Amid difficulties in on-demand market, chatbots save the day

Photo credit: Mydaydream.

We expect a lot from businesses these days. From on-demand transportation to on-demand entertainment, no market is left untouched. Even a patient sport like fishing has an on-demand market  (because why wait for the fish to bite when you can call them over?).

However, the “real-time economy” we’ve created comes at a price. Small and big businesses alike are struggling to deliver a topnotch, always-on, and consistent customer experience. There’s a huge gap between customer expectations and a business’ capability to meet those expectations. That’s where conversational AIs, aka chatbots, come in handy.

I have four fun facts that prove they aren’t going anywhere.

1. Messaging means business

As we shifted our attentions from social networks to messaging platforms, we came to demand the same real-time, conversational experience from the products and services we consume. Globally, more than 1 billion messages are exchanged between businesses and customers every month — and this is only going to grow.

In order to capture that opportunity, businesses need the resources available to address the demands of a 1:1 conversation and scale that efficiently, as they grow. Hiring more people does not help a business’ unit economics…but chatbots do.

2. Conversations close sales

We could be forgiven for diving too far into the hype of chatbots if it weren’t for one age-old truism which dates back to the origin of sales — conversations close sales. Have you seen the movie The Founder? You’d see there that McDonald’s was built by conversation. It wasn’t until the proliferation of digital media that the door-to-door salesman had to pack it in for newer and shinier sales tactics. If you go to a marketing or advertising conference, you would surely hear someone on stage touting the your-ads-need-to-have-a-conversation-with-your-customer adage . Now, those conversations can literally happen.

At Hyperlab, we’ve done our own research and found that modern solutions aren’t staying current with the way we want our information delivered. In a recent study we conducted on connected consumers in Southeast Asia, we found that 62 percent of customers would rather chat directly with a business rather than Google or search for an answer. Customers have questions, and they want the right answer in a direct and personal way.

3. Conversations with bots are more intimate

OK, so we love to chat and they are great for sales ,  but do we like talking to bots? Simply put, yes we do. Why? Because bots don’t judge.

In an increasingly polarized world, this is much more of a relief than you would think. In our research, we also found that 45 percent of users admitted that they would ask a bot something they would not ask a human. For the user, this allows bots to provide a very personal and intimate experience. For a business, the insights that can be gleaned from this are mouthwatering.

Untainted product insights and brand sentiment coming right up!

4. They’re here and they’re not going anywhere

In our study, we also found that 80 percent of connected consumers in Southeast Asia have already used a chatbot or know what it is.

Gartner predicts that more than 3 million workers will report into “robo-bosses” next year. Fast forward to 2020 and 85 percent of customer interactions are projected to be managed without a human 😱.

So, if we can’t teach a man to fish, then the least we can do is give him a great customer experience.