How service businesses can use chatbots during the pandemic. by Matthew Johnson, Content Strategist

Guest blog: Written by Wordstream Founder and Mobile Monkey CEO, Larry Kim.

Introduction.

The way businesses interact with customers has totally changed because of the pandemic and the rise of chatbots.

The pandemic has increased the demand for chatbots due to quarantine and social distancing.

Based on a study conducted by Ubisent, around 35% of customers look forward to more businesses using chatbots, and that number is expected to rise.

As chatbots get smarter, more powerful, and more versatile across more platforms, they can turn donkey businesses into unicorn brands.

Chatbots are the most powerful automation tool for marketing available right now, and they’re proving to be a game-changer during the pandemic.

24/7 customer service.

This is the most well-known purpose of chatbots, but it’s now more than just about responding to enquiries.

Chatbots help carry the burden of handling simple problems, answering frequently asked questions, and providing basic information.

They can also lead customers through processes and transactions by providing choices they can pick from in each step.

Your human customer service only has to jump in via live chat takeover if there’s an issue that the chatbot can’t handle by itself.

As a fundamental use for chatbots, automated customer service can be configured and expanded to your meet your unique needs.

With a chatbot like MobileMonkey, this process is made both easy and extensive, giving you a lot of depth and flexibility. 

Booking and ordering via chat.

Your chat can go beyond customer service by allowing booking or ordering and making transactions.

This lets your chat be a more important part of your business by making it a significant part of the customer experience.

An advantage this option gives is not needing to install an app to purchase products and services from your business.

This has been the trend for eCommerce and service businesses in recent years, and it has certainly made some waves.

Major ride-sharing services have been letting their users book rides through chat, making them more convenient.

Their chatbots then process those bookings, assign cars, and give regular updates on where the ride is.

Food delivery services have similar functionality, letting users order in a pinch, and some have even started preferring this method.

Your chatbot can also do more things like follow up on abandoned carts, which can increase your conversion rates dramatically.

Product recommendations.

To increase that conversion rate further, your chatbot can offer product recommendations that draw from the customer’s buying history.

Most of the time, those recommendations are to be composed of products that go well with the customer’s most recent purchase.

Those recommendations can also be based on what other people tend to buy alongside that product.

Coupon codes, promos, and so on can be included as well to further entice the customer to make another purchase.

Generating leads.

When a user responds to your chatbot, they get opted into your contact list automatically, making this your primary way of getting leads.

You can entice more people to do so by using different methods to expand your contact list and generate more leads.

The Comment Guard autoresponder lets your chatbot send a message to users who leave a comment on your content.

Click-to-Messenger ads can bring more people in who are interested in your brand and opt-in for your content.

Doing a giveaway can bring in new people who don’t know about your brand yet and try out your products and services for free.

A chatbot like MobileMonkey for SMS, web chat, and Messenger can do all these things to grow your contact list and generate more leads.

Qualifying leads.

With chatbots, you can hit up contacts easily and ask questions that will gauge their actual interest in your brand.

You can ask a simple question like whether they’re willing to buy a product or book a service you are offering.

They can then be presented with choices to respond, usually “Yes,” “No,” and sometimes “Maybe.”

If they say yes, they’re interested and will most likely be willing to engage with your brand further.

If they either say no or do not respond, they’re not interested and you can leave them out.

This is a simple and quick way to qualify leads, and you can have your chatbot do it for you automatically.

Content delivery.

Your content is best delivered when you have leads in your contact list, and it’s meant to express the voice and character of your brand.

The great thing about chat blasting is you can be sure that your leads are receptive to them as they knowingly opted in.

The content can be composed of GIFs, memes, and copy that are entertaining and connect with your audience.

Of course, you don’t want to send chat blasts too often, making it annoying and spammy, so doing it twice a week is a good balance.

Chat blasts are easy to do in Messenger since people chat with their Facebook profiles, which lets you be certain that you’re most likely talking to a real person.

Receiving customer feedback.

Of course, being able to receive customer feedback through chat is invaluable for growing your business.

Knowing what customers think of your services can give you valuable insight that can help you improve and grow your brand.

A chatbot can be made to receive feedback in various ways, including surveys, reviews, suggestions, and so on.

You can gather that feedback by having a call-to-action that asks customers and leads you’re still trying to convert.

For the leads, you can ask them what can compel them to convert, whether it’s an improvement on a product or service, a discount, or anything else.

As the chatbot receives the feedback, you can have it filter through them so you can read the ones that are most useful.

Conclusion.

These are just some of the many ways you can use chatbots in this trying time, and businesses everywhere are finding new ways to adopt them.

After all, necessity is the mother of invention, and there’s no better time for chatbots to shine than now – during the pandemic.

A free and easy-to-build chatbot like MobileMonkey is a good place to start for small service businesses.

You can also visit Chatbots.org for more recommendations that are fit for your particular business. 

For help building a bespoke chatbot for your business, drop us a line to find out more. Alternatively, continue your reading with our blog post on how chatbots can transform your customer experience.