According to data released by digital support experts, Helpshift, customers may be ready to embrace the power of AI, machine learning, and chatbots within the customer service experience. Their survey of over 2,000 Americans found that while people generally prefer dealing with a person, over communicating with a robot, they do appreciate bots that can help them solve their issue more quickly.
We caught up with the new CEO behind the Helpshift brand, Linda Crawford, to get her thoughts on the findings of the latest research, and learn a little more about Helpshift as an upcoming brand in the world of UC.
A Bit About Linda Crawford, and Helpshift
CEO Linda Crawford has only been working with Helpshift for about three months now, after starting her position on the 5th of September. However, that doesn't mean she's not full of useful information about the company. I asked Linda to tell me what Helpshift offers its customers in the era of customer experience.
"We provide a message-based user interface for the consumer service market that works across countless channels, including phone, in-app messages, mobile web messages, and mobile desktop. Today, we feel that nobody wants to email a brand or call the centre anymore if there are other options available. Our message-based interface gives companies a way to interact intuitively with customers through AI and chatbots."
Though many companies are already aware of Helpshift's mobile app platform, the brand only recently released "Web chat" into the marketplace, an AI offering that gives businesses the chance to scale their communication strategies across an omni-channel approach. Already, Helpshift is helping companies like Microsoft, Virgin Media, and Viacom manage customer experience.
Why Are We Now Welcoming Chatbots?
I was interested to find out what prompted Helpshift to conduct research into the potential of chatbots and machine learning for customer experience (CX). Linda told me:
"There's a tremendous amount of hype around chatbots today. Brands love them because they can reduce the costs of serving a customer, while simultaneously improving the engagements they have with those customers. This technology is changing the way services are delivered."
"At Helpshift, when we think about chatbots, we're thinking about how there needs to be a seamless connection between the bot, the human agent, and the customer. We wanted to do some research to find out if people really understand what chatbots are, and how they feel about them in customer service."
Helpshift's research uncovered some pretty interesting findings. For instance, out of 2,013 respondents, 75% said they enjoy using chatbots when it makes the customer service process more efficient, while 70% they were happy to interact with chatbots if it meant solving their problems faster.
Tell Us About the Survey Respondents
Of course, one factor to be aware of is that there are different generations to consider in the marketplace today. The response that millennials have to the chatbot revolution might be very different to the opinions of their counterparts in Generation X. Linda told me that they tried to survey widely across the general population, and millennials were included in the mix.
Interestingly, many of the respondents surveyed weren't always initially aware of what was meant by the term "chatbot". Many assumed that the word was used to refer to bots that came to them on a platform and offered help, rather than bots they could interact with as part of the customer service process.