Pub. 11 2021 Issue 3

13 PUB. 11 2021 ISSUE 3 B A N K E R S ’ B A N K • O F T H E W E S T • WHERE COMMUNITY BANKS BANK PATTY PINSON ppinson@bbwest.com PAUL HARRISON pharrison@bbwest.com WE CHAMPION COMMUNITY BANKING. 800-872-4733 | bbwest.com CORRESPONDENT SOLUTIONS • Loan participations and bank stock loans • ATM/debit & merchant processing programs • Operations services and settlement • Cash management and online portal • Safekeeping human conversation – text messaging and self-service portals, just to name a few.” Chatbots can learn and evolve, as well. IBM’s Watson, for instance, “uses machine learning algorithms and asks follow-up questions to better understand customers and pass them off to a human agent when needed.” Pretty clever, isn’t it? According to an Aug. 13, 2021, article by tech consulting firm CapTech, “back in 2019, 40% of consumers in the U.S. were using chatbots to shop with retailers. In addition, 77% of customers said chatbots will transform their expectations of companies over a five-year span.” The article goes on to say that “aside from meeting consumers’ needs … there are other advantages to chatbots … Businesses spend over $1.3 trillion per year to address customer requests, and chatbots could help reduce that cost by 30%. In fact, virtual customer assistants help organizations reduce call, chat, and email inquiries by 70%, while 90% of businesses report recording large improvements in the speed of complaint resolution.” In closing, a chatbot might seem like a small contribution to your ability to service customers, but there are certainly big benefits to be realized for the banks that use them. Just be careful if it starts asking for a salary increase and better benefits. w Chatbots can learn and evolve, as well. IBM’s Watson, for instance, “uses machine learning algorithms and asks follow-up questions to better understand customers and pass them off to a human agent when needed.” Pretty clever, isn’t it? About Bank Marketing Center Here at BankMarketingCenter.com, our goal is to help you with vital, topical, and compelling communication with customers and messaging to help you build trust, relationships, and revenue. Visit bankmarketingcenter.com , or by phone at 678-528-6688, or email nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com.