Knock knock! The AI revolution is here. Automation is a huge part of our day-to-day lives but they look nothing like their sci-fi counterparts. It’s incorporated in almost every field possible and hence E-commerce/ customer services do not remain untouched. But when we talk about this area of business, two options pop in our mind: human-powered live chat or an automated bot. What should one consider and which would bring better gains? Should one try to use them both together, or should they be kept separate?

LIVE CHAT

First, let’s start our discussion with live chat in this debate of live chat v/s chatbots. Live chat is a web-based communications feature that allows agents to have real-time conversations with customers through a website. It can also be defined as an online customer service system with live support of real humans sitting and answering the user’s queries.

WHY IS LIVE CHAT IMPORTANT?

Live chat allows users to attach with sales & support reps to urge real time support. it’s the foremost preferred proactive channel because it offers real time support. 70% of consumers choose to live chat, and nearly two-thirds of consumers who engage with a conversation platform are more likely to return to a web site and get again.

It is an integral part of a successful customer service toolkit that provides the best customer satisfaction as compared with email and phone. Live chat benefits are many and you’ll utilize them to enhance the key support metrics like first latent period or average resolution time.

Now let’s talk about our automated friend- chatbot!

CHATBOT

A chatbot is an assistant that communicates with the user through text messages, that integrates into websites, applications or instant messengers. It is used for ordering food, booking a taxi, booking a ticket, Banking, etc. It automatically responds to your messages sent through an internet site or applications using information from databases or AI algorithms that learn through user experience over time. Chatbots are employed by businesses in dialog systems to accumulate customer information and supply service to them.

WHY ARE CHATBOTS IMPORTANT?

Talking about the chatbot pros and cons, bots are always on to interact with customers by answering their simple queries and pre-qualifying leads by asking relevant questions. Bots can engage customers across websites, applications, and messaging apps like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. By studying the foremost common chatbot use cases, you’ll be able to build a bot that matches your business objectives.

Keeping all this in mind, the most important part of this discussion can begin now.

CHATBOT VS. LIVE CHAT: WHICH IS WINNING THE CUSTOMER SERVICE GAME AND WHY?

Both live chat and chatbot are predominant channels utilized by businesses to help and interact customers. Both tools may also work well together. during this guide, we are going to discuss when it’s best to pick between chatbot vs live chat and which one is more suitable for your business.

1: Emotions

Winner: Live Chat

Since it’s assisted by humans, Live Chat is the clear-cut winner here.
Humans handling their clients on Live Chat can trigger their emotions better and empathize with their problems. Humans are going to be humorous, tell jokes, be sarcastic, even negotiate with clients.
This is where chatbots lack since they don’t have feelings (at least not yet). Although there are some smart AI chatbots like Insomnobot that give smart replies but they’re fewer in numbers.

2: Workability

Winner: Chatbots

I think we humans will never be able to overcome chatbots when we talk about this domain. We get a vacation, we get ill, we get late, we celebrate holidays but there’s nothing like that with chatbots. On the opposite hand, chatbots never get tired, never relax, never complain, never go forth. One can wish to have these qualities too.

Anyway, chatbots can work 24x7x365 and if you employ a chatbot for e-commerce services, it’ll not only provide instant service but will also enhance your customer’s experience too.

Live Chat wouldn’t be an honest option here since it’s managed by humans who don’t have the qualities I discussed above. A chatbot on your website is really helpful if you would like to spice up the work efficiency and availability of your business.

3: Personalization

Winner: Tie

I’d say there’s a tie between chatbot vs live chat at this stage. Live Chats will be more personalized conversationally. But if your live chat software isn’t capable of storing previous data of customer’s chat, the returning customers would have a brand-new experience anytime they initiate a replacement chat with you.

Talking about chatbots, a wise chatbot can store previous chat data and assess it to start further chats. I highlighted a WISE CHATBOT because it’s possible only with smart AI-powered chatbots.

The verdict is that in Live Chats, you don’t need to train your employees to produce personalization in conversation. But you’ve got to collect data that’s a touch difficult in Live Chats as compared to chatbots.

With chatbots, it’s easy to assemble information but you have got to possess a sensible, AI chatbot and train it well. That’s why it’s a tie between chatbots vs live chat.

4: Response Time

Winner: Chatbots

It’s pretty obvious. Live Chats can’t beat chatbots in this category until you’ve got an infatuated person sitting on the desk, watching the screen, and anticipating a customer to ask a matter.

Chat bot responds to a question in no time and this can be why it’s more preferred when it involves a rapid reply. Since customers don’t prefer to spend time waiting for replies, it should be a top priority to reply to customers ASAP and it’s possible on every occasion only with chatbots. It’s an honest chatbot tactic to form the customer experience better.

5: Cost Efficiency

Winner: Chatbots

Hiring a team of 15-20 members for chat support would cost you far more than one chatbot. You won’t need to pay it, you won’t need to complete the errors caused by them, etc.

There are numerous chatbot builders within the market that facilitate you to help create chatbots with a super-easy process for various platforms. These platforms ease the chatbot integration process and these bots cost lesser in maintenance.

Cost Efficiency is one among the largest factors that lead chatbots ahead in Chatbot vs live chat.

OPTIMAL SOLUTION

After being familiar with the wins of each party, coming up with a solution that can be used by a business becomes a must now.

In 2018, overall consumer reaction to chatbots was positive, but still somewhat wary. This can be considered wise, as chatbots will only recuperate because the AI underpinnings improve, and businesses learn lessons (sometimes the hard way) about how best to utilize this new technology. However, there’s still an optimal solution that one can come up with after all this discussion.

Chatbots nowadays include a feature where a true person can take over in between the chat. This improves the chat experience of users since whenever a conversation bot is failing to answer a question, it’ll transfer the conversation to the company’s agent.

With a mixture of both chatbot and live chat, a company can be ready to meet every measure discussed above. Nothing’s perfect that’s true, but this combo would facilitate you to be closer to perfection.

CONCLUSION

“In the long run, I think we will evolve from a mobile-first to an AI-first world.” – Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. All said and done, it is time to accept that automation is the future and combining human powers with chatbots can pave way for bigger numbers and eventually success. This hybrid combo gets you the best of both worlds and not only benefits the company but also does well for the customers.

Keeping the steam up, we have got a solution for you that would definitely improve your customer relationship with the power of artificial intelligence. Take a look at our services at www.chatomate.in or contact us at coffee@chatomate.in