How to choose best chatbot? 5 characteristics that must be met

One of the most talked about terms in the digital world in recent times is chatbots, which can open up big questions such as: What is the best chatbot? What type is the right one for my business? It’s really necessary?

For starters, online chatbots can work for any type or category of company, regardless of whether it is small, medium or large . And, depending on the type of chatbot, they will fulfill different functions. Likewise, conversational bots have brought great benefits to businesses.

The contribution of online chatbots in improving the experience is very easy to verify, since we all interact with one and many times we do not realize it . Many times, the contact is as minimal as a greeting or goodbye. All this can be done because responses can be programmed to fit the customer’s needs.

So, since chatbots have such a huge presence in business today . For this reason, it is of utmost importance that you know more about the subject to decide if your business benefits from its implementation. Therefore, in this article we will talk about the characteristics of the best chatbot.

Before you start, review what this article is going to be about.

What really is a chatbot?

Currently, we are living in the digital age, where all companies are investing their efforts to be as well armed as possible, technologically speaking. That is why terms such as online chatbots become so relevant for businesses, especially for those that are totally digital.

Contrary to what one might think, chatbots did not appear in the years, but rather, 62 years have passed since the first conversational bot. Her name was Eliza and she was created by MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum, with the goal of having a conversation with people. It used keywords to send pre-programmed responses to users.

From then on and over the years, online chatbots have been improving and, therefore, we have the case of Facebook in 2016. Messenger invited all developers to create chatbots and generated a radical change in the online communication. In less than 6 months, approximately 30,000 bots had been created.

So now that we understand a bit about the context of chatbots and where they come from, we can start to see what a chatbot is. A conversational bot is software that is designed to be able to carry out activities independently , that is, without the help of a person.

The best known use of these bots is, obviously, to have a conversation with a user, however, they can be used to perform other functions . But, its main purpose is to be able to connect with users in a personalized way and, at the same time, improve the level of customer service that a company can provide to a person.

Now, it is necessary to understand that chatbots are different from apps, since people may believe that they need to download them separately to be able to use them. However, this is not the case, since online chatbots are incorporated into messaging apps such as Facebook or WhatsApp.

Likewise, there are currently two main types of online chatbots that process information and are capable of giving answers of a different nature. Next, I will explain these types of online chatbots, so you can realize why they are central.

conversational chatbots

Conversational chatbots are data-driven and predictive bots with the ability to personalize the responses they provide based on the characteristics of each user and their communication history. These online chatbots are behavior driven and learn from every interaction.

In addition, as they can understand natural language, they are able to offer recommendations and even anticipate the needs that the user may have.

Declarative chatbots

Declarative chatbots are oriented towards carrying out tasks, they are programmed to give automatic answers to the queries that users have and they do it as a conversation. Because of this, they are more commonly used in support and customer service areas , as interactions are more structured.

So that you are clear about what these online chatbots are, they are those that are used to answer frequently asked questions about products or schedules. For this reason, they are one of the most used conversational bots.

So, doing a quick review, online chatbots have already been on the market for several decades and are computer programs with which it is possible to have a conversation, both to request some information and to execute an action. Likewise, they are not downloadable, but are integrated into messaging apps.

4 benefits of chatbots

As we already know, online chatbots add a lot of value to a company’s customer service and, for this reason, they are highly relevant in the online messaging sector. Therefore, in this section of the article we will see what are those advantages that conversational bots offer us.

cost savings

One of the great benefits of the chatbot is that it reduces the expenses that your company allocates to training agents who work in the area of ​​customer service . This is because, when you start using chatbots to serve your users , all you have to do is program them on the same platform.

However, when you don’t use online chatbots and instead hire more agents to serve your customers, that’s when you start spending more money on training new hires. But, you can save that budget by implementing chatbots and they can even replace your agents .

Unlimited simultaneous attention

When agents are the only ones in charge of answering user questions, they can only do it one by one, since messaging apps only allow them to answer one conversation at a time. On the other hand, if online chatbots are added as part of customer service, there will not be a limit of simultaneous messages that you can attend.

This is because chatbots have the ability to respond whenever they receive a message . That is, if they receive a thousand messages at the same time, they will still be able to answer them. This is a very good benefit of chatbots, since if your competition does not have them, it would put you at an advantage. But even if he did use them, your company would still stand out.

Your communication channels that have chatbots will be able to attend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Something you should always keep in mind is that users can arrive and want to buy or be served at any time. Therefore, your company provides them with this possibility, causing users to become loyal customers.

In addition, no business wants to miss out on the opportunity of a purchase, which is why the implementation of online chatbots is so important . Since, as you can see, being always present adds many points in the level of customer service and users also take it very much into account.

Increased conversions

Today’s customers are impatient, so they want things delivered quickly. And, that is precisely what they are looking for in companies, apart from fast service, so must all processes. Digital customers no longer want to fill out tedious forms as it takes their time, so it would be much better if you presented it to them in the form of a conversation.

In addition, it is proven that using this method the number of conversions or contacts grows a lot. This is a great advantage of chatbots, since, if you have a large database and want to run a campaign, you will know which clients you have to target. Even, if necessary, you can segment those users for a better reception.

So, the benefits of online chatbots are very useful in any type of company and if these seemed good to you, let me tell you that there are many more . And, each of them will give your business that advantage that will make you stand out from the competition.

5 characteristics that a chatbot must fulfill yes or yes

In order to choose the best chatbot for your company, you must take into consideration some essential characteristics so that its operation provides users with the best possible service. Next, I will tell you what those characteristics are.

They must have conversational maturity

It is a fact that chatbots must be able to understand and interact in a conversation. But, also, you must have particular NLP or Natural Language Processing capabilities to be able to understand the context in which the dialogue is taking place. This is something that you must have so that it can be the best chatbot for your company.

Likewise, online chatbots must have the ability to provide correct answers and provide options to clarify or confirm the purpose of the question that a user has asked. Bots must have advanced conversational capabilities to proactively search for information and ask questions.

They should not interrupt the flow of conversation

Another characteristic that the best chatbot for your business must have is that it must be able to not interrupt the flow of conversation. That is, many times when you program a conversational bot and it does not understand what the user is asking or answering, it will give you an answer like: “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand this”.

And, if it happens many times during the same chat, it can affect and interrupt the conversational flow. Therefore, it is necessary that when configuring them you place random phrases that give the user the feeling of infatuation . Well, otherwise, we would only be giving the impression that they are dealing with a simple autoresponder.

They must be omni-capable

As we very well know, omnichannel is a function that all businesses must have if they want to be successful in the digital world. Therefore, the best chatbot for your company must be omni-capable, that is, they must have the ability to be present in all the communication channels you have.

In addition, the online chatbot must be able to converse seamlessly on all these platforms, retain data and understand the context so that it can provide a complete service . To do this, you can use omnichannel software that ensures a good chatbot configuration. Since, in this way, you will have the certainty that your bots will provide the best experience.

They have to transfer conversations

While chatbots must have the ability to maintain a dialogue with users for as long as possible , they must also be able to transfer the conversation when it gets too complex. This is because, as a company, you must want to provide the best service to your customers and that means being able to answer all their questions and queries.

Also, you should keep in mind that many users still feel that the best service is provided by an agent. So knowing when to move on is a feature that customers will definitely appreciate. In addition, it is an element that your bot should definitely have so that it can be the best chatbot for your business.

Ability to send different formats

Online chatbots must be able to share different formats within the conversation in order to give it fluidity. They should even be able to send directed links to downloadable content, as well as images and documents. Well, this speeds up processes that can take a little longer.

So, another feature of the best chatbot is to be able to share media within the chat so that customers can understand some processes better and faster . Plus, it’s a great way to be able to provide all the elements without having to leave the conversation.

So, in order for you to choose the best chatbot for your business, you must make sure that it has the aforementioned characteristics. That way, you can ensure that the level of customer service you provide will always be the best.

Mirror, mirror, who is the best chatbot? So that the mirror can tell you that the best chatbot is yours, you must ensure that it has all the necessary characteristics. Also, if you don’t already use chatbots, I hope that the benefits that I mention will encourage you to implement them.