Interest in AI as a tool for productivity, efficiency, and excellent customer experience is growing at a phenomenal rate. Around 77.79% of respondents to one study said that they feel optimistic about the future of AI, and 66% believe using AI benefits business performance.
As the age of digital transformation continues to introduce ever-more compelling examples of “intelligence” into the modern workforce, the opportunities available for AI in CX are constantly evolving. Many companies are already excited about concepts like sentiment analysis, virtual voice assistants, and conversational intelligence.
However, unlocking the benefits of AI usually means starting with something simple. FAQ bots could be the easiest way for companies to unlock the power of AI for quick problem resolution without a great deal of initial investment.
What is an FAQ Bot?
An FAQ bot is currently one of the more straightforward tools on the market for companies investing in AI technology. Like early chatbots, FAQ bots are automated tools with access to many components of company information, knowledgebase data, and insights.
FAQ bots work by pinpointing specific keywords and terms in a customer question and matching them to potential solutions in your existing FAQ content. For instance, if a customer asks about refunds and returns, your FAQ bot can suggest various topics they may want to look at to answer their question.
FAQ bots save users significant time and effort by allowing them to instantly find the information already available to answer their questions without extensive searching. The faster the user solves their potential problem, the better their engagement and satisfaction levels will be.
Benefits of an FAQ Bot: For Employees
The great thing about FAQ bots is they benefit many use cases. Internally, they make your team members more productive and empower them to solve issues quickly. Externally, FAQ bots give your customers more control over their customer service experience and allow them to resolve problems without waiting on hold.
For employees, the most significant benefits of an FAQ bot are:
- Quick access to crucial information: The more time your employee spends searching for information on fixing a problem, or how a particular service works, the longer their customer must wait. FAQ bots can make it quicker and simpler to find information in a hurry, so your employees can perform more efficiently.
- Simple issue resolution: Just like customers, employees occasionally encounter technical issues from time to time. Rather than making remote, hybrid, and in-office employees wait around for an IT professional to be available, companies can use FAQ bots to help the employee troubleshoot and address the issue independently.
- Reduced pressure on employees: implementing FAQ chatbots on business websites ensures your customers have another way to solve their issues before they resort to calling or contacting your service team. An FAQ bot can be an excellent way to filter through common questions and reduce the number of calls routed to your team. This means your employees have more time to focus on more pressing challenges.
Benefits of an FAQ Bot: For Customers
While it’s easy to disregard an FAQ bot as being less advanced than some alternative AI and bot solutions, they still have significant benefits. FAQ bots are excellent tools for helping customers to streamline their service experience. The most important benefits of an FAQ bot for customers include:
- An empowering experience: Today’s customers appreciate having the option to resolve problems independently if possible. The ability to troubleshoot and fix a problem without speaking to an agent will make your customers feel more empowered by your company.
- Faster resolution: If your FAQ environment already has the answer a customer needs to solve an issue or complete a crucial action, using an FAQ bot will allow them to find that information instantly. This means the client spends less time waiting on hold for a customer service rep to be available or combing through articles to find the answer.
- 24/7 Support: Issues don’t always happen at the most appropriate times for customers. You may be unable to staff your contact center for around the clock coverage, but you can’t guarantee issues won’t occur outside of business hours. An FAQ bot ensures your users can still access support, even when your employees aren’t available.
- An improved customer journey: With an FAQ bot, you can not only respond to customer queries but give them the information they need to make more confident purchasing decisions. Your bot can assist your customer through every stage of the buying cycle, leading to higher levels of satisfaction.
As a bonus, your FAQ bot can collect valuable information about your customers, their issues, and the problems they typically face for your business. This provides valuable insight into the customer experience and the information gathered will allow you to create better FAQ articles in the long term, to deliver more personalized service to your audience.
Time to Invest in your FAQ Bot?
Bringing bots into the business environment and experimenting with AI doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune on new technology. Sometimes, starting simple with something basic like an FAQ bot can make a world of difference for your customers and employees.
