Chatbots are amazing. They make sure that you don’t lose precious leads. They act like a welcoming party for all those who visit your websites. But have you ever wondered how do chatbots work? With technology becoming so advanced, everyday new and more advanced chatbots keep coming up.
In this article, you and I will be spending our time seeing how do chatbots work, what are AI chatbots, and what are the best AI chatbots in the market today.
What are Rule-Based Chatbots?
Rule-Based Chatbots work based on a list of pre-loaded commands and actions. During the development of these chatbots, these commands and actions are added to the back end. They work fairly similarly to virtual assistants, and they take actions based on clicks made by users.
Let’s take an example: You visited a website a chatbot asks you “Do you want to sign up for our Newsletter?” If you click on yes, it will take you to a signup window, and if you click on No, it will ask you some other question.
Rule-based chatbots are fairly limited in their responses and don’t offer the same level of flexibility as an AI chatbot.
How Do AI Chatbots Work?
AI chatbots use artificial intelligence and NLP (Natural Language Processing) to handle customer queries. First, artificial intelligence understands the sentences and then processes the information to formulate a response. Unlike a rule-based chatbot, which uses pre-determined outcomes, AI chatbots understand the questions and then answer.
Once they understand what the user is looking for, they show the answer based on the data. Over time, with constant use and testing, they learn how to best answer a customer request.
Usually, it’s the enterprise that relies on AI Chatbots, but there are some exceptions such as e-commerce businesses that need these tools much earlier.
What is Live Chat?
Live Chat is a chat tool that businesses add to their websites. It's one of the most convenient ways for a consumer to reach out to your customer support team. Live chat software has a single purpose, they route a customer to a live customer rep. This helps in reducing the pile-up of customers. It also helps customers connect with a live person that can solve their issues.
It works like this. A user comes onto the platform, and they have a question. They go to the chat window, and anyone from your team who is online can greet the customer. The biggest reason to use live chat is that it offers human interaction.
Most Common Applications of Chatbots
- Virtual reception assistant
- Virtual tutor or teacher
- Virtual help desk assistant
- Virtual driving assistant
- Virtual email, complaints, or content distributor
- Virtual home assistant
- Virtual operations assistant
- Virtual phone assistant
- Assists visually impaired people in understanding their surroundings
Advantages of Using AI Chatbot
A great AI chatbot can impact your business positively in a lot of ways. It can lead to healthy interaction between your business and the customer which is a sign of a good business relationship. Here are all the benefits of using an AI chatbot for your business:
1. Increase Customer Engagement
One of the biggest benefits of chatbots is increased customer engagement. If you’re using conversational AI chatbots, you can drive engagement to a whole new level.
Bots can constantly deliver quality responses. Also, according to a report customers tend to understand solutions better with ideas provided by an AI bot compared to answers provided by a customer agent.
Plus, when you deliver relevant and quick responses to customers, it builds your brand value.
2. Improve Lead Generation
Bots can change the number of leads you can get. As it engages with customers and sends them personalized messages to help them throughout their customer journey.
Moreover, there are specific chatbots for lead generation that help customers in making quick decisions. AI bots can use a series of pre-loaded questions to push customers toward sales.
3. Reduce Customer Service Costs
Implementing chatbots is a clear-cut way to reduce your customer service costs. As you invest in chatbots, you free up the time of your customer service rep. With chatbots, businesses can reduce costs on different levels:
- Salaries
- Training
- Infrastructure
Moreover, customer service AI chatbots can benefit in multiple ways:
- Scale chat support during busy hours.
- Automate routine business processes.
- Enable new customer service models.
4. Insights Into Consumer Data
Chatbots are great if you want to track consumer purchasing patterns and analyze customer behaviors by measuring user data. With this data, companies can market their products and change their marketing approach.
Similarly, you can also use bots to collect data on which questions are asked most often. This way businesses can add a blog or some FAQs on questions that most customers have.
5. Meet Customer Expectations
Customers expect quick responses to their questions. As chatbots are becoming smart, brands can use them to automate customer interactions and handle customer expectations, Regardless of the type of chatbot you’re using, the purpose is to ensure value.
As automation is one of the chatbot use cases, customers won’t have to wait for too long to get their answers. As you automate customer engagement with chatbots, it frees up your customer support team to handle other customers with more important questions.
Best AI Chatbots in 2022
1. ManyChat
ManyChat is a chatbot for Facebook Messenger and it's one of the best AI chatbots in the market. It has helped thousands of businesses worldwide build a name for themselves. If you want to build customer relationships, then ManyChat is a great tool.
Features of ManyChat:
- Acquire fresh leads, engage customers, and drive sales using Facebook Messenger.
- Can integrate with popular tools.
- Offers seamless connection between Facebook Messenger, SMS, and Email.
Pros of ManyChat:
- Incredible user-friendly UI which is easy to integrate.
- Can manage multiple Facebook pages at the same time.
Cons of ManyChat:
- Cannot engage with customers who do not have a Facebook account.
- SMS and email integration aren’t available in all supported countries.
Pricing:
- Free plan
- Pro Tier - $10/month
- Business Tier - Custom pricing
2. LandBot
LandBot is another AI chatbot built specifically to automate customer interactions on messaging channels. You can put the chatbot on your website, WhatsApp, or on your CRM software.
Features of LandBot:
- Helps you build quality chatbots within minutes without coding knowledge.
- Offers a range of solutions including customer support, qualifying leads, and feedback collection.
- Integrates easily with other tools such as MailChimp, Zapier, and Slack.
Pros of LandBot:
Robust two-way integrations with webhooks with popular tools.
Friendly and knowledgeable customer support.
Cons of LandBot:
- WhatsApp texting functionality is limited.
- Some features are only available in the enterprise plans.
Pricing:
- Sandbox tier- Free
- Starter tier - €30/month
- Professional tier - €80/month
- Custom tier - Custom
3. Flow XO
Ranking on the 3rd number on our list of best AI chatbots is Flow XO. What makes the tool great is its robust automation software that’s built to create intelligent chatbots. You can use it on your website, apps, and social media.
Features of Flow XO:
- Collects customer information by asking all the relevant questions
- Responds easily to routine customer questions through simple answers.
- Initiates customer payments mid-conversation for recommended products or services.
Pros of Flow XO:
- Can integrate with over 100 tools and platforms.
- Makes it easy to build complicated chatbots for multi-platform use without coding.
Cons of Flow XO:
- The chatbot can sometimes become slow with complicated questions and answers.
- It can take a lot of time to build a chatbot.
Pricing:
- Start for free
- Standard Plan - $19/month
- Add-on - $10/month, add 5 bots/active flows
- Add-on - $25/month, add 25,000 interactions
4. Amplify.ai
Amplify.ai is an AI chatbot that’s perfect for enterprises. It promises to offer customized experiences by offering multi-platform support.
Features of Amplify AI:
- Offers conversational engagement using Facebook’s “Click to Messenger” feature.
- Help you create Branded Virtual Assistants that can engage large audiences with text and media.
- Supports multiple platforms.
Pros of Amplify AI:
- Makes it easy for businesses to build branded assistants.
- Offers conversation-based ads using AdLingo.
Cons of Amplify AI:
- If you go by customer reviews, you may not want to choose the tool.
- No special features that make it stand out from the crowd.
Pricing: The pricing is customized according to each plan. Before buying you can take a 14-day trial of the tool.
5. Botsify
Botsify is another incredible chatbot for businesses. With Botsify, you can automate customer interactions, and increase engagement. What we love the most about it is that it offers a natural experience, that makes users feel like they’re talking to a real human.
Features:
- Users can build multiple chatbots for different workflows.
- Can provide customer support and help in gathering customer information through interactions.
- Offers support for over 190 languages.
Pros of Botsify:
- Pre-built templates that help you build a chatbot with ease.
- Offers a wide range of integrations for maximum reach.
Cons of Botsify:
- UI may feel a bit clunky to some users.
- There’s no free plan.
Pricing:
- Personal - $40/month
- Professional - $125/month
- Business - $415/month
- Custom- tailored to each customer
Conclusion - Best AI Chatbots
In the end, it all comes down to a business’s needs. You can choose the best AI chatbot for businesses based on the needs of your business.
Tags: AI Chatbots Advantages, AI Chatbots