Oracle<\/span> says, \u201c<\/span>80% of businesses want chatbots as they are beginning to see the benefits of using chatbots for their customer-based products\u201d.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if given a choice between chatbot vs live chat, what would you choose to deliver superior customer service? Both communication channels create a unique customer experience for users by providing quick answers, so they don\u2019t have to wait for an email or jump on the phone.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s discuss comprehensively the pros and cons of <\/span>chatbots<\/span><\/a> and live chat<\/a> that will help you in selecting the right technology that complements your business requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Live chat<\/a> allows users to connect with sales & support reps to get real-time support. It is the most preferred proactive channel as it offers real-time support. 75%<\/strong> of customer<\/a> prefer live chat over any other channel, and nearly two-thirds of customers who <\/span>engage with a chat platform are more likely to return to a website and purchase again. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is an integral part of a successful customer service toolkit that gives the highest customer satisfaction as compared with email and phone. Live chat benefits<\/a> are many and you can utilize them to improve the key support metrics such as first response time or average resolution time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The key reasons why live chat is in more demand are:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we dig deeper into the importance of bots, let us know <\/span>what is a chatbot<\/span><\/a> and how it works?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chatbots are essentially designed for improving customer experience by automating sales and customer support. Talking about the chatbot pros and cons, bots are <\/span>always-on<\/i><\/b> to engage customers by answering their simple queries and pre-qualifying leads by asking relevant questions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bots can engage customers across websites, applications, and messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp. By studying the most common <\/span>chatbot use cases<\/span><\/a>, you can build a bot that matches your business objectives.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Source – Drift<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The key features of AI-enabled bots mentioned below help to improve customer experience. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both live chat and chatbot are predominant channels used by businesses to assist and engage customers. Both tools can also work well together. In this guide, we will discuss when it is best to select between chatbot vs live chat and which one is more suitable for your business.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Customer expectations for real-time help are on a very high level. Response time is one of the important attributes of customer excellence. <\/span>59% of customers<\/b> are more likely to buy when brands answer their queries in under a minute.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy customers are key to your business success. Delayed response time is one of the main reasons why customers leave your website.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Live chat offers instant response assuring the lowest queue time as compared to other reactive communication channels. It empowers your customer support team to:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The chatbot report prepared by <\/span>Ubisend<\/span> says,<\/span> \u201c21% of consumers see chatbots as the easiest way to contact a business\u201d<\/b>. Bots can engage customers 24×7 by answering their common queries and ensuring that customers receive instant responses. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chatbot benefits<\/a> businesses in the following ways:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, based on your business requirements you can decide between live chat vs chatbot and meet your customer expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is imperative to have cost-effective business decisions to increase business revenue and reduce costs.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Live chat is an affordable communication channel as compared to other channels. It empowers your support team to connect with customers in real-time, preventing sales funnel dropout and ultimately delivering a better RoI (return on investment) to <\/span>convert website visitors into customers<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Juniper Research, \u201cchatbots will help businesses save more than $8 billion per year by 2023\u201d<\/b>. The main difference between chatbot vs live chat is that the latter help can help your business save customer service costs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The additional costs may include salary costs, training costs, and infrastructure costs. The hiring process of support agents, and training them to require additional costs and time. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is how bots help businesses to save costs:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bots enable a simpler and seamless brand experience for customers along with reducing costs and resources for your business significantly.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finding a way to provide 24\/7 customer service isn\u2019t just good for business, it is becoming a requirement. You can not take the risk of making your customers wait. <\/span>68% of customers<\/span><\/a> switch to a competitor if they don\u2019t think you care about them. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike live chat, where agents have to be online to chat with a customer, chatbots are available 24×7. You never know when your customers try to reach out. If you miss out to engage them, certainly they will leave your site. With chatbots, you can deliver real-time support to your customers, which makes them satisfied and their lifetime value of the customer increases.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n As per <\/span>Deloitte<\/span><\/a>, \u201c62% of companies view customer experience delivered by a brand as a competitive differentiator\u201d.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n By automating your regular sales and support tasks with bots you can engage customers in better ways:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the top potential benefit of using chatbots is 24-hour sales & support assistance. With bots, you can engage your customers who reach out when your support team is not available or busy.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n While managing your conversations having scalable support is like a blessing as you might not be aware of when the traffic will hike. Businesses that use only live chat support can encounter challenges such as:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n By implementing a chatbot, you can overcome the above challenges. With bots, you can easily scale your conversations and provide quick solutions to customers. It improves your business productivity without any extra costs and resources. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Suppose your business receives more than 1000 chats per day. It is not possible for your support agents to handle those many chats and deliver instant assistance. You can use the chatbot solution to scale your chats and manage your resources effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although chatbots are being used by many businesses, live chat is a knockout solution when it comes to accuracy. For being able to deliver accurate solutions, understanding the context is the most important part.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Undoubtedly, chatbots instantly answer simple queries that have predefined or predictive patterns. But they might lack the ability to think and adapt complex questions where the customers might need answers they can rely on. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), it is difficult for a bot to handle complex queries. <\/b>While a live support agent can help to develop an emotional connection by identifying the right pattern and can offer other related advice to solve issues.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n If we talk about customer psychology, at times customers expect empathy during a problematic situation. And bots can\u2019t empathize. If there is no live support, it may create an impression that your brand is cold and impersonal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n For every customer-centric business, the focal point is to engage customers in real-time and deliver a great customer service experience. <\/span>Bain & Company<\/span><\/a> says \u201c<\/span>the businesses that successfully engage with their customers were able to increase the customer spend by 20% to 40%<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Live chat acts as a perfect balance for both real-time assistance along human touch.<\/span> Being <\/b>conversational in nature allows communicating in a natural way for immediate and personal communication. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n By using visual engagement tools, agents can identify issues faster and deliver interactive visual support at the first touchpoint. You can deliver hybrid support to your customers by providing real-time support with AI chatbots and human support for tricky questions. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy is Live Chat Important?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Live](\"https:\/\/www.revechat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Live-chat-as-the-most-preferred-communication-channel.png\")
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Why are Chatbots Important?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Live Chat vs Chatbot: How Do You Decide?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#1. Response Time<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Key takeaways:<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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#2. Cost-effectiveness<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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#3. Availability<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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#4. Scalability<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Key takeaways:<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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#5. Accuracy<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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#6. Human Touch<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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