With the advancing development of chatbots and the breakthrough advances in natural language processing, chatbots have long since gone beyond simply answering simple service requests automatically.

However, it is not easy to develop a successful chatbot or voicebot that meets the increasing demands of users and offers real added value to the company.

Often some aspects are not considered from the beginning, which lead to problems during therealization of the chat or voicebot project and become real challenges after Go Live at the latest.

What are the benefits of the Chatbot Canvas?

Our Chatbot Canvas is designed to help you design a sound chatbot concept that will allow you to...

  • fulfill the wishes and needs of your target group.
  • Relieve the burden on your employees.
  • Measure the success of your virtual assistants and thus the ROI for your company.
  • enable the successful, long-term operation of your virtual assistant.
  • Strengthen your brand and image.

You can download our chatbot canvas here:

Download

What is covered in this blog post?

This blog post will use a fictional use case to elaborate on each area of the Canvas, showing you how to use it.

We have chosen a supermarket chain as an example. The company informs its customers about the weekly special offers with a printed brochure that is displayed in the stores and sent to private households by mail. However, this cannot be sent out nationwide. The company therefore wants to use another communication channel to inform more customers about the special offers.

Part 1: Definition of the problem and the use case

Part 2: Communication and marketing of the chatbot

Part 3: The technical requirements of the chatbot project

Part 4: Stakeholders and costs in the chatbot project

Have you downloaded the Canvas? Pen and a cup of coffee at the ready? Then let's get started:

Part 1: Narrowing down the problem and the use case

The first part of the canvas defines the added value of the chatbot.

How do I narrow down my problem and my goal?

For this purpose, the problem at hand has to be narrowed down and it has to be investigated how and where the chatbot can address the problem.

  • At what point does my target group not get what they want or need?
  • What prevents this need from being fulfilled?
  • Where do my employees not reach their goals in an easy way?
  • What do they lack to achieve these goals?
  • Where can a chat or voice bot help to solve the problem?

 

Example

How exactly is the use case structured and what functions or capabilities are there?

At this point, the exact scope of the functions and capabilities of the bot is defined.

  • How exactly does the chat- or voicebot solve the problem?
  • What does he do? What can't he do?
  • Once the user has had his/her need met, is there another need that the chatbot can fulfill?

 

Example

What is the added value of my chatbot?

The introduction of a chatbot or voicebot is associated with costs. Therefore, the added value that the project can and should offer should be precisely defined at the beginning. This will allow you to accurately measure the success of your chatbot later and calculate the ROI.

What are the benefits for users?

  • Is he or she saving time? Can questions now be answered 24/7?
  • Is it easier to get relevant information?
  • Can processes be made more user:friendly?

What are the benefits for the company?

    • Are costs saved?
    • Is employee productivity increased by automating routine requests?
    • Can more products be sold?

How do I measure the success of my chatbot?

In order to measure the success of a chatbot, suitable KPI's must be selected. Among others, the following KPIs are suitable for this purpose:

  • Number of users per month
  • Number of inquiries about available articles in stores
  • Number of satisfied users
  • Time saving of the employees and the related saving of the labor costs

Example

Part 2: Communication and marketing of the chatbot

Now we will clarify how the chatbot can be adapted to the target group and be marketed.

Who is my target group?

A thorough analysis of the target group is elementary for the success of your chatbot. Personas are usually used for this purpose. To facilitate this step, we have developed a Persona Canvas specifically for chatbots that you can download here:

Know your target audience with the BOTfriends Persona Canvas

You can download the Persona Canvas here.

Download

Example:

What personality should my chatbot have?

When users interact with your chatbot, they will perceive it as a part of your brand. Therefore, it's important to choose a personality and tonality that fits your business and your target audience. Tonality is about the choice of words and the way your chatbot expresses itself:

  • Does he/she address the user as Du or Sie?
  • What does the way of customer:internal communication or internal communication currently look like?
  • What are the guidelines for the external presentation of the company? Which values, convictions and ethics of the company should be communicated?
  • Should emojis be used? Should the chatbot be able to react humorously to the users?

The personality of a chatbot includes features such as

  • Name
  • Gender and age
  • Education
  • likes and dislikes
  • Relationship status
  • Appearance

Example

How do I market my chatbot?

Of course, the best chatbot is useless if no one knows it exists. Whether and how a chatbot needs to be marketed specifically or not depends on various factors. If a company already offers a chat with customer support on its website and the chatbot is an addition to this offer, then it does not need to be advertised separately. However, if it is a completely new offering or uses a new communication channel, then it is advisable to market it.

Example

What do I have to consider when it comes to data protection?

Depending on the purpose of the chatbot, personal data may be collected. The user must be made aware of this. It is advisable to discuss the current requirements and legal provisions with the company's data protection officer and to make these available to customers directly via the chat upon request.

Example

You've done it. You have already created the first half of your chatbot concept. Congratulations! Give yourself a break.

In the second part, we discuss the technical details, set up your Conversational AI team, and talk about the cost structure.

to part 2