Chatbot surveys are powered by Artificial Intelligence to collect customer feedback for market research. Chatbots offer a conversational tone that encourages people to engage with a human-like survey bot. This is the biggest benefit of a survey chatbot over a traditional survey method. Traditional surveys are reliant on old school methods of collecting feedback. In this new age of digital upgrade, CX professionals need something better. What could be more exciting than a smart AI-powered chatbot?
In this blog, we will define a chatbot survey, benefits and best practices of using a chatbot survey. We will tell you why traditional survey methods are a hit and a miss.
What is a Chatbot Survey?
Chatbot surveys are AI-powered tools that collect feedback in a conversational style. Using a bot persona makes the survey feel more personalized and offers greater survey engagement. The main benefit of chatbot surveys is gathering user feedback at key moments: post-purchase, customer support interactions, or during in-app activities, to improve customer experience.
How is a survey chatbot different from traditional surveys?
Industries of e-commerce, FMCG, automotive industries, BFSI and D2C constantly need to collect customer data. In a digital world, a traditional survey cannot do justice in relation to what an AI-powered chatbot can do. You can now use a versatile AI-powered survey chatbot and collect customer feedback. Here are the major differences between the two:
Traditional Surveys | Chatbot Surveys |
Relies on paper based questionnaires , phone calls (CATI method of surveys) and browser based surveys. | Focuses on digital methods and interactive mediums that are highly accessible for people on a daily basis. |
Data stored can be lost due to negligence. People can also get frustrated as there is a batch-processing of information. | Chatbots store data across platforms and offer real time information to CX professionals. All data stored is real time and relevant. |
Browser based traditional surveys take users through multiple channels before answering a questionnaire. | AI Chatbots remove cognitive fatigue by offering one or two clicks to answer surveys. |
This method of customer feedback can be challenging for certain segments of people who are not tech savvy. | A survey chatbot can take a few minutes to complete and is highly engaging for every respondent. |
Usually a solo channel approach. | Always focuses on a multichannel or omnichannel approach. |
Limited scope for qualitative responses due to its rigid format. | Maximum scope for various formats of open ended responses: text, audio, video or photographs. |
5 Benefits Of Chatbot Surveys
Here are some of the most useful new age benefits that CX professionals can get out of chatbot surveys for customer feedback.
1. Capture customer experiences across journeys
A well-trained AI chatbot survey can capture customer data and interactions seamlessly. This will ease the complex workflow across departments. Certain industries have a lengthy customer journey: automobile, banking and finance and certain FMCG goods. Chatbot surveys can capture customer experiences at various important touchpoints (after certain interactions and transactions).
For example, after car wash, the dealers can automate a survey chatbot to gather your experience with the brand and its service. This bot survey can be deployed in-moment without context delay.
2. Automate a chatbot survey at critical touchpoints
You can automate chatbot surveys at certain transactions and interactive touchpoints. For example, after an activity from browsing to the purchase, websites can trigger a chatbot with a CSAT survey. This will capture in-moment experience of people who have just finished their transaction. CX professionals can automate chatbot surveys and steer clear of manual intervention (which are prone to human based errors).
3. Engaging chatbots get a high survey response rate
The USP of an AI-powered bot survey is its interactive feature and speed. When bots deploy customer satisfaction surveys, it becomes easier for respondents. People can answer surveys on the go. Survey chatbots are also compatible across mobile applications, websites and across devices / desktop. This will bring in real-time customer feedback and faster analysis. Businesses can detect an unhappy customer and immediately attend to close any feedback loop.
4. Survey chatbots can handle complex qualitative responses
A combination of qualitative and quantitative customer feedback is imperative to make data-driven decisions. This includes collecting numeric data and emotional metrics. A survey bot can handle complex information in the form of multimedia: audio, video or photographs (qualitative analysis) along with customer satisfaction metrics (quantitative analysis). Organisations of any scale can handle volumes of customer data without any technical glitch. This is necessary especially when seamless customer experience is the top priority.
5. Survey bots can offer high engagement and personalization
A customer journey can be lengthy yet complex. You can always rely on a chatbot to maintain conversational continuity across platforms. Survey chatbots can take feedback and offer personalized recommendations which is an efficient way to engage with customers.
4 Best Practices When Using Chatbot Surveys
Here are some of the things we can note prior to creating a full-fledged survey chatbot.
1. Keep it simple and relevant
Keep questions simple and relevant. Avoid overwhelming people with too many questions or irrelevant information that may cause survey fatigue. Instead, focus on asking goal-oriented questions that are directly related to their recent interactions with your business. This way, you can ensure that your chatbot surveys bring more accurate feedback from your customers.
2. Provide clear instructions
Provide clear instructions if you want to avoid dwindling attention spans of respondents. They are busy switching context from one transaction to the other. Offer clarity in your questions and get genuine, on-spot feedback when the interaction is fresh in their minds. Use simple language and avoid jargon or technical terms especially with online surveys.
3. Offer survey rewards to increase survey participation
Customers are more likely to participate in surveys if they feel that their time and effort are being rewarded. Incentives could be in the form of discounts, freebies, or other rewards that align with your business goals. However, ensure that the incentives are relevant to the customer and clearly stated prior to the start of the survey. Promptly deliver the promised incentive to maintain customer trust and loyalty.
4. Test and optimize chatbot for surveys
Technical obstacles can create a high survey dropout rate. Prior to launching bot-surveys, test the format thoroughly. Testing can also rule out compatibility issues across devices. Sometimes, the response can also be affected by technical errors. By testing the survey with a small group of respondents,you can identify any issues or challenges customers may encounter while completing the survey. Optimizing can improve user engagement and completion rates.
Where Can I Use a Chatbot Survey?
Chatbots can be deployed across various industries. The robust technical capabilities make it the most preferred form of communication.
1. Ecommerce
Ecommerce chatbots are highly engaging. It can act as a pop-up survey on shopping apps after purchase or a transaction. It can collect post-purchase feedback to assess customer satisfaction. It is highly likely to detect emotional metrics from shopping experiences. Additionally, customer support teams can publish CES surveys via chatbots after resolving customer complaints.
2. Healthcare
Patient data in the healthcare industry is considered confidential. Chatbots can offer privacy when gathering survey responses after medical care and related experiences. AI-powered chatbots can be used to collect patient satisfaction data to improve care quality. Send automated reminders for follow-up appointments and track patient progress.
Use chatbot surveys for quick health assessments or to gather symptom information from patients.
3. Education
Obtain student feedback on courses and instructors/faculties using surveys for chatbots. It is quick, to the point and interactive for students. Gather feedback on the enrollment process to streamline admissions and support services.
4. Travel and hospitality
Use chatbot surveys to collect in-moment guest feedback after their stay or flight to improve services and accommodations. Send personalized bot-based surveys to understand the booking experience and simplify future bookings. Real-time feedback surveys during a guest’s stay can promptly address issues.
5. Banking and financial services
Account holders of banking services enjoy a lifetime of a customer journey with their preferred bank. This is where chatbots can gather insights from new and existing customers to identify any high friction points.Survey new banking customers on their onboarding experience to streamline account setup processes.
6. Telecommunications
Chatbot surveys to assess Customer Effort Score or CES after customer service calls and resolve issues faster. AI-powered survey bots can collect user feedback on their internet or mobile service quality to improve performance.
7. Real estate
The process of investing in real estate can take a considerable amount of time. Bot-based surveys can gather buyer or seller feedback after property transactions to enhance future service quality. Collect responses after property viewings to better match clients with their ideal homes.
8. Automotive
The customer journey in the automobile industry is very long. After car repairs or servicing, publish chatbot campaigns to measure satisfaction with the work. Collect instant survey bot feedback from test drives to improve the sales process and product offerings.
It is also advisable to survey customers after vehicle purchases to capture details of their buying experience.
9. Media and entertainment
Survey chatbot can launch pulse surveys for the viewers to understand content preferences and improve future programming. Get in-the-moment responses on your feedback campaigns to enhance future entertainment experiences.
4 Major Limitations of Traditional Surveys
In a digitally-driven market, traditional surveys cannot do justice to the information that CX professionals actually want to collect. There are more drawbacks than advantages as follows:
Cannot use digitally-compatible survey templates
Digital compatible templates can be used across platforms and devices. Traditional surveys can use pen and paper methods that are not always feasible. Additionally, there is no scope of editing errors. This can be intimidating for people who answer long questionnaires. This can discourage respondents from participating or force them to give a skewed response just to finish the survey. Manipulated data cannot help businesses make clear decisions.
Browser based interface is slow and outdated
Major brands are still using browser or web based customer feedback systems. This directs respondents into an external browser that is not related to the application. This is much slower compared to an AI-powered survey chatbot. An AI chatbot can generate highly responsive and customized surveys in a few clicks. Traditional survey methods do not have this facility.
Minimal accessibility for intended target audience
Traditional surveys (phone surveys or in-mail static surveys) may only be accessible to a certain group of people (people with a landline or customers check their mail frequently.) Even if they are deployed, most people do not access their emails regularly, especially if they are busy professionals. Additionally, feedback forms are lengthy and time consuming to fill. Due to this, you miss out on reaching the intended target audience like the Gen-Z population who mainly use messenger applications for daily use.
Limited scope of seeking candid feedback
Due to the rigid nature of mediums of traditional surveys, there is no scope to bring candid customer feedback. It usually relies on a set of predefined questions and no scope for open ended feedback. Added to this, there is no multimedia support to upload and share media rich feedback in traditional survey bots. Since human experience cannot be black and white, a chatbot survey can close this limitation gap and be a much better alternative from 2024 onward.
FAQ: Survey Chatbot
Q1: Can a survey chatbot do market research?
AI-powered chatbots engage with customers like a human representative. The bot models are trained to keep a conversational tone with customers. The bot persona can survey across e-commerce platforms, in-app platforms, websites of other social media channels. A bot is well-equipped to conduct market research. Due to the real-time conversation with customers, marketers can obtain fresh insights on their dashboard.
Q2: Is the chatbot survey compatible with mobile devices?
Chatbots are compatible across any devices i.e Android and iOS. Merren chatbot surveys can capture feedback across any device and platform.
Q3. What questions can I ask in a chatbot survey?
We recommend keeping questions short and crisp. AI powered bot surveys are conversational. Customer satisfaction metrics like Net Promoter Score NPS, CSAT scale (quick rating scale) and Customer Effort Score CES scale are ideal for pulse surveys.
Q4: Will the chatbot analyze customer data for me?
Merren CX offers an interactive dashboard that can analyze every customer data in real time. Chatbots can collect complex information that can be segregated as per filters on the Merren dashboard. You can view your campaigns based on daily, weekly and monthly basis.
Q5: Can the chatbot maintain customer data privacy?
Chatbot surveys are a secured way to gather vivid customer feedback and data. CX platforms do not share customer information across any platforms. The information is used to assess interactions, need gaps, close customer feedback loop and address complaints.
Conclusion
Chatbot surveys are a potent way to gather customer data. Trends are passing by and businesses need data to create better marketing strategies. Having real-time customer data is a great way to leverage internal customer support strategies and improve omnichannel CX. While analytics is what makes organisations improve on products and services, the AI chatbot can be curated to emulate human conversation. It is highly interactive in nature akin to instant messenger platforms such as WhatsApp messenger surveys and Facebook messenger surveys. Traditional surveys may have certain use but if we want to reach out to customers where they are, chatbot surveys are the answer.
To create your very first survey chatbot, sign up here without any credit card commitments.