AI Chatbots for Business: Why You Need One Now!

It’s said that Artificial Intelligence will be just as smart as humans by 2050. Experts like Ray Kurzweil have even predicted that we’ll achieve a technological singularity by 2045. 

From that point on, it’s believed that AI will start inventing Nobel Prize-winning inventions every 5 minutes. Granted it’s gonna be out of our control, but hey, at least we’ll see a revolutionary breakthrough.

We may think that these claims are outlandish and ridiculous, but if someone were to tell me in the 70s that there will be self-driving cars in the future, I would’ve wanted to smoke whatever they were smoking.

But guess what, here we are in 2020, and Tesla already has their self-driving cars on the roads right now. And these were all recently developed technologies. Did you know that the first chatbot was actually launched in 1966? 

ELIZA was the first chatbot developed at MIT in 1966, which was able to answer some very simple decision tree questions. From that, to what it can do now is a huge leap:-

When I say natural language, it means that AI chatbots can process localized and vernacular phrases instead of just being able to process the keywords. You can now chat like you would with a human.

A good AI chatbot will always have Natural Language Processing (NLP) which gives them the ability to understand the intent of the user.

An AI can go from the level of intelligence of a toddler to that of a Ph.D. in about 3 weeks. Clearly, it’s a thousand times faster in learning than a human. Imagine how fast it can learn a new language.

Your chatbot can speak with anyone in the world in their native language, which would leave a great impression with negligible chances of getting lost in translation.

React is a technological framework used to build custom web applications. Why am I telling you this? Because “React” is also a word in the English language which means “to return an impulse or impression”.

Now, if you’re talking to a good chatbot of a tech company, it will be able to differentiate between what “react” grammatically means and in what context you’re talking to it. 

Every operation that a chatbot is able to perform is because of its database. Because it learns information and stores it, one of the key things it remembers is its conversation with you. 

Just like you would talk to a friend, a good AI chatbot remembers where you left the conversation the last time. You don’t need to provide information about yourself to it again.

A good Chatbot can easily be integrated with business tools and apps such as ERP, CRM, and Robotic Process Automation to collect data and trigger necessary actions. 

It should also integrate with social media tools to enable access to business data, analytics, and to evenly monitor engagement.

As you implement a chatbot solution in your website or application, you’ll gradually realize the following benefits:-

Back in the day, you would’ve had to spend a lot more money on an employee who would take care of such operations. 

Now, all you need is a chatbot who already understands what to respond with, saves information in real-time, and even triggers necessary actions if programmed to do so.

All this saves time because AI learns faster, remembers everything precisely, and does all of that at no extra cost, thereby helping you save money as well.

What makes us so sure about this? Well, firstly because of the fact that unlike employees, chatbots are available 24/7, which is a huge convenience for a potential customer.

Secondly, because a chatbot stores information in real-time and there’s no scope for human error. Therefore, fewer chances of any contact being missed out on.

Just when you thought this couldn’t get any better, you realize that a chatbot can simultaneously have conversations with everyone, thereby helping you grow your customer base. 

Besides, AI chatbots are used for business because they are able to not just reach multiple people simultaneously but are able to keep the conversation personalized as well.

Chatbots can take personalization to the next level. You can even automate at what level of conversation can be introduced with a special offer or suggest the right product or service for them.

In a conversion funnel, a potential customer goes through the phases of awareness, interest, desire, and action, precisely in that sequence. You can even pitch them with relevant offers or content based on what phase they’re in.

For example, if a person just wants to know more about what your services are all about, you can pitch them with a blog instead of hard-selling your service to them right away.

For every business, it may play out differently, but that’s also the beauty of chatbots. They can be customized for all sorts of businesses, be it eCommerce, IT, Marketing, Finance, etc.

Even if you’re operating your business in an industry where the conversations play out differently, you can mold the sequence of conversations accordingly.

Let’s have a look at some of the industries where Chatbots are being incorporated effectively:-

Healthcare facilities take a lot of time registering their patients, let alone logging their in-house personnel. Receptionists and office Admins are always caught up in this mundane process by spending time on their phones and face-to-face, all of which can easily be automated.

With the help of chatbots, they’ve already automated the process of information collection through a series of questions. Chatbots are smart enough to answer complex questions, and it’s an ability that’s only growing by the minute.

For example, computer vision is a tool that can help in transferring patients between offices when there are different EMR (Electronic Medical Records) systems in use. 

If a chatbot is integrated with a computer vision app, it can “scan” the documents it receives, visually extract the information from the document, and determine which field to place the data it reads, and can even store files like MRI, X-ray, or CAT scan images.

Traveling is yet another industry that has started to employ virtual assistants as their travel agents. We all use websites and mobile apps to look up the availability of tickets for flights and trains, or booking events or movie shows.

A chatbot can be programmed to act as that virtual agent to whom you can put forth your requests for booking tickets instead of surfing through the website and doing it manually.

It’s highly convenient to have a chatbot when the website or app is vast and skimming through it could be time-consuming. Expedia is a great example here because users just need to open Facebook Messenger and tell the bot about their travel plans, and voila!. You’ll be shown the five most popular hotel options in the chosen location.

The Real Estate Industry is no different when it comes to tapping into the potential of Virtual Assistance. They’re actively generating leads by collecting emails, so they’re not really shying away from using chatbots either.

Instead of reaching every individual differently, they’re starting to rely on AI chatbots for their realty business, as opposed to a contact form that an individual could fill on their own back in the day.

Nowadays, the customer can simply chat with the chatbot and ask for their queries, while leaving their contact information in the end.

Business between 2 organizations is a completely different ballgame. From generating such leads to doing business with these other organizations is different from B2C. Every step of the way, an impression of professionalism needs to be maintained. 

Which is why, when it comes to impression, chatbots play the most important role in B2B businesses compared to any other model because it goes to show a degree of professionalism, success and proactivity in the way of the service provider.

Besides, a chatbot’s utility is beyond comparison as well. Your customers, i.e. other business owners, are more likely to use a chatbot because they themselves understand its usefulness better than anyone else, which makes it a great tool for lead generation as well.

Hopefully, this helps you understand how AI chatbots can be used for making your business not only successful but even proves to be really efficient, and can easily replace costly resources. 

After I saw that video where Google demonstrated their AI booking a haircut appointment.

Since we’re only in the primitive stages of this tech, I only have high hopes and the chatbots are definitely going to be so much more advanced as time progresses.