Your Home Service Website Needs a Chatbot. Here’s Why.

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Chatbots are artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can have natural conversations with users. Commonly used in messenger apps for personal use or on company websites for businesses, they are finally getting used in the online marketplace and businesses that are implementing them are reaping the benefits.

Digital marketing has moved on from simple ads, apps and infographics. Chatbots can link services to users, and a good chatbot user experience can increase your conversion rates. Essentially, a chatbot is another way to make your customers want to choose your services over your competitors. If your home service website doesn’t have a chatbot, it definitely should.

Why Your Business Needs A Chatbot

The Chatbot feature strings a line between the services you provide and human interaction. The home service industry naturally raises questions about products, pricing and delivery of services. That's precisely where a chatbot would come in handy. You can program your chatbot to respond to questions or concerns the way you see fit.

There are two more common types of automation you can adopt to formulate responses.

Simple/Scripted: The chatbot's abilities under this programming is very limited and cannot be altered in any way. The responses are scripted and unnatural. The only reason we recommend using an automated bot is to accomplish simple tasks like booking your services or making a purchase.
Intelligent: Adding artificial intelligence to the chatbot completely elevates the tasks and responses it can complete. This chatbot is smart; the AI programming allows it to learn more from each conversation. Still not perfect, this bot is limited to answers and cannot lead the discussion.

Choosing The Right Chatbot for Your Business

There are different technologies in the realm of chatbots that can be combined to make the perfect user experience. Each solution provides a unique user flow that needs to fit how your company likes to communicate with your customers.

Some features to consider when choosing your Chatbot are:

Do you need it to communicate directly with your CRM?
What software interface makes the most sense for your business operationally?
Do you have someone available to use the chatbot to communicate with your customers or should you consider a Chatbot with a human aspect? Some Chatbots are industry-specific and they have real humans working the communication on your behalf until the customer gets further down the sales funnel.
Do multiple people need to be involved when communicating with your customers. For example, would your CSR ever need to "transfer" a text communication to a manager?
Are you going to sell at a higher rate via a chat conversation than a phone call? If the answer is no, you still might want to add a Chatbot, but try to get them to jump on a call early on in the conversation.

Let’s Talk Benefits

It’s Trendy: Along with other web design trends occurring in 2021, the Chatbot feature will also make a mark in the following years. Not only is the feature practical, but it will also keep your home service business looking fresh!
Unlocked Potential: Chatbots are still considered young technology. So, with continuous technological updates of AI, there are no boundaries regarding the future of the messenger software. There are unlimited possibilities for businesses to hone in on.
Easily Buildable: Depending on what you want to achieve with the chatbot, Facebook messenger is easy to set up without any programming experience.
More Brand Building: Treat your chatbot as a customer service representative. It helps shape the image of your business as it communicates with your customers. Adopting a chatbot from a marketing perspective is a clear representation of brand building

4 Ways To Elevate the Chatbot User Experience

Give them a personality. Reiterating what we’ve previously noted, your chatbot helps with building your brand. Analyze your customer personas and develop a chatbot that will resonate with your demographic.
Get the Timing Right. There is no designated amount of time to wait between a user sending a message and the chatbot responding. Still, we encourage finding a happy medium that comes across as humanlike as possible.
Test Runs. You won’t get it right on the first try. Like most things, trial and error is heavily involved when implementing a chatbot on your website. We recommend using different response tactics and approaches and make a note of what generates more conversions.
Avoid Lengthy Texts. For better readability, the responses the chatbot gives should be separated into digestible sections. Test how the chatbot looks on various screens, adjust the font and maybe incorporate emojis to break up the text.

Last Word

Chatbots are a must-have for your Home Service Business’ website. They elevate your website’s look and feel while still being extremely strategic from a customer service standpoint. Implementing the chatbot is a no-brainer; the more challenging decisions lie in the design. With all sorts of programs available to you and using the above tips, there is a variable of options, systems and approaches you can take to maximize the potential of this feature.