Today chatbots have made inroads almost in any industry and are used for numerous purposes. If used and implemented wisely, сhatbot for startups can also bring avid benefits. Here is how.
What Is a Chatbot?
First thing first, let’s start off with some definitions.
In essence, a chatbot is another program for messengers, social networks, websites, or applications. Users can use it by following the pattern of pre-programmed phrases (rule-based chatbots) or sending text messages (AI chatbots). For businesses, chatbots save time by taking over routine functions such as:
1) answering frequently asked questions: 77% of companies worldwide use chatbots for customer support;
2) solving private customer problems
If the chatbot cannot help the client, it switches the communication to an employee. Apart from the above-mentioned functions, chatbots are used widely to call a cab, order a ticket to an event, find something in a search engine or answer a question.
All of this is within the privacy policy strictly followed by chatbots.
How Do Chatbots Work?
Basically, there are two types of chatbots: rule-based and AI-based. Both can be a great choice for a startup. The difference between them lies in technicalities and capabilities.
Rule-based chatbots work according to a strictly limited “command-response” script. The set of commands is always the same, the interaction with the chatbot cannot go beyond the script.
Pros of such a chatbot:
- Very easy to create and less expensive
- Complements user interface: to implement product order feature, you no longer need to develop a fully-fledged website
- Replaces the employee where it is sufficient to comply with the set script.
AI-based chatbots use artificial intelligence, and their interaction and communication algorithms are much more complex. There are no predetermined scripts; the system carefully analyzes users’ requests, context, and answers using natural processing language. This type of chatbot gradually learns, improves its algorithms for recognizing queries, and gets more accurate over time.
The main pros are:
- Machine-learning
- Personalization
- Can be configured to solve many different tasks.
The range of tasks also varies greatly: it is widely used for customer service, human resources, finance and accounting, marketing, and sales. However, it is worth noting that most startups still view AI chatbots solely as a way to save money rather than to make money or reach new audiences.
That leads us to the next topic: how exactly chatbots for startups can be beneficial?
Chatbot for Startup: 5 Reasons to Implement It
Chatbots are the fastest-growing brand communication channel compared to online chats, phone calls, or social media, which is just as great for startups to get feedback from users at an early development stage.
Proof of Concept
MVP model reduces expenses and risks, and enables startups to check hypotheses and finally come up with a viable business idea.
But how do you launch MVP quickly and on a budget? Chatbot development is often used to solve this issue, and here’s why.
First, a chatbot can be built with minimal investment in a few days or even hours if software companies are well-versed in developing it.
Secondly, the chatbot is a quick response and communication tool, which makes it possible to get a prompt response from the customers and not delay the final decision on the development of the startup.
More Transparency and Quicker Time to Market
All startups are about speed. The faster you test all the hypotheses, the better. A chatbot is an indispensable tool in such cases because it speeds up the testing of any hypothesis: you can launch a basic application, send a newsletter, conduct a survey and get feedback almost immediately.
Chatbots will give almost any tool a head start in the speed of hypothesis testing: minimal investment for a new test and almost instant results. Perfect for getting started.
Work 24/7
Lack of resources and limited budget galvanize startups to seek alternatives. Chatbot for a startup, in such a case, can free up human resources and reduce costs.
Few employees can only process a limited amount of queries and have to take breaks. The chatbot, in its turn, responds immediately, processes any number of requests at the same time, does not need breaks or rest, and does not require any operating costs.
Collecting Customer Data
When communicating with customers, chatbots collect information about them and pass it on to other departments. Collected data can be used by the marketing department of the top management team to improve their interactions with customers.
For example, to send more personalized emails or to offer products and services that will interest a potential customer.
At the same time, collected data gives a clear idea of what exactly causes problems for users in terms of UX/UI, etc.
Free up Human Resources
Chatbots that solve most of the questions make it possible to reduce the number of employees to a minimum. If developed properly, a chatbot can easily replace technical support and call center operators, providing users with helpful information and answers to frequently asked questions.
Wrapping Up
The chatbot market is about to reach a whopping mark of $1.2 billion by 2025 and has become an integral part of any business. They are widely adopted for order management, booking, or customer service. In addition, chatbots automate dozens of business processes, respond instantly to customer requests, and are available 24 hours a day.
For startups, chatbot implementation can save cost, reduce time-to-market, and understand customers’ pain points during MVP development.
About the author:
Louis Sawyer is a professional writer, editor, and web design, expert. She loves writing about technology trends, web development, mobile games, and business issues. Also, Louis works as a proofreader at Computools. Follow her on Twitter.