People make a lot of decisions when they are online. They form perceptions about companies and they make important buying decisions. What’s different about the online experience from most other domains is that it is a solo experience, one over which a company has little control or influence beyond what has already been designed into their website. Therefore, if frustrations or questions arise for the browser or potential buyer, there are no sales agents or customer services reps standing by to help smooth the waters.
There is, however, technology that can help companies compensate for a lack of human support online. It’s what is known as virtual assistants. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of virtual assistants, it might help to think of them in terms of being animated digital characters or avatars. Through the use of computer technology, virtual assistants can converse with customers and information seekers though text and/or voice applications.
While virtual assistants take the physical form of animated digital characters, they are far from child’s play. In fact, companies that choose to employ this technology to interact with their website visitors need to make a number of critical decisions before ever going “live” with their use.
A white paper produced by IntelliResponse does a very thorough job of explaining all of the considerations that need to be taken before engaging in a virtual assistant strategy.
The striking thing about the IntelliResponse white paper on this topic is the caution it prescribes for being sure virtual assistants will achieve the desired results, beginning with its discussion of how to decide whether or not the use of virtual assistants is really the best decision for your needs.
It also provides thoughts on how to use virtual assistants for competitive advantage, how to choose the right kind of digital character and the most critical considerations for how to use virtual assistants.
To avail yourself to the knowledge packed into this discussion of virtual assistants, you can download the full while paper by clicking here. It will help ensure that you have looked beyond the “sheer novelty” of using virtual assistants and determined whether or not you can benefit from the technology and provide value to your potential customers, not more frustration or a poor perception.
Linda Dobel is a TMCnet Contributor. She has been an editor in the contact center space for more than 25 years, and has the distinction of being the founding editor of Customer Inter@ction Solutions (CIS) magazine. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Jennifer Russell