Building a successful bot requires careful planning and ongoing improvement. By setting clear goals, using the right technologies, and paying attention to user experience, you can create a bot that not only serves your customers efficiently but also represents your company.
Think of your bot as a friendly assistant. In doing so, you’re creating a virtual assistant that’s always on duty.
Want to know how? Pay attention to the following tips.
Understand Your Business Goals
- Define the main objectives of the bot (e.g., answering common questions, assisting with orders, providing technical support).
- Start by mapping all relevant customer use cases to decide what the bot will and won’t cover.
- Define each business function and link it to a specific activation stage in your bot’s conversation script.
Understand Your Audience
Clearly define all types of bot users so you can tailor the language, tone, and even humor of the bot to your target audience.
Define Channels and Starting Points for the Journey
Decide which communication channels to direct and operate the bot on.
Planning the Conversation Script (Flow)
- A bot that looks too human might confuse your customers. They might think it’s a real person. Create a cool symbol that represents your company – a kind of digital mascot.
- Be transparent – inform customers they’re chatting with a bot.
- It’s okay to give your bot a name. To maintain credibility, we suggest adding the word “bot” to the name.
- Consider whether your bot should be formal. Is it okay for it to tell jokes, or should it remain entirely business-like? Keep words simple and user-friendly so everyone understands what it’s saying.
- Use emojis according to the bot’s character 💁👌🎍😍
Opening Message
- Start with a friendly greeting from your bot.
- Make sure the first message is inviting and encourages the user to continue the conversation with the bot.
- Be creative with fun call-to-actions that will make your users want to take action.
Script and Dialogues
- It is recommended to do everything from designing to building to publishing the bot from the Automation Hub.
- Use CommBox Flow Builder to design the bot dialog and flow.
- Write scripts for common scenarios, maintaining natural language and logical conversation flow.
- Build a dialogue tree, considering possible customer inquiries and potential bot responses.
- Run comprehensive internal tests with varied scenarios to ensure the scenarios cover a wide range of customer questions.
Unexpected Stages in a Conversation Flow
- Create responses for cases where the bot fails to understand user input.
- Make sure there’s an “unexpected” stage at the top of your conversation script. This will ensure that any unexpected input is identified and handled by the bot.
- A good practice would be to include an “error” type stage in the conversation script, with an appropriate message that won’t cause the user to abandon the bot.
- Ensure the bot can bring the conversation back on track after misunderstandings.
- Define clear protocols for transferring to a human agent when the bot can’t handle a query (an “unknown” stage).
- Ensure that the transfer to human agents is smooth, and all relevant information is passed on to the appropriate agent.
AI and Machine Learning Applications
- Utilize Intents and Keywords to interpret and understand user intent effectively.
- Use {{dynamic data}} to personalize conversations and make interactions more relevant for individual users.
Testing and Optimization
- Consider releasing the bot to a small segment of your target audience before full launch.
- Monitor metrics such as resolution rate, average handling time, and user satisfaction to gauge the bot’s performance.
- Use analytics to understand where users are dropping off or getting stuck.
- Regularly update the bot’s responses and capabilities based on user interactions and feedback.
Building a good customer support bot requires careful planning, building, and continuous improvement. Use the Flow Builder in the CommBox Studio to plan the bot’s dialogue and conversation script. Remember, the most successful bots are those that evolve and adapt to customer needs.
