{"id":1220,"date":"2018-03-21T13:13:25","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T19:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ometrics.com\/blog\/?p=1220"},"modified":"2022-07-13T09:51:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T15:51:48","slug":"complete-guide-chatbots-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ometrics.com\/blog\/complete-guide-chatbots-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Practices for Chatbots (Chapter 7)"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

The 2022 Complete Guide to Chatbots<\/h1>\n

Chapter 7<\/h1>\n
\n

<<Previous<\/a> \u00a0| Table of Contents<\/a> | Download the Chatbot Guide<\/a> | Next<\/a> >><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Best use practices for chatbots<\/h2>\n

Think like a user <\/strong>\u2013 When you start your project, step back and think like a user coming to your site or calling to ask questions. Get everyone involved from the receptionist, sales, marketing, engineering, support etc. It is important that you answer as many questions up front before you start developing the bot. This will save time with future changes, and it makes a good first impression of the bot to users.<\/p>\n

Testing<\/strong> \u2013 Test the bot internally and then test it with trusted customers before launching. This is the best way to capture all the variations in a conversation and the nuances of a product or service, as well as customer support.<\/p>\n

Human in the loop<\/strong> \u2013 Monitoring and improving the intelligence of the bot is extremely important, especially when you launch it.<\/p>\n

Start small then build<\/strong> \u2013 Humans are complex, and mimicking a human is complex too. Start with the basic and most common support issues and lead \/ sales questions, and then build over time.<\/p>\n

Guard rails<\/strong> \u2013 When a user asks a question that stumps the chatbot or is beyond the scope of the chatbot, make sure the chatbot can elegantly transition the conversation to a live chat, form, or phone call. The user experience is paramount. Don\u2019t put the user in a loop of \u201cI don\u2019t understand your question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secrecy<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t hide the fact that it is a bot not a human. Studies show some users open up more to bots than to humans.<\/p>\n

Use humor<\/strong> \u2013 When things start going sideways, people are less likely to get upset if the bot does not have an ego and uses humor to diffuse an issue, misunderstanding or mistake.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><Previous<\/a> \u00a0| Table of Contents<\/a> | Download the Chatbot Guide<\/a> | Next<\/a> >><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2022 Complete Guide to Chatbots Chapter 7 <<Previous \u00a0| Table of Contents | Download the Chatbot Guide | Next >> Best use practices for chatbots Think like a user \u2013 When you start your project, step back and think like a user coming to your site or calling to ask questions. Get everyone involved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

The 2019 Complete Guide to Chatbots<\/h1>\r\n

Chapter 7<\/h1>\r\n\r\n
\r\n

<<Previous<\/a> \u00a0| Table of Contents<\/a> | Download the Chatbot Guide<\/a> | Next<\/a> >><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\n

Best use practices for chatbots<\/h2>\r\nThink like a user <\/strong>\u2013 When you start your project, step back and think like a user coming to your site or calling to ask questions. Get everyone involved from the receptionist, sales, marketing, engineering, support etc. It is important that you answer as many questions up front before you start developing the bot. This will save time with future changes, and it makes a good first impression of the bot to users.\r\n\r\nTesting<\/strong> \u2013 Test the bot internally and then test it with trusted customers before launching. This is the best way to capture all the variations in a conversation and the nuances of a product or service, as well as customer support.\r\n\r\nHuman in the loop<\/strong> \u2013 Monitoring and improving the intelligence of the bot is extremely important, especially when you launch it.\r\n\r\nStart small then build<\/strong> \u2013 Humans are complex, and mimicking a human is complex too. Start with the basic and most common support issues and lead \/ sales questions, and then build over time.\r\n\r\nGuard rails<\/strong> \u2013 When a user asks a question that stumps the chatbot or is beyond the scope of the chatbot, make sure the chatbot can elegantly transition the conversation to a live chat, form, or phone call. The user experience is paramount. Don\u2019t put the user in a loop of \u201cI don\u2019t understand your question.\u201d\r\n\r\nSecrecy<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t hide the fact that it is a bot not a human. Studies show some users open up more to bots than to humans.\r\n\r\nUse humor<\/strong> \u2013 When things start going sideways, people are less likely to get upset if the bot does not have an ego and uses humor to diffuse an issue, misunderstanding or mistake.\r\n\r\n
\r\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><Previous<\/a> \u00a0| Table of Contents<\/a> | Download the Chatbot Guide<\/a> | Next<\/a> >><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[371510,244837],"tags":[682423],"class_list":["post-1220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chatbot-guide","category-chatbots","tag-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nBest Practices for Chatbots (Chapter 7)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Best use practices for chatbots, how to think like a user, what is a human in the loop, and how to build chatbot guard rails.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ometrics.com\/blog\/complete-guide-chatbots-best-practices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best Practices for Chatbots (Chapter 7)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Best use practices for chatbots, how to think like a user, 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