Live Chat Web or AI-Powered Chat Bot? The Best Support Channel For Your Business:
Today, there are two ways to build your support channel to communicate with your customers: human-based live chat or an AI-powered chatbot. While there's a solid debate about the pros and cons, even after contrasting these leading support channels with multiple business scenarios, we believe it's about how you want your customer support to be; considerably weighing it in quality, quantity, and operational costs.
Every business has a different vertical and based on their daily ticket volume, industry, and operational status, we can technically choose the most-suited support channel for them.
Automated AI Efficiency or Real-Life Human Responses - You Decide!
Businesses can infuse a human touch to their customer support with a live chat web or use chatbots to expedite their responses with automated messages to entertain basic queries. All in all, one is an empathy-driven option that solves complex customer problems on chat while the other uses is a tech-inspired automated messaging service.
Whether it's real-life agents providing quality live chat to your business or the AI-powered chatbots engineered to deliver fast query responses and 24/7 availability, we can study the apparent loopholes of both support channels to understand their scope, benefits, differences, and limitations with clarity to make a better business choice.
7 Major Differences Between Live Chat and Chatbot Service:
A direct one-on-one comparison is one of the fastest ways to understand the dynamics of both support channels.
Despite these differences, some brands might sway towards hiring the best BPO agency offering trained live chat agents to embark on empathy-driven conversations, whereas other companies might use chatbots to host 24/7 live support.
Here's our list of 7 major differences that live chat and chatbots are bound with, and yet, they've become the most integral gigs to be included in your communication strategy.
Live Chat |
Chat Bot |
| Enables human-to-human dialogue | Offers human-to-bot interaction |
| Manually controlled | Automated |
| Limited by business hours | 24/7 availability of service |
| Limited concurrent chat handling | Unlimited number of chats handling at once |
| Solves complex/ new problems for customer delight | Limited resolution for linear queries |
| Exhibits empathy towards customers | Uses canned responses/ is rule-driven |
| Recommended for customer support and sales | Recommended for answering FAQ's, or providing order information |
3 Best Scenarios To Explore The Use of Live Chat or Chatbot:
It's a deadlock for any company to be measuring the bars of customer satisfaction set out by live chat web or AI-powered chat bots. How? Modern research states that live chat enables companies to escalate their customer satisfaction scores by 80%, whereas chatbots use their quicker response times on web to refine your CX by 75%.
Still, we can highlight thorough differences of the two support channels by contrasting their use cases to the best-suited business scenarios. Learn how live chat, and chatbots are helping businesses in various strides and becoming a perfect fit.
LIVE CHAT:
1) Handling Complex Customer Inquiries
When customers have detailed, nuanced questions that require in-depth explanations or troubleshooting, live chat is ideal. Human agents can understand the intricacies of the issue and provide comprehensive support.
2) Building Customer Relationships
Live chat is perfect for industries where building relationships and trust with customers is crucial. Human agents can offer personalized interactions, making customers feel valued and understood.
3) Upselling and Cross-Selling
Live chat agents can effectively upsell and cross-sell products or services by understanding customer needs and recommending relevant items in real time.
CHATBOT:
1) Answering Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Chatbots are highly efficient at handling repetitive inquiries, such as FAQs. They can provide instant responses to common questions, saving time for both customers and human agents.
2) Providing 24/7 Support
For businesses that need to offer round-the-clock support, chatbots are invaluable. They ensure customers can get help at any time, even outside regular business hours.
3) Streamlining Appointment Scheduling
Chatbots can handle routine tasks like scheduling appointments, freeing up human agents for more complex interactions.
From the viewpoint of a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) agency, choosing between live chat and chatbots isn't a simple, one-size-fits-all decision. It often depends on the specific needs and goals of the client.
For High-Touch Industries:
If your business thrives on personalized service and complex customer interactions, live chat might be your best bet. The human element can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
For Low-Complexity Products/ Services:
In industries where customer interactions are frequent but predictable, chatbots can be a game-changer. They offer efficiency, cost savings, and 24/7 availability, making them ideal for handling large volumes of straightforward queries.
Our Verdict:
At the end of the day, the goal of a BPO agency is to enhance the customer experience while optimizing operational efficiency. By carefully evaluating the pros and cons of live chat and chatbots, businesses can implement the right mix of technology and human touch to meet their unique needs.
So, whether you're looking to scale up your customer support or streamline your operations, understanding these tools and how they can be used will help you make an informed decision that benefits both your business and your customers.