Every day, whether it’s getting food delivered or asking for a quick FAQ tip, we’re talking to chatbots more than we might realize. Chatbots in CRM are reshaping the way businesses handle customer service. Businesses that offer more engaging and high-quality chatbot experiences witness 70% more customer interactions and responses, so it really pays off to have this in your lineup of business tools.
Yet, many companies haven’t yet realized the power of chatbots in their customer relationship strategies. Why is it important? In this article, we’ll look at how they’re becoming essential in managing customer relationship management through CRM platforms. By the end, you’ll see how chatbots not only save time but also help businesses understand and connect with their customers better.
What are Chatbots?
Chatbots are software applications designed to simulate conversation with users, often through messaging interfaces, websites, or mobile apps. These digital assistants use rules or artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with customer service, perform tasks, and engage users by answering questions or providing recommendations.
The concept of chatbots began with the creation of ELIZA in 1966 by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT. ELIZA was a basic natural language processing computer program that demonstrated the potential of machine-led conversation.
Over the years, advancements in AI and machine learning have significantly improved the capabilities of chatbots. This naturally leads to important questions: Why integrate chatbots into CRM systems when many CRM tools already automate sales management processes? What additional benefits do chatbots provide?
5 Things a Chatbot does to Improve your CRM
Enhancing Customer Interaction
CRM chatbots are never-sleeping customer support agents. Always on duty — rain or shine, day or night. Ensuring that everyone who reaches out gets a swift reply, regardless of the hour or time zone. This round-the-clock availability and rapid response capability are game-changers in how you meet your customers’ needs. Dramatically slashing wait times and boosting overall satisfaction. With chatbots, your CRM software is always awake, always ready, and always eager to assist. Besides, 68% of people enjoy the speedy replies chatbots provide.
Imagine Sarah on a quiet Sunday evening, realizing she might exceed her mobile data limit for the month. Instead of calling customer service and facing an inevitable wait (spoiler: no one would answer — it’s the weekend, and the agents are off), she quickly messages the telecom company’s live chat. Within seconds, she’s checking her current balance and even upgrading her data plan, all while sipping her camomile tea. This instant, hassle-free service significantly reduces the number of calls overwhelming the company’s live agents, making everyone’s day a bit easier.
Scaling Customer Support
Chatbots excel at handling a high volume of requests simultaneously, meaning they can engage with multiple customers at once — a task that would overwhelm even the most efficient team of human agents. This significantly speeds up service delivery and ensures every customer interaction is handled with precision.
Moreover, chatbots integrate smoothly with various backend tools in your CRM. Whether it’s pulling up-to-date contact information from databases or logging issues directly into ticketing systems. Chatbots streamline every process they touch, turning potential customer service chaos into a well-oiled machine of efficiency.
When the holiday rush hit an online gadget store, they launched a chatbot ready to handle the influx of customer inquiries. The chatbot quickly became a key part of the team productivity, easily managing hundreds of customers at once who needed to track their orders or handle returns. The chatbot provided fast answers, guiding customers through updating order details or starting returns without a single phone call. Handy, right?
Improving Customer Engagement
Chatbots can tailor each conversation by accessing information from your knowledge base, making each chat more relevant and suited to individual needs. This bespoke approach ensures that every interaction is directly relevant and quick, greatly enhancing how customers feel about their experiences. Consequently, customers are more likely to stay engaged and satisfied.
John had just checked into his hotel, excited to explore the city. Unsure of where to start, he decided to turn for suggestions to the hotel’s chatbot (he’s not a big fan of calling the reception, plus he was already lying in bed, and it was too comfy to get up). After a quick query, the chatbot, fueled by a well-curated knowledge base integrated into the hotel’s CRM, provided John with a personalized list. It included top-rated nearby restaurants and must-visit local attractions, complete with visitor reviews and tips. Congratulations, you have yourself a satisfied guest.
Automating Routine Tasks
Chatbots are highly effective at managing routine tasks like data entry, which allows human agents to concentrate on addressing more complex issues. They automatically handle tasks like updating customer records and setting up appointments. This streamlines office operations without any need for customer support agents. As a result, things move faster and the entire process runs more smoothly.
In a busy health clinic, a chatbot can streamline appointment management. It books appointments directly into the clinic’s CRM, sends reminders to patients, and updates records with visit details — all automatically. As a result, it reduces the staff’s administrative work and enhances patient care efficiency.
Lead Generation
Let’s start with stats. 36% of businesses incorporate chatbots into their lead-generation strategies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Think about it. Are you missing out on a fresh business tool?
When potential buyers compare multiple developers and leave requests on various websites, they often miss follow-up calls from the sales team due to their busy schedules. As a result, many requests get lost in the developer’s CRM system. Here’s where a voice chatbot can make a difference.
The voice chatbot systematically calls all the leads recorded in the CRM system that weren’t reached initially. It then verifies the details of each request with the client to ensure they’re still interested. If the lead is valid, the bot arranges a specific time for a detailed conversation between the developer’s sales reps and the potential buyer. This ensures that no lead is overlooked and improves the efficiency of the sales process.
Chatbot or AI Assistant?
Chatbots and AI assistants both enhance digital interactions, but they serve different functions.
Chatbots are primarily designed for specific tasks such as answering FAQs or guiding users through a website. They operate based on set rules or simple AI to manage straightforward customer interactions.
AI assistants, on the other hand, use advanced AI technologies like machine learning to conduct more complex tasks. They can understand context, learn from interactions, and perform a range of actions like controlling smart home devices or managing personal calendars.
What about CRM?
In CRM strategy contexts, chatbots offer distinct benefits: they can handle a high volume of customer inquiries simultaneously, maintain consistent communication, and collect valuable data directly into CRM systems. This efficiency helps small businesses improve customer service and engagement without significant manual effort.
AI assistants can provide deeper insights and more personalized customer interactions due to their advanced processing capabilities. For example, AI assistants can automatically handle, and route support tickets based on the content of customer inquiries, which are logged and analyzed within the CRM system. If a customer submits a complaint about a product defect, the AI can route the ticket directly to the quality assurance team, speeding up the resolution process.
Quidget. All-in-one solution for creating chatbots and AI assistants.
Quidget is a user-friendly interface that helps you launch a chatbot or AI personal assistant on your webpage or messaging app. It combines the best of two worlds: the deep customization of chatbots and the efficiency of AI assistants.
At onboarding, you can choose to create either a custom chatbot or an AI assistant, using OpenAI or CoSupport.ai integration. OpenAI Assistant handles tasks, tracks ads, and analyzes data. CoSupport AI offers secure data handling, FAQ automation, 24/7 support, and automated analytics.
Whether you’re automating tasks like marketing, sales, customer support, or even booking reservations, Quidget adapts to fit your needs without requiring any coding knowledge. It’s designed for businesses of all sizes and can scale with your growth.
Quidget is already integrated with Euphoric.ai and will soon add Zendesk and Freshdesk integrations. This makes it easy not only to create a chatbot or assistant but to integrate it smoothly into your CRM system.
