How to create seamless conversational customer experiences

Chatbots offer exactly what customers expect from a brand in 2022: instant, convenient and effortless interactions.

But the truth is that no matter how intelligent your bot is, there will always be situations when a human takeover is necessary—or at least highly advantageous to reach the best outcome.

A seamless hand-off between bots and live agents creates messaging interactions customers love. Buyers are not only guided through the journey but are also provided with personalised offers and instant support when needed. This is how you can build stronger relationships with your customer base and, as a result, increase sales.

In this article, we’ll explain how bots help create smoother customer journeys and why merging conversational AI with live support will change your business for the better.

Combine chatbots with live support

With the rise of messaging, offering great customer experiences on social media isn’t an option anymore—it’s a must.

According to the State of Social Conversational Commerce 2022 Report, messaging is the primary way customers want to communicate with a brand. In fact, 60% of consumers prefer messaging over e-mail or phone calls. The top reasons they want to interact with a brand over messaging channels? It’s fast and convenient.

60% of consumers prefer messaging over e-mail or phone calls.

A conversational commerce platform that offers both chatbots and live support can deliver the types of experiences customers want.

While some queries can be easily answered using automated processes, others require immediate help from a human. This is where the bot-to-agent hand-off comes into play. If a bot can’t resolve an issue or answer a complex question, it can transfer the conversation to a live support agent. Ideally, the customer doesn’t feel a big difference between talking to a chatbot and a person.

This seamless hand-off perfectly combines the power of AI-driven chatbots and human agents. The result is a highly positive customer experience, which generates more sales and improves customer loyalty.

Automate processes to engage prospects in their high-intent moments

We bet your business receives the same questions over and over again. On all your messaging channels.

It’s no question that your team would struggle to respond to every single incoming message. And using live agents to answer repetitive questions would be a waste of your valuable resources.

This is why automating your customer service interactions is vital—it allows you to instantly reply to multiple messages simultaneously across all channels, making things easier for agents and keeping customers satisfied.

Marketing chatbots are the perfect solution to automate some of your conversations. By integrating a chatbot into your customer support channels, you can address FAQs quickly and educate customers about your products or services. Chatbots are also available 24/7, so customers can get help after business hours, too.

And this is just the beginning. With automation, you can take things one step further and create sales opportunities while helping your customers.

Convert prospects with conversational chatbots

Indeed, conversational chatbots can be effective tools for converting customers. Your bot can gain valuable insights from conversations with customers and use that information to suggest products based on their personal preferences. It can even retarget customers with automated remarketing campaigns.

You can set up a chatbot that tailors recommendations based on a few questions, then directs the customer to the relevant product page to complete their purchase. While helping customers find the ideal product, you can store and use the information they share with you for future sales opportunities.

Even a live Facebook or Instagram event can be turned into a sales opportunity with chatbots. As soon as customers leave a comment, the bot can automatically reach out to them and offer a personalised recommendation based on their comment. And if you integrate the process with a live support team, you can nudge the customer to make a purchase by offering immediate, customised help.

Collect data from chatbot conversations to understand your customers

Aside from providing an engaging customer experience, chatbots also learn about customers’ buying habits and use those insights to improve the customer journey.

Proper analysis of customer data is the first step. This will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of your buyers—their behaviours, preferences and needs—and thus personalise their interactions.

But collecting data is becoming more and more difficult. Gone are the days of businesses relying on third-party data. The last few years have seen a strong shift toward a privacy-first world.

Customers want to feel safe when shopping online. They don’t want to be tracked across sites and apps, and they don’t want their data sold to other businesses. They also don’t want companies to use their data.

So, how is it possible to capture data in a privacy-first world? By relying on declared data. This is the information volunteered by customers in direct interactions with a company, rather than purchased from or accessed through a third party.

Marketing chatbots are an easy and efficient way to gather declared data. They enable two-way, personalised interactions, encouraging consumers to share their information. This is why chatbot conversations are a gold mine of valuable data, and the best part is that shoppers willingly share it. These insights can later be used to better understand and target prospects with customised offers.

Use integrations to create great conversational experiences

Start delivering conversational experiences across the customer journey by implementing AI-powered bots. Conversational chatbots, like those built with Spectrm, focus on purchase intent and guide customers through their journey. You can design rich, engaging interactions by integrating these marketing chatbots with Zendesk Sunshine Conversations, an API-based messaging platform that allows businesses to build next-level conversational experiences.

With the Spectrm and Sunshine Conversations integration, businesses can deploy AI marketing chatbots on various messaging channels, like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp Business, Instagram and Google’s Business Messages. This allows companies to meet customers where they are and deliver fast, convenient conversational experiences.

“Bots in chats is nothing new—what Spectrm does is unique in that they focus on the entry point of the customer, making the initial experience completely frictionless,” says Jakub Glodek, Senior Director of emerging technologies at Zendesk. “This drives companies to fill top-of-the-funnel leads and close simple transactional sales at a high rate. Their integration into Zendesk Sunshine Conversations allows a quick and easy escalation to a live person to speed up even the complex interactions.”

Bring out the best from both worlds

Consumers expect fluid experiences. They want to do business with companies that understand their buying behaviours, remember their preferences, and deliver top-notch customer experiences. The best way to give them what they want? Leverage the power of AI to enhance your CX. By combining conversational chatbots with live support, you’ll be able to provide high-quality, personalised experiences that exceed customer expectations.