Questions to ask before getting an AI chatbot

I chatbots can give new means to your business by improving efficiency, productivity, and outreach. That being said, it is also essential to enterprises that they select the appropriate AI chatbot for their business operations. If you select the wrong conversational AI platform, your business can become vulnerable. 

There are different types of AI chatbots. It’s not like any conversational AI solution can fulfill your requirements. So, list your requirements first and then ask your AI chatbot provider the following questions before you shortlist an AI chatbot for business solution. 

Here’re the five questions that every company must ask before selecting an AI chatbot. 

1. What is an AI Chatbot? 

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Well, let’s start with the most basic question. For many enterprises, it’s not clear what an AI chatbot for business is. They must know that an AI chatbot is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is trained with Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology. It can automate conversations/ chats across websites, various mobile apps including WhatsApp for Business using NLP. 

With an AI chatbot, you can automate customer support activities, guide prospects with product information, and cut-down costs of customer service to boost ROI. A chatbot offers 24/7 live support to prospects and customers to drive sales and appointments. 

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2. What Facilities do you want from an AI Chatbot? 

If you’ve understood what an AI chatbot is, you must also have understood that an AI chatbot can be of different types based on an enterprise’s requirements. So, now the question is what facilities do you want from a conversational AI platform? 

Do you want to automate your FAQs to assist the customers/prospects? Do you need 24/7 live support to engage your prospects/customers when you’re not available for interaction? Do you need conversational AI for generating leads through WhatsApp for Business and other platforms? You don’t want to select any random AI chatbot without being completely sure of your requirements. You’ll make a significant investment in AI chatbot, make it count. 

3. Can you Afford an AI chatbot yet? 

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If you run a startup, asking this question is a must. Nevertheless, we believe that spending on conversational AI is a much better option, even though it may sound costly for startups. Think it this way. Irrespective of the nature and size of your business, you’ll need a customer support team. 

However, an AI chatbot can automate your customer support activities. A simple AI chatbot can complete the tasks of 5 customer support executives without any errors. With conversational AI, you can resolve up to 80% of customers’ queries. Hence, our advice to the startups will be to invest in one AI chatbot than hiring 5-6 customer executives. You can initially invest in 1-2 executives who will resolve only complex customer queries. Rest the chatbot can handle by itself. 

In terms of affordability, you should assign a certain percentage of the budget for conversational AI, and based on the amount, you can filter your search for an AI chatbot. 

4. How will you Integrate Conversational AI into your Website? 

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Integrating an AI chatbot to your website is not a big deal. Your conversational AI provider can replace the GUI with Conversational User Interface (CUI) to integrate AI chatbot. You can also integrate AI chatbot with WhatsApp for Business using WhatsApp Business API. 

However, if you want to integrate AI chatbot to your website by yourself or want more guidance on the deployment part, it is always a good idea to opt for in-depth knowledge by reading tech-blogs, taking up tutorials, courses, and so on. Or let us help you. 🙂

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5. Are you Aware of the Track Record of the vendor? 

Before you finalize a vendor for conversational AI, it is much needed to know their track record. You need to investigate their credibility, the companies they have worked for before, and the extent of tangible value they are willing to offer. You must also get a clear idea of their support services. If you collaborate with an AI chatbot vendor having demonstrated experience of working in the industry, it’s better for your enterprise in the long run.

Final Words 

Before wrapping up, we want to suggest to you an AI chatbot platform that can effectively handle customer support activities of multiple industries. We’re talking about Konverse. This conversational AI platform can single-handedly manage lead generation, customer support, and customer engagement for your business. 

The conversational AI solutions of Konverse are pretty effective for industries like EdTech, eCommerce, FinTech, Education, and Health & Wellness.