The Utility Industry’s New Power Tool: How AI Chatbots Make A Difference
The Utility Industry’s new power tool; AI Chatbots are truly making a difference in the sector by constantly evolving and so are the customer demands.
Today, it’s not enough to simply offer electricity for utility companies, they must also focus on cost reduction, energy conversation, sustainability and more.
As a utility company owner, you might think it’s impossible, but AI Chatbots have made it possible.
Did you know that over 60% of internet users prefer digital channels like chatbots for service-related communication? This technology is revolutionising customer interactions and operations in the utility sector.
If you’re still unaware of how AI Agents can transform this industry, read this article. Here we will explore how this transforming technology can make a huge difference in this sector. Plus, we will highlight some of the top benefits and use cases of utility chatbots.
Let’s get started.
AI Chatbots in the Utility Industry – Overview
Utility suppliers provide essential services like water, electricity, and gas. These are essential to modern life and serve practically every household.
From billing-related inquiries to setting up services and providing seamless assistance, utility suppliers’ responsibility is huge.
However their responsibilities extend beyond this, as customers now demand personalised services along with instant responses on various topics such as services, upgrades and prepaid bills.
That’s why to fulfill this demand, many utility companies are investing in AI chatbots like SmatBot. They use artificial intelligence and natural language processing to simulate human conversation. These bots can offer prompt and uninterrupted support to customers and automate regular tasks. Moreover, they can also improve the overall user experience. Further, you can leverage this powerful tool for operation tasks and data collection.
In short, you can better meet your customers’ expectations and deliver the exceptional support they want.
Top Benefits of AI Chatbots in The Utility Industry
By incorporating AI chatbots, you can skyrocket your utility business. Let us explore the top perks of using these chatbots:
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- Reduced cost:-
According to statistics, automating customer service with AI chatbots can reduce operational costs by at least 30%. These bots can help you reduce call centre staffing costs.
Furthermore, AI chatbots can handle most customer interactions without human support and improve your company’s ability to offer support.
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- Transform customer service dynamics:-
AI Chatbots can revolutionise customer service by handling up to 80% of routine queries without human intervention, transforming how we handle customer inquiries.
They cut the customer call volume, allowing them to focus more on complex issues. This boosts their job satisfaction and improves the quality of services.
As we already mentioned, people now expect quick responses and near-instant availability. So if companies are unable to address customer concerns promptly, it might increase customer frustration. AI Chatbots like SmatBot help meet this expectation by providing 24/7 customer support.
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- Proactive approach:-
With conversational AI, customer service doesn’t have to stay alert all the time. A proactive AI Agent can handle common to complex questions like account problems, login issues or website help. In addition, utility companies can use these AI Agents to boost sales, cross-sell, upsell and grow customer relationships.
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- Minimize redundancy:-
Utility companies get a lot of queries, especially when there are outages. AI Chatbots can automatically solve many of these problems without needing a human agent to help. It reduces redundancy across all your communication channels.
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- Catalyze business growth:-
You might be surprised to learn about the invaluable impact AI chatbots have on customers and sales.
An Oracle survey revealed an 80% increase in sales post-chatbot implementation. It highlights the potential of chatbots to serve and sell.
This opens a new avenue for revenue generation, where these bots serve not just as customer service tools but as active contributors to business growth.
Top Use Cases of Utility Chatbots that are Making a Difference
AI Chatbots can definitely make a significant difference in the utility industry with their versatile use cases. Take a glance at the top use cases of these bots:
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- Account Access:-
Customers need quick and easy access to their accounts but this often requires significant time and effort from human agents.
In addition customers also expect a personalised experience. However, meeting these demands with human agents alone can be costly and time-consuming.
By implementing AI chatbots, businesses can provide instant account access, allowing customers to check details such as upcoming payments, total consumption and more.
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- Automated customer service:-
As discussed earlier, utility businesses often receive a high volume of calls, leading to a longer waiting time and frustration. In addition, customer service can be ruined due to inaccurate meter readings.
But not anymore as AI chatbots can instantly solve these problems by providing utility businesses with an efficient and accessible customer service channel with the ability to handle a large number of customer queries. Customers can also get accurate and relevant insights that can reduce errors in meter readings.
Apart from that, these bots can handle inquiries related to account management, power outage and more even during non-business hours.
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- Power outage alert and support:-
AI Chatbots have enabled utility companies to communicate with customers effectively about the service outage and restoration through automated channels.
These bots can effectively access real time data on these outages and restoration efforts and then send this information to customers. Similarly, customers can communicate directly with these bots regarding new service issues or potential emergencies like a gas leak.
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- Paying bills and reviewing invoices:-
AI Chatbot also allows logged-in users to review invoices in their profiles. They also provide customers with the facility to return invoices via chat if they find any error in it.
Many utility companies are already leveraging AI chatbots that offer quick payment solutions for bill payments through messaging platforms.
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- Resolving complaints:-
There is no doubt that utility companies often receive common complaints, such as service outages. AI Chatbots are well-trained to handle such common complaints appropriately.
As a utility provider, you can enjoy the added benefit of valuable record-keeping and timeline tracking for these complaints. It will also help you ensure regulatory requirements are supported.
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- Appointment scheduling:-
AI Chatbots also effectively schedule service calls or maintenance appointments accurately when required.
By integrating with appointment systems, AI chatbots allow customers to request appointments with technicians automatically.
Furthermore, these bots can inform your customers about an estimated arrival time and collect feedback after the appointment is completed.
It can execute all these tasks without any human involvement.
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- Saving and safety advisory:-
AI Chatbots can also introduce new promotions or discount coupons while interacting with your customers. They can also advise your customers on how to effectively save household costs. For example, they can advise your customers to install smart home energy-saving devices.
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- Feedback collection:-
As discussed earlier, AI chatbots can effectively gather feedback after a technician’s visit.
After collecting feedback, these bots carefully analyze the responses to provide utility businesses with valuable insights to improve their services and customer satisfaction.
Last Words
Imagine a whole new world where customers can easily schedule appointments, report outages, make payments and gain real-time usage insights all at their fingertips. All this can be achieved with the use of an ideal chatbot solution such as SmatBot.
Moreover, AI chatbots are not just the new powerful tool for utility companies, but also are useful for different other industries, you can check out our different AI Chatbot templates, which provides the opportunity to streamline everything from customer care to the marketing campaigns of enhanced energy efficiency.
So are you looking to improve customer experience for your utility company through the right AI chatbot platform? If so, try SmatBot today.
With a user-friendly interface and powerful AI capabilities, SmatBot takes your website or your app engagement to the next level and helps you achieve your business goals.
