Chatbots are becoming more popular in dealerships as a way to engage with potential customers, answer their questions, and generate leads. However, not all chatbots are created equal, and some common mistakes can ruin the user experience and damage your reputation. In this article, we will discuss some of the most common chatbot mistakes in dealerships and how to avoid them.
One of the most important aspects of a chatbot is its tone and style. You want your chatbot to sound friendly, helpful, and professional, but not too formal, robotic, or pushy. A chatbot that is too casual, slangy, or humorous can come across as unprofessional, disrespectful, or irrelevant. A chatbot that is too formal, technical, or salesy can come across as boring, impersonal, or aggressive. To find the right tone and style for your chatbot, you need to understand your target audience, their needs, preferences, and expectations, and match your chatbot's voice to your brand identity and values.
Another common mistake is to treat all users the same and offer generic responses and recommendations. A chatbot that does not personalize its interactions can miss the opportunity to build rapport, trust, and loyalty with the users. A chatbot that does not tailor its responses and suggestions to the user's specific situation, goals, and preferences can lose the user's interest, attention, and satisfaction. To avoid this mistake, you need to segment your users based on their behavior, location, device, source, and other relevant criteria, and use dynamic variables, conditional logic, and data integration to customize your chatbot's messages and actions.
The most common mistake is thinking it is a 100% replacement for a human. The AI is there to supplement you existing team, remove bottlenecks and customer pain points. Parts Messenger Pro by OEM Interactive is a solution like that. Allowing customers a text to chat feature frees your parts team to continue their task wothout having to answer a phone at that moment. This is the blend of people and technology that wins!
A chatbot that does not have a clear and coherent conversation flow can confuse and frustrate the users. A chatbot that does not follow a logical sequence of questions and answers, that jumps from one topic to another without transition, that repeats itself or contradicts itself, or that does not handle interruptions or digressions well can make the user feel lost, annoyed, or misled. To avoid this mistake, you need to design your chatbot's conversation flow with a clear goal, structure, and context, and use natural language processing, fallback responses, and feedback mechanisms to ensure a smooth and natural conversation.
A chatbot that does not provide enough information and guidance can leave the users unsatisfied and disappointed. A chatbot that does not answer the user's questions, that provides vague or inaccurate information, that does not offer relevant options or alternatives, or that does not direct the user to the next step or action can make the user feel ignored, uninformed, or helpless. To avoid this mistake, you need to provide your chatbot with sufficient and reliable information sources, such as FAQs, databases, or APIs, and use buttons, menus, links, or call-to-actions to guide the user to the desired outcome.
A very common mistake I see with chat bots is the ability to know what's truly on the dealership's lot and available. Often times when a vehicle is sold it could be 1-3 days before it gets removed off of the website. This creates confusion and frustration from the customer.
A chatbot that does not have a human touch can alienate the users and harm your relationship. A chatbot that does not show empathy, emotion, or personality, that does not acknowledge the user's feelings or concerns, that does not use humor, compliments, or apologies when appropriate, or that does not offer the option to escalate to a human agent when needed can make the user feel cold, indifferent, or isolated. To avoid this mistake, you need to humanize your chatbot with a name, an avatar, and a backstory, and use sentiment analysis, natural language generation, and live chat integration to add warmth, emotion, and personality to your chatbot.
A chatbot that is not tested and optimized can have errors, bugs, or gaps that can affect the user experience and performance. A chatbot that is not tested before launch, that is not monitored and analyzed after launch, that is not updated or improved based on user feedback, or that is not compatible with different platforms or devices can have issues such as broken links, spelling mistakes, slow loading, or poor functionality. To avoid this mistake, you need to test your chatbot thoroughly before and after launch, using tools such as chatbot simulators, analytics platforms, or user surveys, and optimize your chatbot regularly based on the results and insights.