The optimisation of chatbots is a continuous process that allows your bot to get smarter over time. Once the chatbot project is initially completed, it’s time to put it to work and start analysing the customer interactions so it can adapt and grow.
As your business develops, the bot should mirror these developments. There are several steps you can implement to help optimise your chatbot and guarantee a smooth and seamless project from start to finish.
Fits the Brief
Confirm that your bot fits the expected use case. Ask a bunch of questions. Is the dialogue engaging, does it flow smoothly, does the tone fit? Are you helping the customer journey, or blocking it? These are a few of the questions you should be asked to keep the conversation flowing naturally?
Testing
Like anything we produce, it’s going to need to be extensively tested before going live to ensure it’s behaving as it should. Chatbots will never get everything right the first time around. It’s bound to make a few mistakes, but it’s how you deal with those mistakes that matter. Chatbots are continuously learning - just like humans, they need patience and lots of input. Several deep-dive testing sessions before going live will help to smooth out any potential errors and make sure the tone sounds right and the flow is smooth. Here at Ako, we bring your bot into a live testing and improvement cycle.
We work closely with our clients to release iterative improvements. Your bot will keep getting smarter, and more suited to the role you need to be filled. This continues even after go-live. Your bot will never stop improving.
Goals or KPIs
Your client will have a reason why this chatbot needs to be built. What is that purpose? You must ensure initial success criteria are being set out with KPIs prior and then making sure these are all being met by certain milestones. Do your customers need to download a specific piece of content, or be directed to a webpage to close the loop?
By creating goals to meet from the beginning, you’ll be able to measure the success of your work.
Persona
Does the chatbot have a name and personality that fits the brand/purpose? A chatbot should be an extension of the brand so it needs to look, sound and feel like a digital employee. Little things that matter, like programming your chatbot to mention customer names and remember previous conversations all help towards making a better customer experience.
Placement
Where is the best place for this chatbot? After talking with your client you’ll quickly determine whether this bot belongs in an app, as a website extension or in Facebook messenger. There are so many places it could sit to help reach the goals, and getting the placement correct is all part of the process of smashing those KPIs.
Training
Ongoing NLP (natural language processing) is most important. Carefully look through the information being discussed and work out where changes and updates could be made to help improve the flow of the conversation. A general scan through the bot’s conversations once or twice a week will help with this.
By revisiting the questions coming through in customer conversations - you’ll gather insights and update areas where improvements can be made.
Additional Content
No business stays still, so why would a chatbot? For those who design and implement chatbots the job never truly stops. As your clients business and audience grow so should the bot.
This will ensure it’s always doing the best job it was meant to do, helping customers with efficient, tailored service and allowing human staff the time to complete other tasks.