the notes of individual people; offers get duplicated and leads are lost on the way between departments.
