Chatbot for service & sales

Chatbots offer automated interactions with customers. These apps are widely used by businesses, with basic ones using decision trees to provide pre-programmed responses and advanced bots relying on natural language processing (NLP) for more personalized interactions.

Businesses usually deploy these apps for customer service. In a way, this makes sense. Bots can offer immediate assistance for simple problems or questions, so the customer doesn't have to wait for a human rep to become available. According to a Gartner survey, chatbots are most effective for basic customer service issues like returns or troubleshooting.

What about other functions? Chatbots can be effective for sales and marketing, but there are a couple of caveats involving the choice of software and its abilities and features.

Can chatbots help drive sales?

Chatbots can help answer questions during the purchasing process and guide customers through the different pricing options and available add-ons.

Customers can make more informed decisions, and your business won't leave sales on the table because potential buyers are confused about the options or can't get answers to their questions.

Chatbots with the right AI-powered features can offer personalized recommendations, upsell services or ticketing options, and cross-sell packages, such as discounted food-and-beverage packages to go along with admission to your venue.

Since the process doesn't rely on humans, it can happen instantly at any time of day or night. You won't miss any sales because your human reps are asleep or onother calls.

What's the catch?

The Gartner survey also found something surprising. Only 25% of people would prefer to use chatbots in future customer service efforts. Why is this? Unsophisticated chatbots aren't able to handle any unpredictable questions, and even those with AI behind them may still only provide generic responses.

To drive sales, you can't rely on generic customer service bots. You need AI-powered applications made specifically for the type of interactions you will have with customers in your industry. For example, the Smeetz Atlas AI support & sales chat agent is for leisure venues. It can manage questions that are unique to venues in this sector, including booking changes, venue policy questions, and complex B2B or group ticketing processes.

So, the catch is that you need the right tool for your specific sales and customer service needs. This is very important because the wrong choice could leave customers frustrated by generic answers and a lack of helpful insights.

Choosing the right chatbot

If you are in the leisure industry, finding a chatbot built with your business in mind is an important step, but it's only the first one. Integration is also key. You will want a chatbot that is part of your commerce platform rather than something outside of it. The integration allows the program to offer specifics about ticket prices or steps during the booking process.

For instance, Smeetz Atlas is part of the company's unified commerce platform. This connection allows for alevel of personalisation and booking support that isn't possible with an external chatbot.

You also need to consider issues like scalability and adaptability. Can the chatbot handle a larger volume of enquiries as your business grows? And, can you make changes if you add new services or experiences for your customers? For example, you might want the system to handle F&B or merchandise-related questions in addition to offering ticket guidance.

What can the right chatbot bring to your sales efforts?

Once you have an integrated, scalable, and customisable chatbot for your leisure business, you can put it to work. What kind of advantages can you expect interms of sales and revenue growth?

•          Never miss sales: Chatbots work 24/7, so they can guide online booking processes or answer questions at any time of day or night. You'll never miss an opportunity to complete bookings or generate revenue, even outside of your normal business hours.

•          Specialised offers: An integrated chatbot can see customer data. Not only does this help personalise the answers to questions, but it also allows you to tailor suggestions or upsell offers to customers based on their past activity and interests.

•          Increase customer loyalty: Quality chatbots can reduce customer wait times. One client using Smeetz Atlas found that customer questions were resolved 25% after one month of using the chatbot.

•          Lead generation: Chatbots can collect information for future sales efforts. For instance, a business may call up with questions about group bookings. The app can answer their questions and collect data to help your sales team tailor offers for the potential customer's specific needs or areas of interest.

•          Streamlined sales: Chatbots can guide customers through the purchasing process. They will be less likely to abandon their purchase before the process is complete.

•          Cut down on staffing costs: Chatbots can handle after-hours enquiries, but they can also streamline operations during the workday. Smeetz Atlas can handle 30% of all customer enquiries. This reduces staff hours and frees up employees for higher-level sales or customer service tasks.

Again, these benefits hinge on having a fully integrated chatbot system that has industry-specific capabilities. As recent research has shown, chatbots that can't deliver the right support or information do more harm than good.

Smeetz Atlas to power sales

Smeetz Atlas handles routine questions about hours, prices, and booking changes. Unlike basic chatbots, it can provide personalised responses and specific details. These qualities usually leave customers feeling like their needs were met and questions fully answered.

Atlas is especially adept at guiding complex B2B bookings. It can handle routine enquiries, call up booking details, and shepherd customers through the entire process. This type of support is essential forgetting group bookings and providing the guidance and service that can inspire customer loyalty and earn your venue repeat bookings.

Ready to see it in action?

If you’d like to explore how Smeetz Atlas could support your venue, our team is here to help. Reach out to us for a test drive and discover whether our AI-powered chatbot is the right fit for your sales and customer service goals.