Chatbots: the CRM contribution for brands

Currently, our society constantly bombards us with information from all sides. Whether in the palm of your hand with a smartphone, on the streets through out-of-home (OOH) media, or watching commercials on television, differentiation is a key to capturing consumer attention. This leads to a certain appeal for brands, which generates engagement as a result. One of the tools often employed are conversation platforms, the use of which has intensified since the beginning of the pandemic. Infobip, in partnership with Opinion Box and Mobile Time, ran a survey which identified that 80% of Brazilians use WhatsApp to communicate with brands. In this context, chatbots are a fundamental piece, as they provide brands with more humanity, automating processes which guarantees increased speed and assertiveness.

While the tool is effective, how can it be used to maintain customer relationships? In an interview with Meio & Mensagem, Zenvia’s CMO, Raphael Godoy, shares the advantages of artificial intelligence combined with a CRM via chat, and how the strategy can bring about a valuable database for ongoing customer management.

Meio & Mensagem – How can chatbots be integrated into a company’s CRM strategies? What are the benefits?

Raphael Godoy – Service automation, as a means, must be part of a broader strategy to serve the customer quickly, assertively and in a personalized way. It’s at this point that CRM strategies can connect with the chatbot. But the company can’t think about just collecting information, but to already consider how the collected information will be used to benefit the consumer in future interactions, avoiding transferring calls without context, and reducing frustrations or delays in solving problems. It’s this kind of relationship that brings customers closer to the brand, as the level of personalization is increased and faster responses are provided.

M&M – How does this qualify a company’s database?

Godoy – As interactions create value for the customer, they become more willing to share information with the company, in a win-win relationship. Service automation is a way to scale this process, which reflects in an increasingly qualified base. But it’s important to reinforce that qualifying your base should not be the end goal. The ultimate objective should be to deliver an increasingly amazing experience to the end customer, based on the data collected.

M&M – There are a number of communication channels these days that serve consumers when they come across chatbots: Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, among others. How to choose the best one to invest in and be available on?

Godoy – The choice of channels will depend on your audience’s profile. It’s no use for your company to be present on a communication channel your customer doesn’t use. In the same way, it doesn’t make sense to be on all channels if it’s not your audience profile or if the company can’t offer the same experience across all channels. That’s why it’s so important to know your customer very well. And to provide the best service, considering that each profile communicates through different channels, a good tip is to build a multichannel strategy, with the support of a platform designed for this, such as in the case of Zenvia. Here, our concern is to offer an integrated experience through the whole customer journey, from marketing campaigns to post-sales.

M&M – What’s the impact of applying technology to enriching the CRM through engagement?

Godoy – There’s no easier way to keep a customer engaged than by offering a good experience when interacting with your brand. In this sense, automating service processes and having multiple communication channels allow companies to offer a unique experience, plus the benefit of the convenience of digital media, also of value for consumers.

M&M – What are the advantages of artificial intelligence when combined with a CRM?

Godoy – In today’s society, we are bombarded by information all the time. We have more information in one day than a 17th century citizen could retain and manage in a lifetime. Therefore, attention is of greatest value. In a world where competition is present all the time, having the consumer’s attention is not easy, but it can be achieved if the company is highly connected with its audience. That’s why knowing your customer very well is so important. At this point, artificial intelligence can be very important, to bring the customer what they’re looking for, in a personalized way, and in the shortest possible time. This is where artificial intelligence becomes a great ally, processing an unimaginable volume of information for a human being and transforming it into knowledge applied to the business and to effectively solving your customer’s problems.

M&M – How to maintain long-term relationships through these resources?

increasing value over the long-term relationship. The tip is to always know your audience, when their behavior changes and how all this impacts the purchase, service or any other journey that your customer may experience and work tirelessly to continuously improve their experience through all the milestones on their journey.

Article published in Meio & Mensagem: https://www.proxxima.com.br/home/proxxima/noticias/2022/02/22/chatbots-a-contribuicao-para-o-crm-das-marcas.html