Chatbot Examples, Uses and Benefits: A Comprehensive Guide

For businesses to thrive in today’s highly competitive business world, they must keep up with the changing consumer behaviors. With digital advancement, customers have now come to expect businesses to be accessible around the clock. One way to provide 24/7 accessibility to your customers is through chatbots. In this blog, we are going to talk about what chatbots are, how they function, and we’ll even share some chatbot examples.

What Is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is a computer program that can stimulate a conversation with human users. Chatbots usually interact through voice search or instant messaging. With the use of artificial intelligence, chatbots are able to replicate the patterns of human interaction. 

Moreover, machine learning allows them to  understand human speech and text without programming. Chatbots are designed in such a way that they don’t require a human operator in order to work. They usually respond based on information they know or are fed through machine learning and natural processing language (NLP). 

You mostly find chatbots online. The most popular online chatbot example is automated popup chat bars on websites where customers can insert their queries, lodge a service request, and more. 

What Are the Different Types of Chatbots?

Chatbots usually fall under one of the three categories: Simple, Smart and Hybrid

• Smart chatbots are AI-driven
• Simple chatbots are rule-based
• Hybrid Chatbots combine human intelligence with AI 

Simple chatbots, also known as decision-tree bots, have limited capabilities. Simple chatbots usually provide a few options that the user can choose from till they get the answer to their query.  In simpler words, if your query is X, they respond with a predetermined answer Y. These bots don’t like to be surprised.

For a simple chatbot example, take the process of ordering pizza. You dial the number and you are greeted by a chatbot. The chatbot asks you for your pizza size preference. Once you’ve made your selection, the chatbot guides you to choose your desired toppings by typing them out. The order is completed by inputting address and payment method. The conversation flow is usually set and requires users to to click through to complete their order.

On the other hand, smart chatbots are much cooler. Smart chatbots use artificial intelligence and machine learning to stimulate human-like conversation with users. Unlike simple chatbots, smart chatbots feel less robotic upon interaction. 

Since they understand natural language, they can read user messages, analyze it, and find the most relevant response to the query. They deliver the response in such a way that it doesn’t sound awkward. Some smart chatbot examples include ChatGPT, Bing, and Siri by Apple.

You might also want to read: What is Lead Generation?

How Do Chatbots Work?

Chatbots are most commonly used on business websites. After browsing a site for some time, you might notice a popup chat or voice message window appear suddenly. Those are chatbots in action.

Chatbots had a humble start as computer programs that recognized specific words and patterns to respond to user queries using pre-written scripts. Nowadays smart chatbots use technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing that allow them to respond to user queries in a very human-like manner.

Chatbot programs are all about making customers happy! To make this possible, chatbots use an AI algorithm that reads and stores customer support documentation and old chats. This trains AI enabled chatbots to provide answers to queries quickly and accurately.

What Are Some Chatbot Examples for Businesses?

Let’s have a look at 10 chatbots examples that have been helping businesses scale.

1. Customer Support Chatbots: These types of chatbots are mostly used for websites. They answer queries, lodge complaints, provide assistance and guide customers. Customers don’t need to wait for business hours to get a response as these chatbots operate 24/7. 
2. E-commerce Chatbots: Retail and ecommerce businesses use chatbots to assist customers in searching for products, provide product recommendations based on preferences, and even make the checkout process hassle-free. Some common ecommerce chatbot examples are Chatfuel and Manychat.
3. Appointment Scheduling Chatbots: Businesses such as hospitals, restaurants, and salons use chatbots to help customers book appointments, receive automated reminders, and manage bookings.
4. Virtual Assistants: One of the most popular types of chatbots, virtual assistants, are used to manage admin roles like data entry, sending emails, managing calendars, and more.
5. Lead Generation Chatbots: Lead generation chatbots collect customer information through questionnaires that can be used by businesses to identify potential leads.
6. Feedback and Survey Chatbots: Feedback chatbots gather customer feedback through surveys and questions. This can help businesses improve their output and customer satisfaction.
7. Informational Chatbots: Some companies make use of these chatbots to make it easier for customers to understand company policies.
8. Language Learning Chatbots: These chatbots provide interactive language practice and lessons to assist users in learning new languages.
9. HR and Recruitment Chatbots: These chatbots help make the hiring process in companies seamless. Hr and recruitment chatbots can be used to track the hiring process, assist candidates through application procedure, and more. Some of the popular recruitment chatbot examples are Ideal and HireVue.
10. Financial and Banking Chatbots: Businesses related to finance use chatbots to allow customers keep a check and balance of account, money transfer, etc.

How Do Chatbots Benefit Businesses?

Chatbots offer numerous benefits for businesses. Some of the advantages of incorporating chatbot for your business include the followings:

• Cost-effectiveness: Since chatbots are a one time investment, they are a much more cost-effective option than hiring a whole team of customer support for your business. 
• Save time: Chatbots are more effective at handling a higher volume of queries than human agents. They can handle routine repetitive tasks and do them much faster than humans.
• Available 24/7: Unlike humans, chatbots can operate 24/7. This means your customers can get their queries answered at any time of the day. This helps improve customer satisfaction and happy customers are more likely to recommend your product or services to their network.
• Reduce customer wait time: Chatbots have the cool ability to talk to lots of people at the same time. This helps cut down on the time people have to wait for their turn. So, when you chat with a chatbot, you can get answers to your questions right away without having to wait. It’s like having a bunch of quick conversations all at once!
• Identify business leads: AI chatbots are really good at spotting patterns and important words. Upon implementation, you can configure the chatbot to find potential business opportunities by paying attention to the specific words and phrases people use. This helps them figure out who might be interested in what the company offers. So, chatbots are like smart listeners that can identify potential leads based on what people say.

Takeaway

Chatbots have become a huge necessity for businesses. Now that you are aware of some great chatbot examples, think about which one would suit your business the most. Regardless of the industry your business operates in, we are sure you can find a relevant chatbot that can help you scale your business and improve customer satisfaction.