If you’ve personally looked for anything on the internet or social media lately, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a chatbot.
These little automated response messengers utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate with visitors or provide customer service assistance and are an excellent way to meet your clientele’s needs.
However, most people think about them solely for big brands or consumer retail. The truth? They are just as handy for the building industry, too. In fact, this can be an easy way to take a burden off your sales and service staff in a simple way.
Let’s dive into what chatbots are and why they’re so useful for your business.
What Are Chatbots?
Chatbots are computer-generated messaging bots that respond or initiate a conversation with customers. They are programmed to include specific information or answers and look for clues in what the user is asking.
While the old versions of chatbots looked a bit like those “choose your own adventure” books you read as a child, today’s options are a lot more intuitive and versatile.
And, adding them to your website and social media pages is easier than ever before thanks to a myriad of different options available. Choosing from the thousands of different WordPress and social media plugin solutions really just comes down to your budget and the different options you want to include.
How to Make a Chatbot?
Creating a chatbot isn’t necessarily about building it yourself, but more about how you configure it to meet your needs. Generally, you need some idea of the types of questions your customers will ask and how they need to proceed forward.
In some cases, you might refer them to live customer service or sales rep for follow-up, which means telling the chat bot to send a message to these individuals.
Mapping out all of that information ahead of time is the trickier part of adding a chat bot to your website or utilizing Facebook chat over Messenger. But the actual integration of the app itself is usually fairly simple.
Why Are Chatbots Useful in Building Industry Marketing?
When it comes to the building industry, the use of a live chat bot can help stand in for a minor contact with your customer service or sales teams.
For example, maybe your target market has a few questions that they keep asking over and over. Instead of having to call a live person to get a simple answer, they can request it through your website or social media page’s live chat bot.
Likewise, you can use an outbound message to get in touch with those who have previously agreed to this type of service. It’s a great way to stay ahead of micro-moments or touchpoints where you know someone might have additional questions, but not know who to ask.
Examples of How Chatbots Can Improve Your Customer Experience
Are you interested in how this type of service could help improve your customer experience? Here are several awesome chat bot ideas to consider.
Use Location-Based Services
Some chatbots offer the opportunity to identify a user’s location and direct them to a specific branch or office. From there, it can offer guidance on how to get in touch or even take a message for the team. This is a great option if you have franchise locations or multiple regional offices.
Quote Requests
Maybe your business offers free quotes based on specific information. You can utilize a chat bot to get the same information that a sales or service rep would get over the phone. If your quoting method is simple, you could even use the AI to provide an instant quote. However, if it is a little more intricate, the final result could be that the data is forwarded to a team member who then responds with a quote via email later the same business day.
Status of Order Checks
Another cool way you can use chatbots in your business is to allow customers to check the status of orders of physical products or look up shipping tracking information. This can be done both on your website or via social media.
Service Technician Arrival Times
Who remembers being stuck waiting for the cable guy in a twelve-hour block? If this has ever been you, you already know it is something you don’t want your customers to experience. Instead, you can use chatbots to give clients an idea of when a representative or repair technician will arrive at their location. When coupled with most standard fleet management apps, the chatbot can provide a map of the employee’s location based on the GPS sensor in their vehicle. This is a handy way to give your clients flexibility in scheduling and know when someone is set to arrive.
Billing and Invoicing
Another option you can utilize chatbots for is billing and invoicing. Depending on whether your company is B2B or B2C, you might offer an option where they can check current billing status via a chatbot on your website. The end result? They get the information they need more quickly, and you can offer a direct link to where they can pay online.
Wrap Up: Chatbots for Building Industry Digital Marketing & Customer Service
As technology abilities increase, the use of artificial intelligence is slated to rise. Adopting the idea of using chatbots on your website or social media pages is a great way to ensure you’re ready and meeting your customer’s needs efficiently.
If you aren’t sure how to implement chat bots, we would love to help. Contact our team at ER Marketing today for details.
