Anybody struggling with chatbots?

[Paul Sullivan]

I thought I would start this conversation as I'm doing really well with them on my site but I am trying to establish who has had experiences good or bad for some research I am doing.

All feedback welcome

Thanks

 

[fisicx]

I hate using the things. Most seem to be bots and the few that have a real person are just an answering service and can’t answer my query.

The one on your site for example is annoying, it keeps asking for my name even after I click to close the thing.

 

[Paul Sullivan]

@flslcx

Thanks for your response. Can I ask, what brand or company websites you have had the poor experience with?

Also what type of queries do you find you were struggling with?

I do appreciate your feedback

 

[fisicx]

I can’t give you names as I’ve used loads of them over the years.

The problem is the bots have programmed responses that rarely answer my query.

I had a tech question a while back and the bot just didn’t help. I kept being referred to a webpage where that page was the one with the incorrect information.

 

[Clinton]

I'm doing really well with them on my site

Please explain. Here's my experience with the bot on your marketing agency website:

Bot: Are you already working with an agency like ours?
Me: ppp
Bot: Sounds good. Can I ask, is it marketing, sales, a website or chatbot development you need help with?
Me: Childcare
Bot: Perfect, we can definitely help with this!

etc
Bot: What kind of a marketing strategy would you say you have?
Me: Lunatic
Bot: Perfect, we can help you out!

 

[Paul Sullivan]

Yeah that makes sense.

So looking back, you would use a chatbot, but your experience is that companies are stuggling to make them usable and starightforward?

 

[Clinton]

You didn't answer my question.

 

[Paul Sullivan]

You didn't answer my question.

Sure Clinton,

As I said, unlike 99% of other people that use the chat bot and either decline to pursue the conversation, you purposely set out to not answer questions defeating the objective.

If we work on the basis that we provide marketing and sales services and that you as a potential customer are on the site investigating that purpose, your interaction is irrelevant.

All you have proven is that if you give deliberate wayward answers you can show the conversation doesn't work. However, barring this instance I have only ever had one other person use the service in the way that you did.

Now proven results, such as a 400% increase in sales qualified leads by many major international B2B companies show when applied, the solution does work.

In this case as I said, you've deliberately set out to not use the bot in context to the website and therefore you can justify that for you the service doesn't work which I could do for myself if I wanted to.

I'm not sure what you were trying to prove or show? But I'd be happy to hear why you interacted the way that you did if you have the time?

 

[fisicx]

For me it’s because it’s a bot. As I said earlier, they are rarely able to answer technical questions.

 

[Paul Sullivan]

For me it’s because it’s a bot. As I said earlier, they are rarely able to answer technical questions.

And I am completely accepting of your position, they aren't for everyone. But they are for some and that's why in marketing and sales I advocate that you focus on giving what your customers are saying they want rather than our personal feeling.

I could share some great research but I need to get to 30 posts beforehand, if you're interested let me know

 

[alan1302]

They usually seem like a complicated way of reading an FAQ page - never of any use.

 

[Paul Sullivan]

They usually seem like a complicated way of reading an FAQ page - never of any use.

Hey Alan

Thanks for your feedback can I ask what your business is? For context and when was the last time you interacted with a bot and why?

Much appreciated

 

[fisicx]

In my business a chatbot it’s much use. The questions come after someone has brought the product and generally very technical so a bit is of no use.

And this is my experience using them as well. Bots can’t answer technical queries.

Asking a bot about your prime SEO techniques is never going to elicit a useful answer.

 

[Paul Sullivan]

In my business a chatbot it’s much use. The questions come after someone has brought the product and generally very technical so a bit is of no use.

And this is my experience using them as well. Bots can’t answer technical queries.

Asking a bot about your prime SEO techniques is never going to elicit a useful answer.

The truth is nobody is expecting them to answer complex queries, more easier questions that do not need to have a person answer a phone call or the like

 

[Clinton]

But I'd be happy to hear why you interacted the way that you did if you have the time?

Because when a website owner expects me to interact with a bot and answer the type of questions yours asked me ... I find that an insult to my intelligence. And also to my time. @alan1302 mentions FAQ. Yes, just put a damn FAQ page there and I'll go skim through it in a fraction of the time it takes to type up questions for the bot to answer.

But maybe that's just me.

It's probably just me (if your 99% figure is anywhere near accurate).

We are routinely forced to deal with bots when contacting banks, credit card companies, large faceless corporations. One key advantage smaller businesses have is ...the personal touch - the fact that there is a human there who gives a damn about the customer's needs.

 

[Paul Sullivan]

Because when a website owner expects me to interact with a bot and answer the type of questions yours asked me ... I find that an insult to my intelligence. And also to my time. @alan1302 mentions FAQ. Yes, just put a damn FAQ page there and I'll go skim through it in a fraction of the time than it takes to type up questions for the bot to answer.

But maybe that's just me.

It's probably just me.

We are routinely forced to deal with bots when contacting banks, credit card companies, large faceless corporations. One key advantage smaller businesses have is ...the personal touch - the fact that there is a human there who gives a damn about my needs.

Okay let's look at your responses

Please explain. Here's my experience with the bot on your marketing agency website:

Bot: Are you already working with an agency like ours?
Me: ppp

This answer has no relevance to the question and you went out of your way to not answer properly. Also it's a qualifying question and you say it insults your intelligence. I am not debating as to how you feel but I am interested in the why ?

Bot: Sounds good. Can I ask, is it marketing, sales, a website or chatbot development you need help with?
Me: Childcare

again, you are on a marketing agency website and you are talking about childcare. You are showing no interest other than to be difficult and therefore reinforce your current opinion. Did you know that 64% of millenials and 63% of baby boomers expect to have simple questions answered quickly and easily on the website without human interaction and 47% expect that to be a chatbot or live chat service?

Bot: Perfect, we can definitely help with this!

etc
Bot: What kind of a marketing strategy would you say you have?
Me: Lunatic
Bot: Perfect, we can help you out!

I mean it hardly stacks up that we in some way insulted your intelligence on this and seems you simply do not like the bot experience which is totally okay as we all have our expectancies around customer service and online engagement.

Again, this is about what your customers want and how they receive it. I could tighten the conversation up and not allow any other responses than what we expect and stop you interacting how you did, but it defeats the purpose.

By qualifying people upfront, like we tried to with yourself, we can disqualify people we don't want to engage with on a business level and this helps with that. So thank you

 

[Clinton]

Did you know that 64% of millenials and 63% of baby boomers expect to have simple questions answered quickly and easily on the website without human interaction ...

I should have answers to the "simple questions" - like what they do and who their target customer is - within a few seconds of landing on a company's site. Not after a tango with a bot.

 

[WeddingsInWales]

Well an automated chat bot strikes me as absurd, sorry! But if someone wants to talk to you via a chat service, why not have a human being engage with your fellow human being wanting to chat. I used to have a passive chat service on my site - a box one could simply click if the visitor to the site wanted to chat. Barely anyone used it. So my wife who runs her own business (visas for Russians coming to UK) suggested I use the pop-up chat service she uses - JIVO chat.

Well, it sure gets more people engaging in chat which for my Wales wedding venue site is essential as the site attracts Brides who will all too readily flick on to another site. We need to engage with them when they are ready to talk. If you visit the link above you will after a few seconds see an example of how the chat service pops up and engages you. You can either x out of it or respond. It can be a bit of a nuisance to me when I am visiting my own site, but with about 20 chats generated daily, I am happy with how it gets customers talking to us.

We used to have a few complaints from existing signed up weddings in the planning stage, complaining we were not responding quickly to their emails and calls - there are always concerned Brides wanting to know what they need to plan for, ahead of their wedding. Since the chat service went on the site, we have so many of our existing Brides studying the site and using the chat service that we now hardly ever get complaints about not replying to them, as we are able to respond to their chat on the site pretty well instantly, from any office (as we all take turns on the chat service).

I would never use a chat bot, it only needs three staff my end to take turns answering the chats and as each wedding is worth a high level of income to us, these chats are worth having and ouor customers love the service.

About half of these chats turn out to be our own booked wedding clients seeking more information, while maybe half are prospective clients seeking to know more about our wedding packages. Many of the latter are window shopping but the chat breaks down barriers, and it is easier for the customer to start a chat than picking up the phone (where they often may not get a reply if the receptionist is away from their desk).

For a customer who has not dealt with us before, starting off an email requires a proactive decision from someone to bother to contact us, but a chat service that pops up and invites a chat and has a real human being able to respond in seconds is far more valuable and easier to engage with for the customer.

I certainly would not want a chat bot to pop up and then not be able to answer my questions personally. Why bother with a bot when you can use a pop up chat service and talk directly and infomally to clients and prospects at the exact moment they want to speak to you!

Wedding queries tend to be sommewhat diverse so you could not really standardise a response anyway and if you did, it would not go down well with Brides and Couples expecting a professional and competent service, and wanting someone friendly too.

 

[fisicx]

The truth is nobody is expecting them to answer complex queries, more easier questions that do not need to have a person answer a phone call or the like

You asked for experiences when using chatbots.

And my experience is they are pants.

My wife had a question today about a product that was out of stock. The chatbot couldn’t answer the question.

I needed to know if some software worked with a particular API. The chatbot wasn’t much use.

Maybe it does work for your business but for many it’s just pain in the bum.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

What is your reason for the chatbots? would be my first question


You spend a lot of money advertising your company in all sorts of marketing and then when you have a potential customer you don’t bother to speak to them but just work to a script, Don’t you find that a big failure on your part


The one large advantage a small company has over the large ones is the better communications and a easy route to someone who can make decisions or give answers

 

[AllUpHere]

The fact that @Clinton's answers were provided with the response that you can help him just proves the whole thing is a nonsense. Marketing, when done well, is specific and highly targeted. Your bot is just proving that you will target absolutely anyone and try to take their money, even if the answers given are nonsense and you have no idea if you can help them

 

[fisicx]

So I asked sensible questions and got this:

Bot: Are you already working with an agency like ours?
Me: No
Bot: Sounds good
Bot: Can I ask, is it marketing, sales, a website or chatbot development you need help with?
Me: None of these
Bot: Perfect, we can definitely help with this!
Bot: What are you currently using to market your business? Type your answer below

How is any of the above helping me?

Even answering simple question seems to be an issue with your bot.

PS: the good news is I don't see the chatbox in Firefox.

 

[UKSBD]

So I asked sensible questions and got this:

Bot: Are you already working with an agency like ours?
Me: No
Bot: Sounds good
Bot: Can I ask, is it marketing, sales, a website or chatbot development you need help with?
Me: None of these
Bot: Perfect, we can definitely help with this!
Bot: What are you currently using to market your business? Type your answer below

How is any of the above helping me?

Even answering simple question seems to be an issue with your bot.

PS: the good news is I don't see the chatbox in Firefox.

That's strange, the OP never mentioned they provide chatbot development in the OP.

Maybe that is why he doesn't like the answers he is receiving

 

[Mark T Jones]

Don’t know much about them,but if yours is typical I’d say they do nothing for me st all. (Kind of luke thise annoying press 1 phone systems)

 

[Aurelius]

I don't have a problem with them if they are linked to a person but if it's an actual bot they're of no use because they're not smart enough. Whenever it's an actual computer I rapidly spot that it's only a bot because they give stock answers based on keywords that don't answer the questions I've asked. As soon as I spot it I type banana a couple of times to the questions and if I don't get a quizzical response I switch them off and move on.

 

[fisicx]

I don't have a problem with them if they are linked to a person....

This thread is about chatbots not P2P messaging.

 

[billybob99]

Chatbots do work very well, been using them for a good few years to get qualified leads.

The problem is you're asking the user questions and then letting them actually type an answer, any answer in this case - and then providing an answer which seems a bit funny.

You need to check out Drift and how they do things.

If you're going to ask qualifying questions, give 3-4 options, based on the answer, the next question etc. Needs some sort of actual logic.

As people have already mentioned an FAQs page can be handy - but depending on the business there could be a ton of different questions your customers ask. A decent chatbot can take this info and actually present it to the user and get them what they need in just a few clicks.

Yours doesn't seem to do that.

 

[Aurelius]

I just see chat bots as messaging systems that pop up asking questions. Didn't realise there was a difference given that a lot of the chat bots I see are masquerading as person to person help functions.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

If a Chatbox can answer questions people are likely to ask, then you must question why the information was not available in the first place so potential customers could have the answer without making any extra effort

Therefore it makes the use a very poorly designed website and gives a good reason to move onto another site where the information is easier to get

 

[Jessica A.]

I thought I would start this conversation as I'm doing really well with them on my site but I am trying to establish who has had experiences good or bad for some research I am doing.

All feedback welcome

Thanks

I don't generally like using chat bots as I feel that I can't get any real answers because it is a machine I am conversing with though some were able to provide real information I was looking for. They do tend to lag sometimes. Maybe they're struggling to find the answer to my open-ended question? AI is not as quick as I wanted it to be.

 

[Giant Security Solutions]

We use a chatbot for simple and most common questions such as jobs, contact info and our services, if the bot doesn't answer what they need then they get an option to leave us a message, email or call us, alternatively leave their details for a callback which is when we would intervene.

I feel this way works better than attempting to ask them for the service they require so the bot can simply respond with something along the lines of "we can help with that" in which case seems to be pretty useless and a waste of a potential clients time which in turn could possible put the client off choosing you for their requirements.

 

[cjd]

Basically, they're not good enough yet for general use though they may have a role in triage before sending a call to the correct department - an IVR system with a small amount of AI.

But I think the development of AI is an opportunity for small companies to stand out by offering real I using real people.

 

[Mark T Jones]

In my innocence, this has made me wonder.

I’ve recently been having dealings with my online bank. Their chat function is fairly accessible, but becomes quite frustrating, often just giving links or reasonably stock answers (thought they were relevant to the question). Does this mean I was chatting to a bot?

 

[fisicx]

Does this mean I was chatting to a bot?

Yes

Had the same with my car insurance. Using bots means they don’t have to pay someone to talk to you.

 

[Clinton]

When you call big firms like Barclays you are always talking with a bot. Even when you're talking with a person.

The quality of conversation is the same, it is bot quality either way. It's a win-win situation. They win or their bot wins.

Incidentally, who ever told Mark T Jones that he was "innocent"? He has always been guilty!

 

[Mark T Jones]

Yes

Had the same with my car insurance. Using bots means they don’t have to pay someone to talk to you.

I guess the fact that I was getting irritated answers the original question

 

[fisicx]

That’s just the bot not knowing what to do.

Like Clinton said, even real people follow a script.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Incidentally, who ever told Mark T Jones that he was "innocent"? He has always been guilty!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_One_Is_Innocent_(song)

 

[Strent12]

I've always liked using tawk.to, if a human isn't there it'll tell you and the users can leave a message for a human being to come back to you rather than a chatbot.

Human is always better.

 

[Jacky Nikson]

I haven't faced problems with chatbots yet. My website is using a chatbot software for a year and everything is okay. Of course, there were some issues at the beginning, but it's nothing.
However, I understand what you mean. Most chatbots aren't that great at having normal conversations. In order to avoid it, my development team had to work hard.