A conversational chatbot is, as its name suggests, a robot that makes conversation with an Internet user. Available on a company's website and / or on a Facebook page, the chatbot replaces all or part of the customer service, marketing or sales agents, responding to the current requests of Internet users. A saving of times and resource for the team that can focus on other more important tasks with higher added value. More details on the definition of the chatbot in our article: The Chatbot explained to my grandmother. It has now been 4 years since Facebook Messenger launched its first conversational robots. And 2 years ago, studies said that by 2020,80% of companies would use chatbots to interact with their customers . ( Source ) And you, have you ever thought about creating a chatbot for your business? Indeed, there are many reasons to set up a conversational assistant ... If you wish to do so, we give you the steps to follow here! With this method you can reduce incoming requests by up to 85% (client source of our agency), improve the client experience and save resources, up to two full-time equivalents, again according to one of our clients. techwadia
Step 1: define your needs and objectives
Start at the beginning: defining your needs will allow you
to structure your project as well as possible, and then allow you to ask
yourself the right questions:
• Why do i
need a chatbot?
There are multiple reason to set up a chatbot for your
business, what are yours? We have listed 3 in this article but in common we often hear:
To allow
my teams to spend less time responding to private messages from customers and
therefore save time on tasks with higher added value,
because I
am alone and I do not have the means and the time to manage the customer
service part and after-sales service
to
improve customer relations, to get to know my customers better and to be able
to personalize my offer ...
• What will
my chatbot be used for?
Every chatbot has its (or her) utility (s). It can serve as
an after-sales service as it can serve as an assistant during a purchasing
process on your e-commerce site or even as an automatic referral to send the
right requests to the right people in the company and thus reduce the time
spent. expectation and friction that consumers can no longer bear . If you
notice recurring questions from your prospects, customers, the bot can give the
expected answers, such as a FAQ (frequently asked questions). If you want to
improves the user experience on your site , the bot can help by being available
24/7 to answer Internet users' questions.
• Who is he
talking to ?
Depending on your needs and the objectives of your chatbot,
you will have to define the people likely to interact with your bot , these are
your personas . The chatbot can match the profile of all your personas and can
be set up on your Facebook page or on the home page of your website. In
addition, depending on your decisions, the chatbot may only be available at a
certain phase of the purchase journey, for example: a dedicated chatbot
available only during the “conclude” phase, on your product page or at the time
of payment. on your e-commerce site. You decide when and where to place your
virtual assistant.
Step 2: create the chatbot
Step 1: check! Now, let's get down to business: building the
chatbot and the scenarios .
On a draft, list all the questions and answers you want to
include in the bot and group them under one main category. So you define a main
menu with several subject categories and subcategories. We recommend that you
use a mind map creation tool (we use Mindmap editor's note but there are
others, see below) to build your chatbot plan. You will find various free
software online or to download such as Mindmeister or Edraw MindMaster. This
will facilitate the construction of your questions / answers and allow you to
have an overview of the organization of your chatbot. In addition, depending on
the software chosen, it is possible to share the map with other users and
follow the modifications live.
When writing your messages, put yourself in the shoes of
your personas and think about their possible requests. Simplify sentences, use
keywords , so that your Internet users can easily find what they want.
Write a starting message to say hello, welcome and possibly
introduce yourself (introduce the bot or the virtual agent that represents a
person from the company) and ask a first question so that the user chooses the
subject / topic that they want. 'he wishes to address, this is your main menu.
Example : Hello and welcome to MMio messaging. What topics
can we help you with?
• Our
services
• Recruitment
• Training
• Means of
payment
Once your mindmap / mind map / chatbot diagram is mounted,
you will have to choose the tool for the integration of your chatbot .
There are different free or paid tools to create a chatbot
(Tawk to, Botnation etc).
We chose Hubspot for which all our consultants are duly
certified because it is compatible with Messenger, your website and CRM . In
this sense, you will be able to collect data and feed your customer database.
Have you chosen your platform? You can then start to
integrate it from your diagram made previously. This exercise does not require
special technical skills to perform it, it takes time, thought and
organization. As always you will have to make the choice between doing it
yourself or “having it done”, that is to say entrust this mission to
specialists to save time during deployment and configuration, to avoid any
technical difficulty regarding the articulation of automated scenarios and
above all, benefit from advice from consultants with the know-how and
experience in the field. When choosing the digital agency , ask for references
and examples of bots deployed.
Step 3: Test the bot
The bot is built and integrated.
Before pressing the “Activate” button, you must test your
chatbot . Define several scenarios and converse with the robot you created.
These tests are important to verify that everything is
working correctly, including:
• the order
of the messages
• the proposal
of pre-established answers in the form of a button (or numbers),
• redirection
to the right links or to a knowledge base
• mistakes
and other typos
• the
questions and the content of the messages
• Branches
• the
subjects
A tip: have the bot tested by your colleagues who did not
participate in the deployment and configuration or by someone close to you. You
will first see if they are using it correctly, and secondly it will allow you
to have an outside opinion on the functioning of your chatbot. As soon as you
have their feedback, positive or negative, make the necessary adjustments and
test it for yourself one last time.