What Do Your Customers Actually Think About Chatbots?
Chatbots today are what mobile apps were in 2012. Every business wants one. But what do consumers actually think of them?
That’s what we were wondering here at Userlike. We found studies on chatbot perceptions, but we weren’t convinced of their reliability. Most were published by companies with a clear interest in proving the benefit of chatbots, like chatbot building platforms.
At Userlike, we provide live chat software for customer support, along with automation features such as an AI chatbot and intelligent FAQ page. But connecting customers to human assistance is our focus, not just AI.
In a sense we’re Switzerland; neutral, but curious about the fuss surrounding chatbots since we now offer our own automation options.
Our goal was to learn if respondents had used a chatbot before, how they felt about the experience, and the pros and cons of chatbot use. We also dug deeper to find out how the consumer views a company that employs a chatbot and in which situations a chatbot is helpful.
Some answers were expected, but others were just plain surprising. We’re excited to share our findings with you.
Continue reading for the full results.
1
80% of respondents have interacted with a chatbot before
Out of 415 respondents, 333 answered “yes” when asked if they had ever chatted with a chatbot before.
This answer is unsurprising considering chatbot use across websites and devices has risen in popularity since 2016.
About 75% of respondents who have never chatted with a chatbot are over the age of 45.
This also didn’t come as a great surprise since other studies have shown that younger generations are more open to using new technology. Chances are high that Generation Z and millennials are willing and likely to try out your chatbot.
2
Most respondents prefer waiting for an agent, but are open to chatting with a chatbot first
At least 60% of respondents answered that they would prefer to wait in a queue if it meant they could immediately speak with a human agent.
However, if given the option, more than half of respondents also said that they would be willing to talk to a chatbot initially in order to be transferred to an agent. If you connect your chatbot to our live chat solution, then bot-to-human handovers are possible at any time.
We also asked respondents to rate the most important things companies get right when using chatbots, and 77% chose being given the option to escalate to a human agent as a top answer. At least 61% of respondents also said that they’d personally use a chatbot to find a human agent.
Our theory, based on years of research for our chatbot posts, is that people are used to phone trees that can help with basic account management and expect a chatbot to have those same limitations. Many of today’s chatbots are button-based, which already scream “I’m limited in how I can help you.”
Button-based chatbots are ideal for answering frequently asked questions, but it makes sense to have a fallback option like Userlike. It also helps to take extra care in your chatbot design and funnels so that difficult questions and requests are appropriately forwarded.
3
Respondents like how quickly chatbots respond
When asked to choose the most positive aspects of chatting with a chatbot, 68% of respondents liked that a chatbot answered them quickly.
Respondents also appreciate that chatbots can help outside of service hours and forward messages to an agent. Honestly, isn’t that why chatbots exist in business anyway? They work 24/7, help capture hot leads and take the burden of answering FAQs and performing simple tasks off of your agents. Not to mention they can be incredibly inexpensive.
4
Chatbots are fast and convenient, but have their limits
Respondents like that chatbots are immediately available and respond quickly, but most people said that chatbots had too much trouble understanding their request or didn’t know how to resolve their issue.
Expecting customers to follow your ideal conversational flow is one of five common chatbot fails. It can result in conversational dead ends or confuse the chatbot, especially if customers are unclear or explain their issue in a way that is too detailed for the chatbot to understand.
According to one of the respondents: “I've experienced very broken chatbots. There should be adequate testing for the bot before it’s used to help people who are already having difficulties and end up dealing with a chatbot that only makes matters worse.”
Again, we don’t know what types of bots respondents have used. But people are likely to run into communication issues since most chatbots use narrow AI and don’t understand nuance.
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Download for freeOne respondent even said: “IT departments have a long way to go before they develop a chatbot that can capably handle the nuances of language and complex questions, which are challenging even for a human service person.”
You won’t be able to cover every question or topic deviation because people can be unpredictable. This is why it’s important to connect your chatbot to live chat so customers can easily request an agent when things go south.
5
Respondents trust chatbots with basic requests
Respondents are willing to chat with a bot for simple inquiries (product specifications, order status, shipping policies). However, this begs the question: How much do people trust chatbots?
At least 54% of respondents would use a chatbot to ask about a product and 30% would use it to pay a bill. Only 23% of respondents are willing to settle disputes through bots.
One respondent said: “I think they’re great if they can successfully help you solve your problem. They are helpful for processing returns.”
Customer service agents answer a lot of repeat questions, which can be easily outsourced to a chatbot. According to the results, if a request is simple or not urgent, customers don’t mind asking a chatbot.
Perhaps if most chatbot’s AI were at the same level of the eight best chatbots of 2022, then people would trust chatbots even more with their requests.
6
Chatbots should never pretend to be human
More than half of our respondents (54%) want chatbots to make it clear that they’re a bot, which is completely fair. Bots should avoid entering the uncanny valley; it’s deceptive and downright creepy.
Chatbots aren’t a replacement for human agents, and like we mentioned above, use too narrow of AI to be convincing. You risk losing your customers’ trust if you try to slap a stock image on a bot and name it Mike. You’re just one conversation error away from making your business look like a big fat scam.
7
Few respondents think a company shouldn’t use a chatbot
Only 9% of respondents answered that a company shouldn’t use a chatbot.
Also, on a scale of 1-5, most respondents selected one or three when asked if they consider chatbots innovative. This could suggest that consumers accept chatbots as the new norm that do have value and are welcome to stay. Or perhaps consumers are curious to see how AI develops over the next few years.
Our methodology
Our results come from a mixture of questionnaires we created on online survey platforms like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and SurveyMonkey. A total of 415 people completed the survey.
Respondents were paid for their time but we represented ourselves neutrally and without incentive for people to answer in any specific way.
Demographics
The survey was 10 questions long and devoid of any confusing technical jargon to make it appropriate for everyone. We learned that most respondents identify as female and are between the ages of 30-44.
Not many people 60 years and older responded to the survey, which is unsurprising since only 11% of users on MTurk are above 50. It’s primarily used by people in their 30s and 40s. It’s perhaps the same for SurveyMonkey.
People aged 55+ are also less likely to use software like live chat, which may mirror chatbot usage. Older demographics tend to prefer phone calls since it’s familiar and has a more personal touch.
Get started with chatbots
Though consumers say they prefer waiting to speak with an agent, chatbots can still help reduce service costs by 30%. Their fast response times and ability to resolve simple requests are still distinct benefits that work. Chatbots can’t replace human agents, but they certainly do take a load off of them.
That’s why we used these insights to help develop our own chatbot capabilities here at Userlike. With our AI Automation Hub, we make it easier for businesses to use automation to create a human connection with customers.
Our AI chatbot can be used as a proactive first contact for customers, as backup for your agents or to answer requests received outside of service hours.
The AI chatbot picks up conversations where customers left off — a perk you won’t find with many other chatbot platforms.
Within the chat, you can display button options and carousels to help customers quickly find what they’re looking for. In-chat media also makes it easier to send important documents - such as insurance applications and invoices - or a catalog of your products.
In addition to our AI chatbot, we offer a Smart FAQ and Contact Form Suggestions, which pull answers from its knowledge base full of your business data. Both attempt to answer the customer’s question as they’re typing, reducing repetitive tickets and chats for your agents.
Sign up for our free 14-day trial to get an impression of Userlike’s AI Automation Hub. If you like what you see, reach out to us in the chat on our website or reach out to our team at support@userlike.com so we can discuss your chatbot needs.
