New Technology and How it Helps
There is an argument that with the rise of technology and the reality that technology is now part of our day to lives, the human race will soon lose the ability to communicate. We spend about a third of our waking lives on our smartphones and for most, the concept that we will, one day, lose our conversational ability quite believable, however, new technology in the form of chatbots might actually be the human race’s saving grace.
Chatbots, robots developed and put in place by brands to gain information for consumers in a conversational manner, are popping up on almost every website or app imaginable. Coupled with our quick moving fingers and fast thinking brains, chatbot technology may hold the key to ensuring that we will remember how to hold conversations for years to come.
“The days of generic contact us forms are quickly coming to an end. As consumers demand a more personalised experience from brands, more unique ways of gaining information is needed,” said David Nel, Microsoft’s regional director and managing partner at Tangent Solutions. There is no way for brands to know if consumers are looking for something specific from a few basic questions, but if brands are able to stage a conversation with consumers they will be able to gain insight into what consumers actually want. Brands need to get up close and personal with their consumers and luckily, chatbots are the perfect mechanism to do just that.
“Older generation versions gave the technology a bad name. We never had the ability to make communicable bots realistic but now we are able to program chatbots to respond like humans would,” said Nel. The modern-day chatbot understands the human language and understands the way that we talk to one another. “When designing technology with the objective of retrieving data from consumer’s, the developer needs to consider that we do not all speak the queens English, we speak like humans and our technology needs to reflect this,” said Nel.
Imagine you are booking a flight online and a virtual attendant pops up at the bottom of the screen to ask “Hi [name], how can I help you?” The reference of personalisation is going to make you more inclined to speak about your needs and wants as a consumer.
“The questions are no longer name, surname and which airport do you want to leave from. Now, the chatbot in place is able to ask you what is your reason for travel and depending on your location, will be able to suggest the perfect flight, at the perfect time, from the most convenient location for you,” said Nel. What really makes this process of data retrieving revolutionary is that the chatbot has encouraged you to speak about your relationship with the brand without you realising it. This allows the brand to understand your needs and wants as a consumer and to send you content that is relevant to you personally.
One of the most important assets to brands is data. Data about their industry, data about their consumers and data that they can use to grow and improve – chatbots are able to bring your brand this data if your chatbot is built around your objective.
If your company needs to know how your consumer feels about something specific, then your chatbot needs to be programmed around that specific objective. Just like any great interviewer, your chatbot needs to know the right questions to ask the consumer.
“If we can keep conversations alive while benefiting both brand and consumer then we know we are doing something right,” said Nel.
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