Top 7 Reasons Why Chatbots Will Replace Your Contact Forms

More and more tech-savvy customers are avoiding the hassle of contact forms, opting instead for a quicker, more accurate option—chatbots. Whether they are being used for contact, feedback or survey forms, chatbots are an efficient alternative to the web format, not to mention a powerful force for increasing conversion rates.

So, how do they do it?

1. Chatbots are proactive in engaging customers

The ability to take pre-emptive action is one of the most useful chatbot capabilities. Visitors arrive at websites searching for products or services, much as someone arrives at a store.

Unless businesses proactively look to provide self-servicing options, visitors feel deprived, with no-one to receive them or acknowledge their presence. Chatbots initiate conversations with visitors as they arrive, engaging with them through relevant form fields.

This means no more waiting around for visitors to navigate their way through websites and locate forms themselves.

Chatbots are not just taking over contact forms, but reforming the customer service strategy as a whole. Find out more about it in this whitepaper.

2. Chatbots mitigate bounce rates through conversational powers

Web forms are based on age-old paper forms. Visitors find them annoying to complete, and they can be a real test of patience. As a result, most users quit before finishing. It’s clear to everyone that the forms are inefficient.

Chatbots create interest and minimize bounce rates using the power of conversation. They blend user input fields with relevant questions based on intelligent, natural conversations. Users no longer need to deal with text boxes and scroll-down menus. Instead, they are guided through the process. In the CNN example below, they are provided with options to choose from - top stories, stories for you, and Ask CNN.

Check out this whitepaper explaining how American Express, amongst others, revolutionized their customer experience by adopting chatbots.

3. Chatbots increase the length of conversations to gather more information

People often avoid completing contact forms because they are excessively long. While it’s understandable that companies want to obtain as much information as they can to deliver better solutions and support, long forms are actually causing businesses to lose customers.

Sometimes certain details are necessary; chatbots can tackle these situations by initiating engaging conversations.

Chatbot interactions can result in up to 23 conversations per session. During longer chats, they are able to obtain all the required information in a congenial fashion.

4. Chatbots enhance the customer experience with answer buttons

Users may want to skip certain form fields if they consider them too private or see them as irrelevant, yet they usually don’t have the option to do so. As a result, they are repeatedly sent notifications advising them to “Please fill in all the required fields”, leaving them stranded in the middle of an incomplete form. When chatbots are powering the process, users can type in any issues they have as they are asked for those details. This way, they avoid getting stuck in limbo.

Chatbots also provide predefined alternatives in the form of buttons. Buttons help to drastically simplify the conversation and ensure the right answers are obtained.

5. Cross-channel capabilities get things done

Contact forms are usually located on a specific page. Using traditional methods, businesses need to drive users to that particular location. In the process, they lose a considerable number of users.

Chatbots allow businesses to go wherever the customers are to acquire the necessary information. With cross-channel capabilities, chatbots can move between different kinds of platforms and devices.

Chatbots can also be seamlessly integrated with social networking sites, messenger apps, emails, and mobile messages. Businesses no longer need to deal with the problem of driving users to their website to complete forms.

6. Chatbots allow businesses to set goals to nurture the best leads

Each form is designed for a specific reason, which may be anything from subscribing to a business blog to following social networks. But with respect to measurability, it can be both difficult and time-consuming to determine a form’s success in achieving its purpose.

Efficient chatbot-makers, like Acquire, create chatbots with the ability to set goals. They can then analyze whether conversations have achieved these goals or not.

Chatbots can also be used to determine the most promising leads for your business. As a result, businesses achieve more conversions, and can focus on nurturing relevant leads, rather than wasting time.

7. Chatbots obtain feedback

"Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there." - Bo Jackson

Getting feedback is the ultimate goal for any business. Only through clear and concise feedback will businesses obtain the information needed to make important operational changes. Unfortunately, customers feel hesitant about leaving long write-ups in feedback forms.

As a result, businesses may only obtain a fraction of the information they want. The same doesn’t apply to chatbots; where customers have the experience of being listened to, they are more prepared to enter into extensive explanations. Moreover, chatbots reply with questions, channeling visitors towards more detailed feedback. Replacing forms with chatbots enables businesses to obtain in-depth feedback.

As more and more site visitors turn away from web form filling, it’s obvious something needs to take their place, the most well-positioned tool to do this are chatbots, which, so far, are proving more than up to the job.

Laduram Vishnoi

CEO, Acquire.io

Laduram Vishnoi is Acquire’s President & Co-founder. He enjoys building companies and scaling product teams. He’s passionate about AI, machine learning, neuroscience, and meditation.