Contact Center How-to Virtual Agent CX

6 ways to boost customer support with an AI chatbot platform

Give customers the answers they need, anywhere, anytime, with Zoom Virtual Agent, an AI chatbot built to resolve, not just respond.

8 min read

Updated on October 25, 2023

Published on October 25, 2023

6 ways to improve customer support with an AI chatbot platform for websites

In this blog

01 Key benefits of a customer support AI chatbot - Jumplink to Key benefits of a customer support AI chatbot
02 Should I build or buy a chatbot for my website? - Jumplink to Should I build or buy a chatbot for my website?
03 What to consider when choosing the best customer support AI chatbot platform for websites - Jumplink to What to consider when choosing the best customer support AI chatbot platform for websites
04 6 ways to improve customer support with an AI chatbot platform for websites - Jumplink to 6 ways to improve customer support with an AI chatbot platform for websites
05 How Zoom Virtual Agent can help - Jumplink to How Zoom Virtual Agent can help

Jennifer Clark

We've all had that late-night website moment where you just need an answer fast. That’s where an AI chatbot can save the day, if it’s built the right way. In the digital age, people want autonomy and the ability to self-serve, making AI chatbots a popular tool in customer experience strategies when they work. In fact, a Morning Consult study found that 69 percent of consumers prefer self-service resolution when available, and 43% of consumers view resolution failure as the top AI chatbot frustration.

The relative ease of use and widespread adoption of virtual assistants and agents make a customer support AI chatbot platform for websites beneficial and cost-effective to meet today’s customers’ expectations.

What is an AI chatbot?

An AI chatbot is a virtual assistant that uses artificial intelligence to answer questions, resolve issues, and provide 24/7 customer support. AI chatbots, also known as virtual agents, continue to be valuable customer service tools. They provide a self-service option that allows customers to skip the wait and get the answers they need without assistance from an agent. Recent advancements in agentic AI have moved the AI chatbot into another realm, transforming it into a more advanced virtual agent that doesn't just answer questions but can resolve even complex queries.

From a customer’s perspective, an AI chatbot platform for websites is similar to a live chat tool. However, AI chatbots feature advanced automation so human agents don’t have to take time to respond—the AI chatbot software does it for them.

In an era of labor shortages, rising costs, and more customers opting to engage digitally, businesses of all sizes are looking for more from customer support. It's no surprise that Morning Consult reported in another recent study that long wait times are the top issue for customers. Let's take a look at how the right AI virtual agent can help you deliver what customers want:

Meet customer expectations quickly: Provides fast, convenient, self-service support without long hold times.
Reduce wait times: Quickly answers queries, addressing the top frustration in customer experience.
Deliver fast responses: Lets customers type questions in natural language and get quick answers.
Maintain accurate, up-to-date information: Pulls from your knowledge base for more consistent, on-brand responses.
Empower small businesses: Helps smaller teams compete with larger companies by scaling support efficiently.

When you add a chatbot to your website to support your customer service team, the next decision you need to make is how to do it. One option is to leverage internal resources with coding skills and user interface/user experience (UI/UX) expertise to create a chatbot for your business. Conversely, you can choose to use chatbot software from a vendor.

Each option has its advantages. For example, in-house development allows you to design a unique chatbot. However, development takes time and investment, so using a platform from a solution provider can help you implement a chatbot more quickly.

If you decide to use software from an AI chatbot provider, remember that some building will still be involved to tailor the chatbot to your specific needs. Fortunately, anyone can take this on, even if they don't have developer skills. A platform that includes a visual chatbot builder, like AI Studio, available with Zoom Virtual Agent, can make it easier for you to create chatbots to add to your WordPress site or other website platforms.

How do I add a chatbot to my website?

You can add an AI chatbot by using a platform with a visual builder, integrating it with your CMS, and launching it via a widget or plugin. If you choose a platform from a software provider, you’ll have information on native integrations or using a widget to add the virtual agent to your website.

Many companies planning to deploy a customer support chatbot use one from a provider. But it can be a challenge to find the best AI chatbot platform from among dozens on the market.

These tips can help you evaluate options for your business:

1. Narrow your search to artificial intelligence chatbots

Not all chatbots are AI-powered with natural language processing capabilities. You may be able to add live chat or a search function to your website, but it won’t deliver the same customer experiences that an AI chatbot can offer. AI enables a chatbot to understand a customer’s intent and sentiment to provide more human-like responses. And now with agentic AI, AI chatbots can even reason and resolve even complex queries.

When selecting a chatbot for customer service, research the technology behind it and request a demo to experience the types of experiences it provides firsthand.

2. Insist on the ease of a visual chatbot builder

A customer support AI chatbot platform for websites with a visual builder allows you to create chatbots by dragging and dropping elements of a customer interaction into a digital workspace to create a conversation flow. For example, the exchange may start with the question, “What’s my loyalty rewards balance?” You can drag a field in which you enter a response that takes the customer to a page where they can check the status of their loyalty account.

You can also create interactions that clarify exactly what the customer is looking for or that request customer feedback. Today, you can even provide very specific prompts to guide agent responses, tone, and guidelines for conversations that may go off script.

The software provider typically trains the AI chatbot platform to understand variations in language and ways a customer can ask a question, enabling more natural, conversational interactions.

3. Make pricing about value, not a bargain

While searching for the perfect chatbot platform for your business, you’ll likely find free trials or free account versions. While this may enable you to deploy a chatbot, these deals may not give you all the features you need, like chat history, automated messages, and unlimited bots.

Focus on the capabilities included in the packages and choose the one that will provide the greatest value to your support team and your business. Also, keep in mind that 57% of businesses find that chatbots deliver significant ROI.

Read about how our Zoom chatbot helps us reinvent the customer experience and achieve a cost savings of $13 million every month.

Dive into our practical guide to see how easy it is to build a Zoom Virtual Agent with step-by-step use cases and simple checklists.

Get the guide

Once you have selected the platform, remember these tips to optimize user experiences with the customer support AI chatbot platform for websites.

1. Add personality

The best customer experiences with AI chatbot platforms come from interactions that incorporate elements of human conversation. Build friendly greetings, thank them for using your website, and use a conversational tone that puts customers at ease. Build in a response for curveballs that may arise. Giving your chatbot a “personality” that complements your brand can improve customer satisfaction.

2. Expand integrations, if possible

A virtual agent integrated with your knowledge base or help center is valuable. But one that’s integrated with your customer service management, customer relationships management, or ticketing software can deliver even more value to your customers and customer service team. Plan conversation flows and connect customers with the resources they need to create the best experiences possible.

3. Plan fallbacks and escalation to human agents

The last thing you want is to trap a customer in a loop that doesn’t give them the information they need. The best AI chatbots include fallbacks that give customers an out, whether directing them to another resource or connecting them with customer service agents.

When researching AI chatbot platform options, ask, “What if…?” and see how the chatbot responds.

Top tip: Build AI throughout the journey for a seamless hand off. Automated conversation summaries can provide context for live agents so they can get right to the issue without needing customers to repeat their concerns.

4. Test and update

AI chatbot software will only respond based on the information you provide it. Involve your customer service team to determine the best way to respond to customer queries and how to orchestrate customer engagements.

Your customer service team is also best qualified to test the chatbot and help keep it updated, enabling it to provide the best possible responses.

5. Monitor analytics

Even if your evaluation of your chatbot is positive and it appears to work during tests, monitoring its performance in the real world is still necessary. Keep track of the most common customer queries and whether your chatbot gives answers that lead to customer satisfaction. Use AI to connect your analytics across the customer journey to provide a unified view of what improvements might need to be made.

Also, establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you gauge chatbot performance, such as how often it responds correctly the first time and how often it needs to escalate requests to agents. If the chatbot isn’t achieving its objectives or performance declines, it’s time for an update or adjustment.

6. Collect customer feedback

A quick way to gauge chatbot performance is to ask your customers. Ask customers to provide a quick rating or a brief comment at the end of each interaction to gather information that can help you measure customer satisfaction and identify potential areas of improvement.

Customers just want their issue resolved in the quickest way possible, but not all chatbots have been designed to provide solutions. The right customer support AI chatbot platform for websites enables you to offer the kind of service your customers expect and helps your support team work more efficiently.

Zoom Virtual Agent, part of the Zoom CX solution, is powered with agentic AI to offer an always-on, proactive self-service solution that doesn’t just respond, but can act on your behalf to help solve customer needs. It delivers:

Natural conversations: It leverages natural language processing (NLP) to deliver personalized responses tailored to each customer inquiry.
End-to-end resolution: It reasons based on customer needs and priorities, working to help resolve complex issues from start to finish.
Proactive solutions: Zoom Virtual Agent is designed to anticipate needs and deliver solutions beyond the initial customer inquiry.
Seamless integration: It works effortlessly across contact center and other enterprise workflows to create seamless handoffs to agents, maintain data continuity, and help improve customer outcomes.

With Zoom Virtual Agent you can offer a customer experience that’s more consistent, fast, and accurate.

Talk to an expert today to learn how easy it can be to add an AI chatbot to your website.