Customers Don’t Like Chatbots

Josefine Fouarge of Nuance discusses why customers don’t like chatbots, and how contact centers can provide a chatbot that customers do love.

Last year, Forrester Research released an infographic entitled: “Customer Service Chatbots Fail Consumers Today”.

You may be wondering if this is an April Fool’s joke.

You may think that by spreading this message we, at Nuance, are shooting ourselves in the foot.

Why talk about how customers hate chatbots? Isn’t Nuance in the “chatbot” business? Well, sort of.

Nuance look to deliver technology and services that launch automated customer engagement beyond the common perception of a chatbot.

Looking at the infographic, which is full of revealing data discovered by Forrester, it is clear that that customers aren’t in love with chatbots.

• Nearly 2/3 of US online adults did not use a chatbot on a website in the last 12 months.
• 2 in 3 consumers are skeptical of chatbots and their ability to provide just as great an interaction as a live representative.

And here’s the kicker –

• 54% of US online consumers expect interactions with customer service chatbots to negatively affect their quality of life.

With this kind of feedback, what’s left to live for in the chatbot world? Well, nothing much if you’re the basic chatbot about which this infographic was made.

But chatbots aren’t the same as virtual assistants. The future of these assistants looks much brighter.

Forrester goes on to say that: “When done correctly, chatbots can move the needle in a big way.”

You’ll have to look at the infographic yourself to learn just how big. It’s enough to convince you that there’s something to this chatbot thing, despite the poor expectations from consumers.

Forrester also leaves you with some hope by giving recommendations on how to do chatbots right so that you can receive the intended benefits.

To dive a bit deeper into the reasons behind the alarming findings of the infographic, take a look at Nuance’s ebook: Chatbot fails: 6 reasons they break and how to fix them