2021 is a new year, and a great time to focus on new goals and growing your business. If 2020's focus was survival, 2021 is about growing and emerging better and brighter.
And a brighter 2021 it's trending to be. Now's a great time to scale up your business as people look forward to returning to a pre-COVID-19 way of life. Regardless of how "normal" things can return to in the future, however, e-commerce and online shopping is bound to continue growing locally, as more and more people become accustomed to the ease and convenience of e-commerce.
The challenge here is meeting demand and ability to scale while keeping costs low and manageable. Many companies are turning to chatbots to decrease spending but scale their operations, as much as 80%.
How can you make sure your chatbot will help you grow your business? Here's a few key ways to grow your business with chatbots and e-commerce this 2021.
Connect with Your Customers
One of the most important ways to increase your revenue is to maintain relationships with your current customers. A loyal customer will keep coming back and making repeat purchases, and even recommend your products to their friends.
Chatbots help maintain relationships by providing a more reliable one-to-one conversation with your customer. Conversations keep your customer on your page and help them build an emotional connection to your brand, which will only help your revenue in the long run.
However, it's important to make sure your chatbot branding is on point. Know your target customer and make sure your chatbot has the personality to keep them interested. Don't give fun-loving Millenials and GenZ'ers a transactional chatbot, and don't alienate serious professionals with slang they can't relate to.
Focus on The Important Things
While it's tempting to have your chatbot do everything (because chatbots can do practically everything!), it's important to focus on one or two things at a time. This will help not just you and your team, but your customers as well.
A focused chatbot that excels in one thing (whether it's ordering, appointments, or customer service) will mean your customers will get their end goals successfully completed faster. Imagine having to go through multiple questions before your chatbot finds out your customer just wants to check for prices!
A better, faster experience with your chatbot is also sure to make it more memorable for your customer. It will be easier for them to recommend to their friends, as well!
A focused chatbot will also mean a faster return on your investment. Win-win!
Train and Review Regularly
We always say that your chatbot should be a part of your team. Just like any of your valuable team members, you should revisit their work and progress every so often to make sure they're doing the right things as your business grows and evolves. Here are some things you should watch out for:
- Check your chatbot's language: are they still using the same words and phrases your target customers connect to?
- Is it time to expand your chatbot's skill set?
- Is your chatbot having difficulty with some tasks, i.e. not understanding queries or taking too long on some requests? How can you make it shorter?
- Are your customers focusing more on one aspect of your chatbot and can you improve on this?
- Is the transition of conversations from your chatbot to your human staff still working seamlessly or can there be improvements?
- Is the chatbot focus still aligned with your current business goals?
Spending time to check on how your chatbot is doing will help you maximize improvements and speed up your business growth even more.