How Ineffective Chatbots Are Costing CSPs Valuable Customers
In today's predominantly digital landscape, consumers expect seamless and meaningful interactions across all platforms when engaging with businesses. With one in five shoppers willing to spend only 10 minutes before abandoning their purchases, communication service providers (CSPs) must make every moment count.
Consumers are looking for services tailored to their individual needs and interests, believing that the personalised experiences available in-store or over the phone should also be easily accessible online. While many CSPs have adopted tools like chatbots to manage online interactions, these solutions often fall short of the in-person experience, leading to customer frustration.
The reality of shopping online whilst blind
Research from 15gifts has found that more than half (52%) of telco consumers believe the online buying journey currently lacks the human-like interaction today’s consumers desire. This is supported by almost all (98%) CSPs who admit to facing challenges in replicating the human buying experience online. Nearly a quarter of consumers cite chatbots as their top frustration when shopping online, with difficulties getting questions answered by them being the main reason consumers abandon a purchase.
While chatbots can handle certain simple queries, these solutions often regurgitate irrelevant stock phrases that don’t address more complex or nuanced customer queries or requests. The resulting frustration leaves customers little choice but to seek the support of a human to resolve a specific query or objection, leading to an unhappy customer and a costly expense for the provider itself.
But the implications of poor interactions with chatbots and automated attendants goes beyond underwhelming purchasing experiences. CSPs are also losing sales. With 21% of consumers responding to 15gifts’ survey saying they visit a website with the direct intention of making a purchase, it is clear that CSPs are missing out on a huge proportion of potential sales.
As chatbots and automated attendants often fail to handle complex customer inquiries and offer guidance throughout the entire purchasing journey, CSPs need to seek alternative, more effective methods to deliver personalised and meaningful interactions with customers online.
Combining AI with human psychology and expertise
Up until now, product choice and complexity has made the role of knowledgeable salespeople indispensable for many shoppers, which is difficult to replicate online using traditional technology.
Many CSPs are adopting AI tools to address this challenge, yet some hesitance remains. This primarily stems from concerns regarding customer data usage and a lack of clarity about which tools to implement. Consumers may also be concerned about the use of AI by businesses they interact with, as many believe AI tools can’t provide the human-like support they desire.
Of course, these concerns aren’t completely unfounded. Many of the AI tools that have emerged in recent years do fail to incorporate the human element, and as a result, consumers often become frustrated at these interactions. However, businesses have the opportunity to differentiate and drive higher conversion rates if they focus on technology that leverages the sales techniques adopted by top-performing sales advisors.
Tools that blend sales psychology with genuine human expertise in their AI models can empower CSPs to deliver an outstanding customer experience throughout every phase of the sales journey. These tools can proactively assist customers in navigating the purchasing process by effectively addressing detailed product inquiries, preventing dead ends, effectively managing objections, and ultimately instilling confidence in making complex buying decisions.
A human approach to digital selling
As the research from 15gifts shows, appetite for AI among CSPs is strong. But until now, many have struggled to find AI-driven sales tools that truly understand and mirror the sales techniques of the best retail sales advisors.
As CSPs increasingly implement AI-driven solutions to improve customer experiences, they encounter persistent challenges such as privacy issues, bias, and perceptions of capability. But there are opportunities for companies to stand out and drive higher sales if they leverage the successful techniques of person-to-person interactions. By incorporating these principles into their AI strategies, CSPs can create personalised offerings that enhance sales performance, elevate customer satisfaction, and foster stronger loyalty, ultimately boosting Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
Learn more about the research as well as how 15gifts is helping businesses to solve their challenges by providing a more human approach to digital selling.