Chapter 1

Understanding the Chatbot Revolution

IN THIS CHAPTER

Distinguishing between chatbot types

Understanding how you can use chatbots

Breaking down how to create the business case

Chances are you've encountered chatbots, like them or not, as you've browsed the web. You know, they're the icons (sometimes with text) you usually find in the lower-right corner of a website inviting you to click it, as you can see on the website for The Marketing Specialist, the marketing business run by my (Eric's) co-author on several Instagram-related For Dummies books in Figure 1-1.

Many chatbots are now employing artificial intelligence, better known by its acronym AI, but what does that even mean? Aren't all chatbots by definition AI? That difference is what we talk about in this chapter. After you know what AI chatbots can do, you discover how to make the business case for employing chatbots in your company to drive business.

Finally, we end this chapter with an overview of how to use chatbots effectively because that's important to make the business case, don't you think?

FIGURE 1-1: The Let's Chat button on The Marketing Specialist website.

Knowing the Difference between Chatbots and AI Chatbots

We can hear you scratching your head, wondering what makes a chatbot different from an AI chatbots. That's why we're here, and we break it down in the following sections.

Running regular ol' chatbots

Chatbots are often script-based systems to carry out specific tasks by using defined rules. They can only carry out specific tasks and respond to commands within the boundaries of those tasks.

For example, one day I (Eric) discovered that my waste management company hadn't picked up my yard waste on the designated day. I accessed the company website and told the chatbot that my yard waste hadn't been picked up, and the system told me the truck was still out servicing clients and to check the truck tracker.

The tracker said the truck had finished its route, so I told the chatbot about the tracker's report. The chatbot said it didn't understand and asked me to rephrase my question. I'd exceeded the limits of the chatbot's programmed script. The end result was that I didn't get the help I needed and had to call the waste management company to speak with a live human. (Never fear; the yard waste was eventually picked up and the grass in the bin didn't combust from the summer heat.)

Accessing AI chatbots: The next generation

AI chatbots are more like Data, the android from Star Trek: The Next Generation. These chatbots use natural language processing (NLP) to better learn from complex interactions and predict responses. When a potential client asks the AI chatbot how your company helps their particular needs, the chatbot can follow up with questions and provide more meaningful answers with a pleasant, human-like rapport.

With regular chatbots, your customer is more likely to get frustrated and have to contact a live human like I (Eric) did or, worse, lose a potential customer entirely. (You can read more about my experience and regular chatbots in general in the preceding section.) An AI chatbot can engage a potential customer for longer and have a better chance of helping them get their question answered. What's more, an AI chatbot can help your company determine whether someone needs your services or can find their answer from the chatbot or another source. For example, Figure 1-2 shows how the Sacramento law firm Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora uses Scorpion's AI chatbot to filter out potential clients from those who are just fishing.

FIGURE 1-2: The Scorpion AI chatbot is ready to answer your legal questions.

Using Chatbots in Your Small Business

We bet you dollars to donuts that the gears in your head are turning as you think about all the great ways AI chatbots can save you money. Part of that excitement may be fear of missing out (or FOMO) as you see your competition using chatbots . and you're not.

Hold up there, Sparky. Before you go to your boss or your team all wide-eyed and stumbling over your words telling them how great chatbots are, you need to know how they can help you. The following sections not only give you a good idea of how to leverage AI chatbots but also arm you with a list of answers in case your boss (or the CEO) comes at you wide-eyed and raving about chatbots.

Considering customer service and support

As we mention in the earlier section "Accessing AI chatbots: The next generation," AI chatbots are good at both interacting with potential customers and helping existing customers. Here are the talking points you need to bring up in your discussions with and presentation to your team:

• 24/7 availability: Chatbots are always ready to answer basic questions about such things as hours, location, and pricing. When you train an AI chatbot about what you do (something we talk about in Chapter 6), your chatbot can answer more questions online rather than on the phone or by email.
• Order tracking: Speaking of keeping more customers off your phones and out of your email inbox, a Where Is My Order (WISMO) chatbot uses AI to tell your customers where their order is. If the order is experiencing any delays or is lost entirely, your chatbot alerts your customer service team so it can follow up as soon as possible.
• Trusty gatekeeping: If you use an AI chatbot to help your customers, you can filter customer support issues. It can be as simple as giving customers a menu to choose from so the chatbot can answer the user's question as quickly as possible, as you can see in the Elegant Themes chatbot shown in Figure 1-3.

FIGURE 1-3: Menu options in the Elegant Themes chatbot.

Looking at lead generation and sales

AI chatbots are a great way to drive more business to your company because they can do the busywork your salespeople don't want to do:

• Lead screening: When your AI chatbot receives information from a potential customer about your services, it checks for certain criteria and passes along the customer's name to a member of your sales team.
• Product recommendations: Your AI chatbot can suggest products and/or services your company offers to entice a potential customer to buy from you.
• Quote requests: Customers may want to get an estimate of your services, and your AI chatbot can collect information based on their needs to give an estimate. Then you can have your sales team follow up to nail down the final numbers.
• Data capture: You need your client's contact information to keep you in front of their eyeballs. Though lead magnets on websites are one way to do that, AI chatbots are another good way to collect a potential client's contact information.

Booking appointments and tackling other administrative tasks

Speaking of reducing busywork (see the preceding section), an AI chatbot is great for setting up appointments, a job your admin assistant had to do in the not-so-distant past. For example:

• Schedule appointments on calendars, which you may have done one or many times before when you've set medical appointments.
• Schedule and send reminders automatically.
• Handle appointment changes and cancellations.
• Provide the potential client with the information they need to know before your sales team calls them.
• Have the AI chatbot present questions to the potential client and send the answers to the sales team so the sales call is more satisfying for all parties.

Your AI chatbot further acts as the assistant for your assistant by integrating with your existing apps and processes to provide good stuff, including the following:

• Collecting data about customers and logging that information into your customer relationship management (CRM) database
• Processing simple orders and payments
• Routing urgent customer inquiries to the correct team member so you can make your customer happy faster

Building the Business Case

Yes, AI and AI chatbots are cool and exciting (and, some say, a bit scary), but AI is a tool just like all the other tools you're thinking of using in your business. You need to show five things to convince your stakeholders that AI chatbots can make your company better:

• Which specific problems an AI chatbot can solve, such as reducing customer service costs
• How your company can not only save money but also make money from using AI chatbots
• How installing an AI chatbot gives you a leg up against the competition
• How AI chatbots improve customer satisfaction and retention
• How an AI chatbot is going to help your company grow in the next one, five, and ten years (and maybe longer, depending on your industry)

Highlighting the value you get

Your boss is asking where the value is. The following sections give you a summary of benefits to consider; don't forget to do your research into these points so you can provide specifics about how AI...