Chatbox Technology \"Agree or Disagree:

Chatbox Technology

"Agree or disagree: Chatbox technology can provide effective CRM without customer frustration and cognitive dissonance. Defend your position."

The continual improvements made in analytics, workflows and decision engines are streamlining level 1 and 2 support levels, making Chatbox technology a viable alternative for customer service. The initial beliefs in Chatbox technology taking the human element out of customer service have not materialized as many critics initially thought. Instead the focus on face-time and making the most of every customer experience and interaction has become more commonplace. What has also emerged is the finding that customers self-select automated support channels based on the market segments they are members of. Technology early adopters for example self-select these more automated channels of communication, based on their unique needs and familiarity and trust of automation (Edwards, 2008). Chatbox technology is well-suited for primary customer service and support initiatives and programs, yet cannot scale effectively for more advanced service recovery efforts over time. Chatbox technologies also tend to break down when there are several different decision points or junctures in logic that must be supported in a given customer interaction as well (Beverland, Kates, Lindgreen, Chung, 2010). Despite all of these limitations however, Chatbox technology can provide a highly scalable and secured approach to solving customer issues that are relatively straight-forward and simple from an interaction standpoint, where there are a series of primary decisions to be made by the customer looking for support. The greatest contributions Chatbox technology has made is in automating level 1 responses while creating a much greater level of personalization and rpaid response to relative simple, predictable customer problems over time (Edwards, 2008). Companies are also using Chatbox technology to capture critically important data for their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems while also reducing the costs per transaction at a very significant reduction rate. In conjunction with these cost reduction benefits, Chatbox technology data sets have been used as the basis of advanced analytics and customer segmentation modeling, defining unique psychographic-based segments over time (Casey,2004).

An additional use of Chatbox technology is in being able to measure customer satisfaction levels by segment as well. The use of SERVQUAL methodologies to track customer service satisfaction levels can now be real-time using Chatbox as the platform to better measure customer expectations vs. experiences (Tate, Evermann,2010). Chatbox used as a research platform would allow companies to have real-time analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs) of performance. They would also allow marketing managers to better anticipate and react to market conditions driven by customer perception and requirements. The focus on attaining higher levels of customer loyalty could also be attained using Chatbox technology as the basis of more effective customer satisfaction surveys as well. Finally, Chatbox will continue to grow as a means of capturing and reacting to key requirements across market segments that see automation as a means to gain greater responsiveness anytime they want it from the companies they rely on. Chatbox is available 24/7 and can be integrated directly into a knowledgebase as well, turning this technology into a highly effective guided selling and problem resolution system in addition to its other benefits.