Chatbots are just not good for stressed customers; most prefer a mix of machines and humans
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 5:27 am
Research has shown that chatbots can be a factor in your brand’s success (or failure) .
Chatbots have a negative effect on a company's image when customers are angry or stressed, according to a recent study by the Journal of Marketing.
Still, the use of artificial intelligence in marketing sectors has been increasing as companies increasingly invest in improving their users' experience.
As a result, the use of chatbots has become a very common practice, aiming to replace or reduce the need for people in customer service, especially. It is estimated that, by 2024, the chatbot market should surpass the US$1.34 billion mark, showing that it is a sector on the rise.
A chatbot is software that manages message exchanges with customers, simulating a human conversation and making it possible to automate repetitive and bureaucratic day-to-day activities.
Therefore, this resource has been attracting attention and chile whatsapp data becoming a favorite of many businesses that value agility, cost savings and greater operational efficiency in their customer service team.
And because it is a sector that is growing rapidly, companies need to plan its use in customer service carefully, taking into account, for example, the emotional context of users.
To achieve the expected success with the tool, many companies are attributing human characteristics to chatbots, such as personal names and avatars, with the intention of humanizing this technology further and causing greater adherence from their customers.
But do these actions alone generate a positive effect on the use of the chatbot strategy? That’s what we’ll check out in this article, stay tuned!
When using chatbots brings a good user experience
Although there are cases of failures and problems generated by the incorrect configuration and use of chatbots in some companies, it is noteworthy that, if well implemented, this strategy can generate efficient results and assist in the operational success of teams, being useful in many different ways.
This is the case of Georgia State University, which used chatbots to reduce a problem known as “summer thaw,” where students are accepted to study but do not attend classes.
The Chatbot was created at the institution with the aim of guiding students through the processes required for the first day of class, helping to overcome the obstacles and challenges of this first stage in students' lives.
So, the university made a chatbot available to answer thousands of questions from students and the result was a 22% reduction in summer meltdown and 324 more students served on the first day of the new semester compared to the previous year.
Another interesting example is Bank of America's Chatbot, which analyzes customer data to help them make better decisions regarding their investments and generates reports that help customers make decisions.
However, on the other side of the coin…
But, as mentioned at the beginning of this topic, not everything is perfect and, if used incorrectly, Chatbots can cause a lot of headaches for your company, as was the case with the “Luda Lee” bot created by Facebook.
The chatbot gained attention for its conversational style and attracted 750,000 users and 70 million conversations on Facebook. However, after a few weeks on the air, it made homophobic and offensive comments about disabilities and shared users' personal data. The company is being sued by around 400 people.
How to effectively implement a chatbot in a company's operations?
To avoid falling into a trap like Facebook did, I have put together 3 important tips that can help you achieve positive results when using chatbots in your company. They are:
Define the bot's purpose and map out the message flow
The most successful chatbots are those that deliver consistent value to the user and provide the answer to what they are looking for. Therefore, it is important that you clearly define the bot’s objective and correctly map your customer’s purchasing journey so that you can effectively guide them to the solution of their problems.
In complex cases, the option to interact with humans is essential
According to a recent survey published by Verizon Business aimed at understanding digital interactions between consumers and brands, 56% of respondents are comfortable with fully automated interactions, while 16% express discomfort.
Therefore, it is important to have the option of interacting with a human, especially in more complex cases. This way, a simple situation to resolve will not become a source of great stress for the customer and for your company's image. Still on the subject of the survey, 78% of respondents consider combined human-technology interactions to be a better experience than those that are exclusively human.
Set your bot's tone of voice
Each target audience expresses itself in different ways, that is, each business has its own language. Therefore, when building and implementing the chatbot, it is essential that you teach it to speak the same language as your persona.
This way, the chatbot will be trained to correctly understand what consumers type, avoiding major inconveniences.
Chatbots have a negative effect on a company's image when customers are angry or stressed, according to a recent study by the Journal of Marketing.
Still, the use of artificial intelligence in marketing sectors has been increasing as companies increasingly invest in improving their users' experience.
As a result, the use of chatbots has become a very common practice, aiming to replace or reduce the need for people in customer service, especially. It is estimated that, by 2024, the chatbot market should surpass the US$1.34 billion mark, showing that it is a sector on the rise.
A chatbot is software that manages message exchanges with customers, simulating a human conversation and making it possible to automate repetitive and bureaucratic day-to-day activities.
Therefore, this resource has been attracting attention and chile whatsapp data becoming a favorite of many businesses that value agility, cost savings and greater operational efficiency in their customer service team.
And because it is a sector that is growing rapidly, companies need to plan its use in customer service carefully, taking into account, for example, the emotional context of users.
To achieve the expected success with the tool, many companies are attributing human characteristics to chatbots, such as personal names and avatars, with the intention of humanizing this technology further and causing greater adherence from their customers.
But do these actions alone generate a positive effect on the use of the chatbot strategy? That’s what we’ll check out in this article, stay tuned!
When using chatbots brings a good user experience
Although there are cases of failures and problems generated by the incorrect configuration and use of chatbots in some companies, it is noteworthy that, if well implemented, this strategy can generate efficient results and assist in the operational success of teams, being useful in many different ways.
This is the case of Georgia State University, which used chatbots to reduce a problem known as “summer thaw,” where students are accepted to study but do not attend classes.
The Chatbot was created at the institution with the aim of guiding students through the processes required for the first day of class, helping to overcome the obstacles and challenges of this first stage in students' lives.
So, the university made a chatbot available to answer thousands of questions from students and the result was a 22% reduction in summer meltdown and 324 more students served on the first day of the new semester compared to the previous year.
Another interesting example is Bank of America's Chatbot, which analyzes customer data to help them make better decisions regarding their investments and generates reports that help customers make decisions.
However, on the other side of the coin…
But, as mentioned at the beginning of this topic, not everything is perfect and, if used incorrectly, Chatbots can cause a lot of headaches for your company, as was the case with the “Luda Lee” bot created by Facebook.
The chatbot gained attention for its conversational style and attracted 750,000 users and 70 million conversations on Facebook. However, after a few weeks on the air, it made homophobic and offensive comments about disabilities and shared users' personal data. The company is being sued by around 400 people.
How to effectively implement a chatbot in a company's operations?
To avoid falling into a trap like Facebook did, I have put together 3 important tips that can help you achieve positive results when using chatbots in your company. They are:
Define the bot's purpose and map out the message flow
The most successful chatbots are those that deliver consistent value to the user and provide the answer to what they are looking for. Therefore, it is important that you clearly define the bot’s objective and correctly map your customer’s purchasing journey so that you can effectively guide them to the solution of their problems.
In complex cases, the option to interact with humans is essential
According to a recent survey published by Verizon Business aimed at understanding digital interactions between consumers and brands, 56% of respondents are comfortable with fully automated interactions, while 16% express discomfort.
Therefore, it is important to have the option of interacting with a human, especially in more complex cases. This way, a simple situation to resolve will not become a source of great stress for the customer and for your company's image. Still on the subject of the survey, 78% of respondents consider combined human-technology interactions to be a better experience than those that are exclusively human.
Set your bot's tone of voice
Each target audience expresses itself in different ways, that is, each business has its own language. Therefore, when building and implementing the chatbot, it is essential that you teach it to speak the same language as your persona.
This way, the chatbot will be trained to correctly understand what consumers type, avoiding major inconveniences.