What is Conversational AI?

While the term itself does carry some weight, it ultimately boils down to the practical difference it can make to your business. So, we think it’s worth the time to explain the concept and what it means for you – the business, the market you’re in and most importantly, your customer.

Here’s everything we’ll be discussing. Feel free to skip the definition if you’re familiar with the term and domain:

? Customer Engagement in the Age of Messengers
❓ What is Conversational AI
? Why Conversational AI Works to Engage Customers
✨ How Businesses Can Use Conversational AI
? Approaching the Customer: Picking the Platform
? The Technology Behind a Solid Conversational AI Platform
✔️ What it Means for Businesses

? Customer Engagement in the Age of Messengers

If you ask any marketing expert, customer engagement is simply talking to a customer and reeling them in when the time’s right. This means being there for the user whenever they look for you throughout their lifecycle. And therein lies the trick: How can you be sure you’re there at all times and especially when it matters most to the customer?

Today, this means having a presence on a chat platform.

But this isn’t a sudden development.

The paradigm shift to utility bots has been unfolding since the 2008 smartphone wave. In fact, it is this belief that even led to the creation of the Haptik Personal Assistant utility bots which then led to our Conversational AI platform, which is now our main product.

❓ What is Conversational AI

Conversational Artificial Intelligence or Conversational AI is a set of technologies that enable computers to simulate conversations.

Businesses can use Conversational AI to automate customer-facing touchpoints everywhere – on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, on their website, their app or even on voice assistants like Google Home.

Conversational AI systems offer a more straightforward and direct pipeline for customers sort problems out, address concerns and reach goals.

Both the terms ‘Conversational Chatbot’ and ‘Conversational AI’ have the same meaning.

‘Conversational AI’, however, is more inclusive of all the technology that falls under the bot umbrella like voice bots and voice + text assistants, whereas ‘conversational chatbots’ have a more limited ‘text-only’ connotation.

Take a look at our chatbot dictionary for a more detailed primer.

Three questions arise here:
1. Why does Conversational AI work for customers?
2. How can your business put Conversational AI to use?
3. Which platform should you pick?

? Why Conversational AI Works to Engage Customers

1) It’s timely, 24/7

The biggest benefit of having a conversational AI solution is the instant response rate. Answering queries within an hour translates to 7X more likelihood of converting a lead. Customers are more likely to talk about a negative experience than a positive one. So nipping a negative review right in the bud is going to help improve your product’s brand standing.

2) Customers prefer messaging

The market shapes customer behaviour. Gartner predicted that ‘40% of mobile interactions will be managed by smart agents by 2020. ’ Every single business out there today either has a chatbot already or is considering one. 30% of customers expect to see a live chat option on your website. 3 out of 10 consumers would give up phone calls to use messaging. As more and more customers begin expecting your company to have a direct way to contact you, it makes sense to have a touch point on a messenger.

3) It’s engaging and conversational

We’ve already extolled the benefits of having a direct hotline for customers to reach you. However, the conversational aspect is what differentiates this method from any other.
Conversational bots make for great engagement tools. Engagement drives stickiness, which drives retention — and that, in turn, drives growth.

4) Scalability: Infinite

Chatbots can instantly and easily handle a large volume of user queries without requiring any increase in team size. This is especially useful if you expect or suddenly see a massive spike in user queries. A spike like this is a recipe for disaster if you’re completely dependent on a small team of human agents.

With a bot that can handle massive scale, you can breathe easy even when your footfall turns into a stampede.
Fun fact: Dream11 handled a massive spike of over 1 million queries during IPL 2018 with a team of just 30 people. Watch the video here.

Source: https://www.haptik.ai/blog/conversational-ai-chatbot