The first question to ask is why would you want to add a chatbot to your web site in the first place? Here are a few things to consider. Even when there is no one at the physical office customer support can still be there to help. A chatbot can help with troubleshooting, provide user manuals, or access FAQ. It might even be used to ID your customers, using cookies to keep track of any ongoing issues that might indicate a systematic problem. In short, at least in some instances, 24/7 support can be available.

Something else worth considering is that support personnel are not always available, even during normal working hours. But, your friendly chatbot can always get a conversation started and get the answers your customer needs or at least get a help ticket submitted and let your customer know when to expect a return response. Fast response is a value that a chatbot brings to your customer support team.

Properly executed, a chatbot is a very cost effective means to maintain engagement with your customers and prospects. Provided the chatbot is properly deployed and the application of a chatbot is within its limitations, it can provide a high measure of customer satisfaction.

Lastly, having a chatbot, presents an opportunity to review the scripts and use that data to improve the quality of the responses that the chatbot provides. It can also identify weak spots in your product or service and allow you to continuously improve.

Once the decision has been made that you should move forward with a chatbot. Here are the most important decisions and actions that need to be taken in order to have a successful implementation.

Definition of Objectives and Use Cases. It is very easy to get tripped up on this one. With all of the AI hype in the air there is a sense that an AI chatbot can (and should) do everything. It is key to establish the types of service the bot should provide. If a customer query goes outside of those limitations, then the bot must have a clean way to effectively hand off the call without creating a circular discussion.

Choose the Right Platform and Technology. There are ready-made chatbot solutions that may be suitable. Or you may find that a custom solution is needed. In either case it is important that the programming language chosen is compatible with your web site’s back end.

Design the User Experience. You will need to create scripts and sample dialogs. The flow of dialog must be user friendly and logical for a positive experience. If you have choices as to how to build the interface, make it as simple and intuitive as possible. Simple yes/no questions, or a targeted list of FAQ, using typical customer language – avoid jargon and abbreviations.

One example might be that a customer is looking for a schematic so they can attempt to repair a part sold by your company. You will need to decide how to answer that sort of question. If it has no proprietary information, and the part is no longer in warranty, then it might be okay to have the bot send a copy of the drawing. But it is quite likely in most cases that there should be some screening of that request to see if it is something that you want to do and if so, then how will it be handled. If you have to say “no” to such a request it might be desirable to direct the call to a manager or technician who can convince the customer to send the part in for repair or replacement.

Integrate the chatbot with the web site and the backend systems that it will need to access to solve customer problems. There are two parts of this integration: first is the web site interface and the second is the internal systems which will be connected through a series of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). These APIs allow the bot to fetch and process information directly and in a timely fashion.

Testing and Continuous Improvement is the hallmark of a good chatbot program. A chatbot is not a “set it and forget about it” thing. Each executed script is a chance to learn how easy or hard it was to serve the customer inquiry. Chatbots are getting more sophisticated and with that the expectations are high. It is better to have a limited capability that is well thought out and easy to use, than trying to do everything and not doing it well. Remember it’s easy to just treat the chatbot as a “dumping ground” for all customer queries, when in reality if well done it becomes the face of your company. It is an opportunity to demonstrate your skill in customer service. A good implementation ultimately is a significant part of your value proposition to your customers.