5 Chatbots for Small Businesses to Increase Competitive Advantage
Small businesses have the same pressing needs as their larger counterparts. They need to Market, Sell, Service, Manage Cash Flow, Maximize Employee Productivity, and Make Goods. However, unlike large firms, small businesses have limited resources, and chatbots offer a great way for them to engage with their customers, employees, and partners. So, why do chatbots make sense for them? As the image below shows, 67% people expect to use messaging apps to talk to businesses, which makes chatbots very relevant.
The following 5 areas are where we have seen customers adopt chatbots with success:
1. Sales and Marketing
Brands can engage with consumers via a conversational interface that allows for far greater engagement. For example, the image below depicts how a retailer can use a Virtual Assistant to sell shoes via a chat interface like Facebook Messenger. The consumer can see a photo of the shoes, and is presented with options to buy, see similar products, or ask a question, enabling conversational commerce.
2. Customer Service
Chatbots can enable customers to check for order status, file a complaint, create an incident, or give feedback. This is very important as Customer Experience is going to be the next battleground for companies to gain market share. Below is an example of how a chatbot from Unvired can assist a customer to update their address.
3. Employee Help Desk
Chatbots can act as a 24/7 Virtual or Digital Assistant for the Employee Help Desk, be it IT or HR. For example, employees can reset passwords for Windows or their ERP systems like SAP without needing to email or phone the Help Desk. Or they can apply for Leave or check their Leave balance. Similarly, Help Desk agents can get a notification when a new incident is created so that they can respond faster. Or employees can search the company Knowledge Base for articles (Self Service). We give below an example of a user resetting their password and also doing a search to find an answer to a problem they are having. Pl. note that the user is given an option to give their feedback as to whether the article solved their problem or not. This feedback is used to make the bots more intelligent over time by incorporating machine learning/Artificial Intelligence (AI).
4. Accounting/Cash Flow
Cash Flow is the lifeblood of small businesses. Chatbots can help keep track of various accounting tasks like expenses, revenues, and outstanding invoices. Below is an example of a chatbot from Sage Software that helps keep track of invoices so that businesses can get their payments on time.
5. Travel
Employees can make flight reservations using Chatbots that simplifies this task. The image below shows a chatbot from SAP Concur that can be used to book a flight.
As the examples above show, chatbots are a great way for small businesses to manage their customer experience as well as simplify the work of their employees. Natural Language and Artificial Intelligence enabled Chatbots enable intelligent conversations that increase the competitive advantage of small businesses.
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