Recently, I needed to speak to someone at an insurance company.
As normal, I headed to their website first.
No number. There was a Q&A and a chatbot. So I entered a chat with the bot. It wasn’t the best. But what was most frustrating, was that there was no quick way to speak to a human.
I asked the bot, can I have a telephone number.
It gave me a telephone number. It left the ‘0’ from the front. Anyway, dialed the number and… nothing!
The number didn’t work!
Frustrated. I googled what the telephone number is. Within seconds, I had the telephone number. It was 0345 246 8372. The bot had the wrong number!
I get it, It’s cheaper to have a bot to help with most questions.
I get it, It’s quicker for customers sometimes, to ask a bot and get a quick pre-programmed answer.
I get it, you want customers to utilise a messaging method (they even offer whatsapp!).
But what if you want to talk to someone?
When building these bots, please please please… test!!
It took me back to when I used to lead Innovation at Coca-Cola. We used the Lean Startup principle of Build, Test and Learn. Clearly, this bot has been built… but has it been tested?
Frustrations like this, can lead to resentment. Customers will be driven to go elsewhere and you lose money.
We’re living in a world where there are different generations trying to engage with you. You have to understand that one platform does not fit all. Hybrid. Different ways to contact us. Telephone. Message. Email.