Despite increasing reliance on chatbots for customer assistance, businesses have been found to fail to deliver positive chatbot experiences. This is according to a new survey from Clara, an Automated Customer Experience assurance platform.
The platform further reveals that customers believe a positive or negative chatbot experience is reflective of the entire brand.
For 65% of consumers polled, chatbots were the primary way by which they interacted with brands, but they gave their chatbot experiences a rating of 6.4/10 (64%), equivalent to a D grade.
Furthermore, 45% said they felt frustrated, while 37% said that their experiences were negative.
The study included the following findings:
- 73% say that chatbots cannot handle complex questions
- Chatbots cannot provide accurate answers
- 51% agree that they find it difficult to answer their question or problem
- 60% said they had to answer the same questions repeatedly while interacting with a chatbot
- 45% received responses that didn’t address their concern
- 47% reported that they could not talk to a human agent even after going through all the chatbot’s responses
The study also reported that negative interactions resulted in negative business outcomes, especially as the challenges of using a chatbot force customers to resort to alternate and costlier ways to interact with a brand.
This resulted in 30% abandoning their purchase altogether; 29% taking their purchase elsewhere; and 28% sharing their negative experiences with friends and family.
Meanwhile, good chatbot experiences add value to both customers and businesses: 64% said they were more likely to return to a brand, while 62% were more likely to seek out chatbots in the future.
Cyara’s Chief Customer Officer, Dennis Reno, said: “Delivering positive chatbot experiences has a critical impact on customer satisfaction and sales, and sub-par chatbots will not cut it for consumers today. Organisations that invest in quality assurance testing and training chatbots can provide customers with better and more consistent chatbot experiences.”
He further added that meeting chatbot expectations boosted customer loyalty, brand reputation, and lowered contact center support costs.
