Every business needs to provide assistance and support to its clients before, during, and after the sales process ends. However, in this case, you have two options. Should you go for AI chatbots or human customer service? Both options have their pros and cons, and we are here to outline those for you. That way, you will know which is the better option and why you may want to choose one over the other.
Human customer service
Going for human customer service is a good idea if you have a small audience/customer base. The agents still have enough time to reply to everyone and ensure that all their requirements are met accordingly. Moreover, a human agent might have more expertise and industry-specific knowledge thanks to their experience.
Pros
- Human customer service agents are able to understand more complex inquiries and requirements. Many of them have years of training, which can lead to a better solution to their needs.
- Also, they provide support and empathy. That’s something an AI chatbot is unable to replicate, and it’s definitely a thing you need to keep in mind.
- Most customer support representatives use their experience to solve the issue quickly. They know the most common problems and solutions. That can be a great way for you to improve the customer experience.
- A human agent can also offer culturally sensitive customer service. Obviously, a chatbot can’t know what’s the culturally-appropriate way of dealing with someone, and that’s very important to consider here.
- If the client is unhappy, the last thing they want is to deal with a bot. They want to talk with a real person. Generally, a human customer service representative will know how to defuse any situation.
Cons
- Human customer service is usually more expensive when compared to chatbots. Not only that, but costs are always on the rise, so it will only get more expensive down the line.
- Due to our nature, we can’t work 24/7, but a chatbot can do that. Sure, you can have multiple shifts, but that adds to the total expenses.
- Chatbots don’t need to be paid benefits or extras. On top of that, a human agent will need lots of training, something that chatbots can handle very quickly.
AI chatbots
If you want to have very effective yet comprehensive customer service, then a great idea is to use AI chatbots. Yes, chatbots are ideal if you want to provide non-stop assistance to your clients. They also deliver a plethora of other benefits, as you can see below.
Pros
- The 24/7, non-stop availability is one of the major selling points when it comes to using chatbots for customer service. They are always there for your clients, and it leads to a better customer experience.
- AI chatbots are inexpensive to use and manage. As we mentioned earlier, a chatbot doesn’t need comprehensive training, benefits, or salaries.
- Repetitive tasks can be difficult to handle by customer support representatives. However, chatbots thrive in this field, and they can help save a lot of time.
- Chatbots can be multilingual, and that will help you offer a more personalized experience to the client base.
- With a chatbot you have an instant response time. People expect immediate replies when they use customer service, and a chatbot can help very quickly.
- Chatbots are continually learning from their interactions with customers, thanks to machine learning. In the long term, this can prove to be a game-changing solution.
Cons
- Chatbots might sometimes need to refer you to a human agent because the query is too complex.
- Not everyone has the patience to reply to a bot, and instead, they are adamant about working with a real person.
Which one is better?
Now that we know the pros and cons of AI chatbots, it’s extremely important to figure out what solution fits your needs the most. Human support is good if you have a smaller customer base or complex requests. If you have a lot of customer inquiries and support requests, then AI chatbots are more than helpful. Additionally, AI chatbots are ideal thanks to their multi language support, the ability to handle repetitive tasks, but also their cost efficiency, and great availability. Ideally, you want to go with chatbot support while also having a few representatives for complex inquiries!
