Right from problem-solving skills to saving time, real estate  expect more from companies when it comes to consumer service. In the last few years, artificial intelligence has brought in significant changes in our lives. AI is believed to create efficiency in everything humans do, and much improvement is experienced in things we do. 

Chatbots are one of the most common examples used by real estate  daily. Whether it is text or voice commands, AI has become an integral part of consumer support. You will meet AI chatbots either while placing an order at Starbucks, or resolving a dispute in the bill from your cable provider. Varying degrees of AI is used to interact with machines. According to research, the chatbot market is expected to grow by over $1.34 billion by 2024.

The introduction of digital assistants and chatbots have unlocked new doors for the brand and consumers. Let us take a pulse of how people feel when they are made to interact with machines. We will also know their experience of interacting with bots vs. humans. 

Chatbots doesn't necessarily mean that better services are provided 

Is there any proof that the outcomes are better with more and more people turning to chatbots to provide customer service. 57% of consumers have confessed that they found human service agents more efficient in solving their problems than automated bots. However, almost 35% said that they couldn't find much difference between bots and customer service agents. There were different responses gathered from different age groups and gender regarding which option is more effective. Men said humans were more productive, whereas, women said bots are more effective. 

Use of chatbots is outpacing calls 

A survey was done, where a question was asked that says When was the last time respondents interacted with either a digital assistant or a chatbot. It was noted that almost 66% of consumers said they had contacted one in the previous month itself. 

19% of Millennials reported that they had used a chatbot just the last day. So, you can see that businesses are increasingly using chatbots to interact with their consumers. Customer experience is evolving. However, some are not in favor of chatbots, and they prefer human service agents. 

Timing is crucial 

Chatbots have the ability to automate varied tasks, thus saving a lot of time. In today's generation, where people have their attention split over several digital channels and devices, time is precious. Consumers were asked that chatbots or human agents were efficient in handling their queries. Nearly half of the consumers said that they were happy with the traditional human service agents. They found them more efficient and time-saving. Only 1 in every 4 consumers said that they found the digital assistant to be more efficient in handling their requests. 

It appears that Chatbots have gained lost ground when it comes to being time-efficient, but is that enough to win over consumers? 

Another survey was done where people were pit with humans and bots head to head. This was done to see which option is preferred by consumers to interact with. 

36% of the general population chose human agents over bots. However, 46% of the respondents said they would prefer bots only if it meant that they could solve their issues faster than humans. Sometimes people are made to wait on hold for long to provide them with a potential solution to their problem. So, consumers are looking towards chatbots over humans, if they potentially solve their problems and help them save time.  

Final thoughts 

You must have until now understood that consumers are after services that are superhumans. A combination of AI services to rapidly deal with minor troubleshooting errors. If there are more complex problems, then they should be routed to humans since bots cannot handle complicated issues. Humans can apply a more empathetic approach to delight consumers by solving their problems.

This combination is sure to provide maximum benefits to the teams and also to the consumers. Chatbots are helpful to organizations from every industry. However, AI creates truly intelligent services. Travel/Hospitality industries, finance, etc. chatbots are helpful in almost every industry big or small. You just need to know the working and potential benefits.