Chatbots for Customer Service: Examples, Benefits and Uses

Customer service has long been the least automated part of the business. Although many companies experimented with answering machines and directories, the bulk of the workload still was on people. But this situation changed with the emergence of chatbots for customer service, which helped optimize business processes, reducing costs and increasing customer satisfaction. 

Let’s learn more about how such chatbots work, what their advantages are and what tools you can use today. 

What are Chatbots for Customer Service

Chatbots for customer service are programs that directly contact potential customers instead of sales managers, consultants, and technical support specialists. 

The key advantage of chatbots in customer service over answering machines and help desks is the imitation of live communication. The program provides detailed answers in the form of properly structured sentences. It takes into account important details of a query and selects the necessary information from its database. Some applications are even able to recognize the emotional coloring of the dialogue, selecting appropriate forms of address to an interlocutor.

The Future of Customer Service Chatbots

According to Grand View Research the customer service chatbots market will grow by 23.3% in 2024. Experts claim that this trend will continue at least until 2030 — closer to the end of the decade, the programs will dominate customer support services, gradually replacing people. 

This rapid growth will be due to the new advantages of chatbots in customer service. In the future, the scope of artificial intelligence will expand, making communication with the program even easier and more efficient. In addition, applications will learn to predict people's behavior more accurately, which will shorten the purchase cycle and increase customer loyalty to the brand.

Another trend will be to simplify work with software. Even today, you can add an invitation to dialog with a chatbot in a matter of minutes. It is quite possible that in the near future, a virtual assistant will be connected in one click. 

Benefits of Chatbots for Customer Service

Automation means efficiency. Subscribing to an app is cheaper than providing customer service and brings comparable benefits to a company. Of course, the benefits of chatbots in customer service are not limited to financial results and are worth talking about in more detail. 

1. Instant response

According to Timetrade, businesses can lose up to 75% of their customers due to long waits for responses. Chatbots help keep customers by offering quick answers to simple questions. And even if a user needs extended consulting, the program will keep them interested in the product until an expert joins the conversation. 

2. Round-the-clock operation

Retail Touch Points research shows that 43% of U.S. shoppers consider 24/7 support to be an important brand advantage. If you're an international market, the time zone difference makes support a must for your company and customer loyalty.

3. Еasy scaling

Earlier, business growth used to lead to expansion of help desks and hence increased costs. It will be interesting for you to know how can chatbots improve customer service without increasing a company's staff. Up to 60-80% of routine work can be entrusted to them, and highly skilled professionals can be involved in handling complex tasks. 

4. Increased efficiency of analytics

Information that customer support receives is difficult to quantify. Often reports of this department are poorly structured — their processing requires incredible efforts. Everything changes when it comes to chatbots. Using keywords, they correctly categorize requests by status, category, urgency and importance. 

5. Multichannel and multilingual

The same chatbot can communicate with customers in dozens of languages. It is capable of dialog on a website, in messengers and in social media. It doesn't need time to translate text and switch between apps. 

And if you use Claspo, you can generate animated pop-ups with a personalized design, setting a nice friendly tone of communication with your customer. If you operate in international markets and use multiple communication channels, the benefits of using chatbots for customer service are obvious.

Types Of Chatbots for Customer Service

There are many types of programs that perform customer service functions. They can be categorized according to different criteria. 

Text

The most popular option. Such chatbots conduct a dialog in a chat room on the website, in messengers or social media. Some applications have the function of sending SMS, email and push messages. Taking advantage of these types of customer service chatbots is easy. Claspo allows you to create pop-ups that invite you to chat without programming. Just choose ready-made widgets from the template library and customize them to your needs using the visual editor. 

Voice

Virtual assistants that you can communicate with over the phone in voice apps, or on online conferencing platforms. A well-functioning chatbot of this type inspires more trust in people. It increases conversion rates when selling expensive products when customers expect personal advice.

Video

Experimental programs that are not yet widespread due to complexity and cost. Now they are used by technology giants like Google, Apple and Microsoft. However, it is quite possible that by the end of the decade their popularity will increase drastically due to the emergence of new software solutions and the growth of servers computing power. 

Algorithmic

Based on the simplest rules of machine logic. The principle of operation of such chatbots can be presented in the form of a flowchart, in which each type of request corresponds to a predefined answer. Such programs are easier and cheaper to integrate. However, they have limited functionality. In addition, communication with them is cyclical, which can annoy a user. 

Intelligent

The best chatbots for customer service are based on generative artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT. They highlight keywords in a query, select relevant information, and present it in the form of a live dialog. According to Drift, 87.2% of customers are completely satisfied with this form of support.

10 Best Customer Service Chatbot

Let's take a look at the best apps that have proven their effectiveness in dozens of real-world cases. 

1. HubSpot

A comprehensive cloud-based platform for sales support. The key advantages of chatbots in customer service is integration with CRM. You can view the history of communication with each website visitor and compare it with the information in the database. Another advantage is convenience. HubSpot chatbot connects to the website using Claspo pop-up creation service. Thanks to the ready-made solution, you don't need to write code or look for a plug-in application for integration.

Subscriptions cost from $18 per month per 1,000 contacts. There is a free 14-day period. 

2. Tidio

A platform designed specifically for small businesses. It is compatible with most CMS and does not require programming for integration. The application is suitable for multichannel communication on websites, social media, email and SMS.

Subscription costs from $29 per month. There is a free version with a limit of up to 3 users and 100 unique customers. 

3. Zoho SalesIQ

A universal app with a live chat widget, chatbots, and a built-in web tracker. Advanced artificial intelligence can direct the query to a person in a company who is competent to answer. Another advantage is the ability to see a customer's message as it is being typed, so you can respond faster.

Subscriptions cost from $7 per month per user. There is a free 15-day period. 

4. Conversica

A platform that creates chatbots for customer service and is aimed at large businesses. It allows you to create multiple sales scenarios and implement various lead generation methodologies. Provides advanced analytics and an A/B testing module.

The subscription cost is set individually. According to customers’ feedback, the price of the solution is thousands of dollars per month. A free demo is available upon request. 

5. Netomi

A convenient service for creating chatbots. It independently selects frequently asked questions by studying the company's official pages in social media. Provides simple templates of comprehensive answers, understandable for customers.

Subscription costs are individual. A free demo version is available upon request.

6. Drift

The platform uses intelligent chatbots. They answer customer questions and transfer the dialog to a support employee when there are signs of a quality lead. The service works with text chat, calls and online conferences.

Subscription costs from $2500 per month. 

7. Kommunicate

This intelligent service analyzes customer requests. It accurately specifies the moment when it is necessary to involve a support service employee. The chatbot independently selects a specialist with the appropriate qualifications, ensuring high conversion rates and satisfaction with the service.

Subscription costs from $100 per month for two users. A 30-day free period is available. 

8. Intercom

Specialized chatbot for customer service of SaaS services. It offers advanced customization options for full adaptation to the peculiarities of the resource. It also provides a convenient control panel and analytics module.

Subscription costs from $74 per month for each user. 

9. Dixa

A relatively simple service for creating algorithmic chatbots. It is focused on small and medium-sized businesses. Easily integrates into most CRMs and CMSs. Allows you to accurately track a buyer's path and determine the moment when a request is formed.

Subscriptions start at $39 per month.

10. Freshchat

A platform for creating multi-channel chatbots that can work with social media and messengers. Provides many ready-made templates, for example, for collecting information, solving simple problems or sending support requests.

Subscription costs from $19 per month. There is a free version with limited functionality. 

Chatbots for Customer Service: How Claspo can Help You

One of the challenges you may face when integrating chatbots for customer service is the invitation to communicate. It's important to provide it at the right moment so that you don't miss a customer, but also don't seem too intrusive. By choosing Claspo, you can unlock all the benefits of chatbots in customer service. 

The service allows you to create different scenarios for displaying pop-ups and other widgets. Thanks to integration with other software packages, you can link them to different triggers and events, choosing the perfect moment of display. And all this you can do with minimal technical skills. The process of creating a script is similar to a survey — just follow the instructions, selecting appropriate answers. 

Want to try new automation features today? Test Claspo for free to see the increase in conversions and improved financial performance. Built-in analytics will help you calculate the effect of each widget individually.