5 Tips for Effective Bot Implementation

Stay honest with users

Communication with a chatbot can be at a very high level, but it will not replace human communication, let alone simple chatbots with limited answers range. That is why you should not pass one thing off as another. Nobody likes to be taken for a fool, especially in such a dull way. So here are the tips:

• Let the user know he is communicating with a bot, not a live person. Indicate that in the greeting and the bot name.
• Briefly tell what a bot can do and what are the limitations in communication.
• Apologize for a mistake if a bot was not able to understand the user, and suggest paraphrasing the request.

Often, you can encounter bots with ordinary names who start communicating as company managers. Further on, it is followed by extraneous responses or attempts to joke it away. It looks weird, to say the least. When the users start communicating with a bot, they formulate the requests in a completely different way and have other expectations.

Instruct the user

Onboarding is important for the effective program use. Your task is to quickly educate the user how to use a bot, so he could reach the end of the sales pipeline. In order to do that:

• Think through communication that is as simple as possible. In most cases, the simpler it is, the better. Thus, first of all, consider button options for responding the users;
• Describe the bot functionality in the greeting and explain the user how to make the bot understand its requests;
• If possible, lead the visitor to the brief and accurate answer. A bot may ask clarifying questions, offer variants of response or ask to indicate the commands;
• Use the approach “from simple to complex”, for example, after the users have opted for button responses several times, offer them to write the answers or requests by themselves;
• Make sure the user does not have to guess what the next steps in communication are.

Provide simplicity, convenience and easy learning when communicating with a bot. Make buying from you easy and simple.

Pay attention to human emotions

We tend to “humanize” some objects, including bots. We are waiting for the greeting, politeness, and sometimes even humor and charisma. If the bot is set up for regular interaction with the user, design it as a personality. It should be appropriate and reasonable, because sometimes your audience will not appreciate the jokes when they just need to quickly find out the response. And here is what definitely works:

• Set up a friendly tone for a bot;
• Speak a simple language and make sure the user understands you;
• Apologize for mistakes and say thank you for important feedback, actions;
• Always leave the last word for a bot. There should be no unanswered questions.

In some cases, a bot should become the user’s good acquaintance, while in other cases, the program performs the role of a quick guide. Adjust a bot for your particular case and the target audience.

Avoid empty talk

Virtually every bot has a particular target, unless it has been created just for fun. Sometimes, in the search for originality, the creators get out of the point or write the long texts, just to indulge the user. Here are the tips we prepared:

• Spend as much time as possible reading the dialog with your users: make sure all the answers are concise and simple, and the structure is logical.
• Split very wordy messages into blocks and let the user participate in the dialog too by clicking the phrases “I understand”, “that’s interesting”, “OK”, “what’s next?” and so on.
• It’s better to post long articles on another resource (for example, a website blog), and provide the user with a link.

Always ask yourself a question: “What does a user need at this stage?” and “What do you need the user to do?” Build the dialog based on these questions.

Test and improve

Most likely, the bot will need improvements after launching, and it’s OK. Most probably, some problems will occur, and there will always be the need to update. If you have noticed this, it means you really care, and the convenience of the program really matters for you. Here are a couple of tips in this regard:

• Always test the bot operation. Ask your acquaintances or clients to communicate with a bot and tell what they think. Is everything clear? Is it easy to follow the communication process? Is it possible to achieve the interaction goal?
• Let the users assess the interaction with the bot.
• ·Maintain analytics, analyze the actions of the audience.
• Regularly check the program operation and remove bugs promptly.
• Mark the content to understand at which step the user refused from further interaction. Try to eliminate problems if applicable.