Recently, the use of artificial intelligence has given rise to chatbots. To enhance customer experience and retention, chatbots are the go-to tool for any enterprise. One such chatbot experience that has enabled customers to understand the dynamics of communications is Shirley from Singapore’s Singtel company. We reviewed Shirley Chatbot and realized some smart features that can increase client engagements.
Who is Shirley?
Shirley, like Alexa and Siri, is an artificial intelligent chatbot. Shirley represents Singtel, Asia’s prominent communications group. This 140-year-old organization provides services including broadband, mobile and mobile data, Infocomms Technology, and other digital solutions.
The aim for building Shirley was the aim of creating new benchmarks while engaging with customers and providing an enhanced experience.
Easy navigation
When we started our conversation and asked for information on investor relations, Shirley immediately guided us with the link to investor relations. We tried similar such words that are across the website. Each time, the navigation through the website became simpler. Shirley reduced our time by giving us a prompt answer and saving us from browsing the entire website to go to a particular page. If any customer visits the website for the first time, talking to Shirley is a good idea as there is a surety of not getting lost.
Problem-solving
Since chatbots are replacing customer service, it is necessary to have an effective communication process for resolving issues. Singtel’s entire communication verticals have been embedded in Shirley’s problem-solving program. From the simple solutions to understanding complex problems with broadband or billing-related queries, Shirley either knows it all or takes help from her back-end friends.
What stands out is Shirley’s way of communication, which is formal yet friendly. Answering simple yes or no questions can get you through the right team to solve your issues related to a connection. Shirley negates the need for a customer service call. You do not need to call and choose the number which will take you to the respective department. Having to wait more than 15 minutes before the telecaller picks up to answer your query is out because of Shirley. A customer does not have to play any guessing games by choosing different options to talk to the right department. Shirley takes you through the right department by typing a few words.
Product knowledge
The best aspect of linguistic-based chatbots like Shirley is her ability to comprehend queries and share the relevant data. When asked about a particular product, Shirley provides the necessary and complete information. For a prospective customer or an existing client, the decision-making process becomes very quick. Shirley’s information allows you to decide whether the plan meets your needs. If not, Shirley provides about the other plans in the same product for you to make an informed decision. Interestingly, if there are technical doubts that require personal assistance, then Shirley connects you with the customer service colleague. Shirley becomes the first point of contact and screens the queries before initiating a human interaction.
Complaints
An irked customer reaching out to file a complaint against any product or service will put any person on the defense. A reason that customers get upset is the lack of immediate and effective response to their long-pending queries or issues. However, we noticed that Shirley did not escalate the issue and directed the conversation to customer care. This move is smart as many companies make the mistake of programming chatbots to solve complaints. It backfires – you lose a customer and get a bad review.
Overall experience
Shirley is the front-line customer service experience. As a chatbot for Singtel, the chatbot does the job of improving customer service very efficiently. Shirley does not overdo sharing of information, which has the potential of confusing a client. The chatbot works alongside the customer to provide information, solve queries and ease the process of business with the client. Since it stores the information history with the client, all one needs to do is refer to the earlier conversation of recurring requests.
As a link between the company and the client, Shirley does a commendable job of balancing all types of customers for Singtel. Given its adaptability to predict customer behavior by artificial intelligence process, Singtel’s aim of reaching out to their customers is working effectively via Shirley. The chatbot also guides the clients towards downloading the ‘My Singtel’ app so that clients can immediately view their bills and plans.
As a scope of improvement, if there are too many queries, then the chatbot directs it to the customer service colleague. While it is not a bad idea, Shirley can give answers that do not require customer support.
Singtel’s Shirley receives a score of 9.5 out of 10. This score confirms that Shirley is the easiest chatbot for client servicing for the company.
Brought to you by SingaporeChatbots.sg. Want to build a chatbot? Drop us a note!