Intelligent Virtual Assistants and Chatbots: What’s the Difference?
It’s common now: upon entering a company’s website, the customer finds a chat to answer questions and resolve problems.
In many cases, the person on the other end providing the service is not a person at all, but a robot.
The main benefit is to reduce the number of requests sent to operators. There are currently two different automated service solutions that, if not chosen very carefully, can be much more expensive than the savings that can be achieved by cutting operational costs.
We’re talking about Virtual Assistants and Chatbots, of course.
More and more companies are automating their customer service systems. Gartner consultancy estimates that by 2027 chatbots and virtual assistants will be the primary form of constumer service in a quarter of the companies worldwide.
That’s right, and you can check out the study right here.
What about your company? Does it uses any of those resources? Let’s find ou what they are and how you can use them!
Chatbots
The best-known solution today are the famous chatbots. They are a simple technology that meets defined objectives.
Imagine, for example, that the customer wants to issue a duplicate of a bill that they need to pay. In this case, he will inform you in the chat and receive the invoice. Simple and agile.
But that’s simple. This request could be carried out on a dedicated area an area on your website. You don’t exactly need a chatbot for that.
When the request is more complex, the chatbot solution may not be satisfactory.
Think of a customer who needs to buy an airline ticket. He will start the conversation with the virtual attendant by entering the place he intends to go and the date of the trip.
The chatbot will probably inform you of available times and prices and limit the customer to those choices, without offering other suggestions for days, times or hotel and car rental packages, for example. In this case, the customer may consider the service unsatisfactory and, instead of helping, the robot hinders the sale.
Intelligent Virtual Assistants (AVI)
The other automated customer service option is the one that relies on artificial intelligence technologies to develop the service, these are called Intelligent Virtual Assistants (AVI).
The software is trained based on conversations held between attendants and consumers and is thus able to learn from them, becoming more intelligent and accurate in a short learning time.
In addition to being more intelligent, this type of system uses a natural and humanized language in which service becomes much more personalized.
With artificial intelligence, this AVI will be able, for example, to notice the customer’s grammatical errors, interpret them and provide a satisfactory response. This type of solution can even record the customer’s name and identify data that they have already used in other purchases.
Let’s go back to the example of purchasing airline tickets.
With an intelligent virtual service, when requesting a quote for the trip, the system could inform whether the consumer will be able to pay for the ticket with the miles they have, suggest hotels and even tours to take in the location according to the taste of the traveler.
Unlike chatbots, Intelligent Virtual Assistants can meet different needs, really helping the consumer, ranging from generating a duplicate of their invoice, to looking for investment plans that suit their profile.
What are the differences between intelligent virtual assistants and chatbots?
The main difference between intelligent virtual assistants and chatbots is the type of dynamics, rules and technology explored.
As we mentioned, chatbots are a type of system that generates automated conversations and interaction with visitors and consumers, through pre-defined texts. They can be used to clarify doubts, assist commercial processes, offer personalized content and even process payments.
Interaction is created through scripts — a series of questions, keywords or choice options that can be addressed by users and through pre-defined rules in the system, with quick reaction responses to each of them.
Intelligent virtual assistants work based on Machine Learning, with more robust processing that learns as the amount of data captured increases.
Examples such as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant fit into the classification of virtual assistants, with greater complexity and capable of storing data and learning from it over time.
What are the advantages of intelligent virtual assistants and chatbots?
Tools such as intelligent virtual assistants and chatbots make it possible to personalize interactions according to the user’s needs and responses.
This type of tool simulates a human and fluid interaction, closer to a service provided by a personal service. The automation of processes and tools is what allows interaction to be scalable, so that there is no limit to the number of services.
Through a virtual assistant or chatbot, you bring your visitor or user into an interactive conversation and, with each interaction, capture very important data for your strategy.
In addition to personalized service and data capture, the use of tools such as intelligent virtual assistants and chatbots also brings many other advantages to companies:
It’s customizable
Tools such as chatbots or intelligent virtual assistants are part of conversational marketing , as they enable the personalization of interactions according to the user’s needs and responses.
This is one of the main characteristics of this type of tool, which is consumer-centric. Regardless of the type of technology, objective or intelligence behind building the tool, it must be able to deliver what the visitor wants, in the simplest and fastest way possible.
Increases conversion rates
Conversational marketing tools, such as those presented in this article, improve conversion rates, as they are more attractive than static forms and make users more comfortable in providing contact data, through personalized service and more fluid dialogue. between brand and consumer.
Generates more qualified leads
By offering quick, easy and personalized service to visitors or users, your brand gains relevant information in every contact or interaction.
With automated service you are able to work in a more dynamic way than with static forms, capture data from your lead and start qualifying that contact from the beginning of the interaction.
It’s scalable
Automating processes and tools in conversational marketing is what allows interaction to be scalable. Conversational marketing simulates a human interaction, closer to a service provided by an employee on your team, but in such a way that there is no limit to the number of services provided.
Chatbots and virtual assistants can respond to visitors’ and users’ queries 24 hours a day, every day of the week, with quick responses provided through pre-determined rules or by learning data over time.
Enables simplified data analysis
As the tools are all digital and automated, analysis of results is also simplified and much safer, as the data is recorded. Many tools even provide access to dashboards with results, making the analysis process even easier.
Intelligent virtual assistants and chatbots: which option to choose?
Through tools such as intelligent virtual assistants and chatbots, your company brings your visitor or user into an interactive conversation. This way, you capture contact data and better understand the lead’s profile by asking qualifying questions.
The choice between the two options will depend on your brand’s needs, what your audience expects and what you are capable of delivering.
The development of an intelligent virtual assistant is more costly, complex and also more complete for certain needs. Chatbots are simpler and many tools already offer ready-made systems, which you can simply customize to your brand’s needs.
How about a little test drive? After reading this article, the best way to understand if you need a chatbot or a virtual assistant is by testing them.
You can test the Leadster chatbot today! Just click on the link to get a 14 day free trial right now – no credit card required.
Thanks for reading!
