Preference for using a chatbot or an automated assistant for customer service interaction is growing, a recent survey showed.
The 2016 Aspect Consumer Experience Index to measure this trend was at 44 percent, up 4 points from the 2015 survey.
Half of this group said that they would rather conduct all brand interaction via text/messaging, with 39 percent saying the digital-first methods are more effective than talking.
“The accuracy and interaction quality of Intelligent assistants such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Echo are driving consumer interest for similar experiences with the brands they do business with. This is no longer just a way for companies to reduce costs by handing simple and repetitive queries over to automated assistants,” said Joe Gagnon, Aspect’s Chief Customer Strategy Officer.
“This is an opportunity for companies to satisfy a growing customer demand. But even though a large number of consumers now prefer using chatbots, they aren’t going to tolerate a substandard experience.”
“The important thing is that companies who deploy automated interaction must provide an experience that is connected to the rest of the customer experience ecosystem.”
A key survey finding is that brands that deliver automation in isolation risk alienating customers.
An overwhelming number of consumers (88 percent) expect the context of their interaction on a chatbot to follow them as they transition to a live person.
Delivering on this is essential because a good number of respondents think automated assistance will end up giving them the same frustrating experience that antiquated Interactive Voice Response solutions did.
A chatbot experience, broadly defined as a self-service experience, creates good will with customers. Sixty-One percent said chatbots will allow simple to moderate requests to be handled faster.
But more importantly, two-thirds of consumers said they feel good about themselves and the company when they are able to answer a question or solve a problem by themselves without the help of a customer service agent.
