All blog articles
Chatbots
Customer Interaction Management
Omni-Channel

Chatbots: From Conversation to Transaction – Part 1

January 10, 2018

Retailers and service providers recently adopted Chatbot technology as it’s an important addition to the variety of channels they use for customer communication and lead generation. It doesn’t cost as much as human–agent interactions, and the interface is quite casual, compared to the more formal and sometimes intimidating classic self-service user interfaces. These benefits position bots as a favored method for exchanging useful information with customers.

At least, in theory they are…

Every technology has its late adopters, but even early-adopting, avid technology buffs would be discouraged from using a chatbot if it failed in one of the two major use-aspects, which are conducting a reasonably fluent conversation with a first-time user, and providing actual value to the user. "Value" in the context of chatbots typically means saving the user considerable time compared to the alternatives, such as waiting on hold for a human agent, or browsing through a lot of webpages in search for an answer to a question.

Conversational fluency requires both choosing the right bot and AI technology platforms, and creating vocabulary and conversation flows that are appropriate to the context in which the bot is expected to operate. From an implementation perspective, you’d expect that getting this combination set up right would be the complicated aspect of a chatbot project.

But as it turns out, while AI technologies rapidly evolve to deliver better conversational experiences, it’s actually the value side of things that businesses need to nurture; particularly how their bot users perceive the value offered. Bots designed to "do everything" typically end up being rather overwhelming and fail in their mission of guiding users quickly and efficiently to getting the desired information or service. Bots focused on a few simple tasks are more likely to actually assist the user.

As Q-nomy operates mainly in the field of omnichannel customer journey management, we have recently been studying what value chatbots can bring to users in the context of the omnichannel, i.e. providing a better experience to customers wishing to inquire online for information on other available channels, and streamlining the journey from the digital to the physical channels.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we'll discuss what we’ve learned and developed!

You may like these articles too

May 15, 2023
Customer Experience
Omni-Channel

Elevate Your Retail Experience: Say Hello to Video Calls on Your Website

Providing exceptional customer experience is paramount to success. Our latest innovation, embedded video calls, revolutionizes customer engagement by seamlessly integrating video calls into your website, unlocking a range of powerful advantages for retailers.
April 10, 2023
Customer Experience
Omni-Channel
SaaS

Revolutionizing Small Clinic Operations with Cubu by Q-nomy

At Q-nomy, we've been helping large medical centers manage patient flow, appointments, and interactions for over 20 years. But what if you're a small clinic with a limited budget and resources? That's where Cubu comes in.
August 18, 2022
Omni-Channel
Q-App

Virtual Lobby 2.1 Is More Than Just Another Release

The word "Queue" may seem like it's just the letter "Q" followed by four silent letters, but in reality, they're just waiting for their turn.
June 13, 2022
Banks
Customer Journey
Government
Mobile App
Omni-Channel

The Customer Journey Hub: Q-Flow Virtual Lobby

Have you ever waited to get serviced at a bank, government office, or another service center where you take a number only to think, “why can’t this be done on
February 17, 2022
Omni-Channel

How To Maximize Revenues With A Safer Shopping Experience

If there is anything we have learned since the whole Covid saga began, it’s that both consumers and retailers need to make changes in the way they function, to
January 5, 2022
Banks
Omni-Channel

Post-COVID Banking – Evolution or Revolution?

Post COVID, banks face the same challenges as other organizations – staffing concerns, determining “new normal” customer needs, and finding digital solutions that work across multiple audiences. Finding optimal solutions for hybrid banking is very hard... Now here’s where Q-nomy steps in.
March 11, 2021
Government
Omni-Channel

The keys to accomplishing effective & efficient government service centre visitor interactions through digital solutions

Managing your customer volumes and requests can be challenging at the best of times. Now you are faced with social distancing and capacity restrictions but still need to meet your communities’ service needs. New platforms and ways to interact with citizens need to be developed and deployed: a digital omni-service approach to delivering government services.
March 2, 2021
Appointment Scheduling
Business Process Management
Government
Omni-Channel

The Long Term Impact of Covid-19 on Government Service Delivery

Covid-19 has changed the way government provides service to the population, forcing agencies and municipalities to quickly develop processes and technologies that enabled service delivery despite the limitations of social distancing. The big question here is, which of these new processes and technologies would remain in service after the pandemic is over? and what will be their long-term effect?
January 4, 2021
Banks
Customer Experience
Omni-Channel
Telecom

What is Omni-Service?

A lot has been discussed about an omnichannel service strategy, which organizations should adopt for seamless sales and services experience. Omni-Service is a strategy focusing on human interaction thru various digital channels enabling the service agent, salesperson, and managers, to deliver outstanding customer experience in a straightforward way.

We help streamline your physical & digital customer journey

Request a demo