Fake talk

Have you ever used the chat function while shopping online?

You may be surprised to know that some companies are now using fake chat assistants to talk to you online.

A small startup company called UpSellit recently developed a virtual chat assistant with enough artificial intelligence to hold an unscripted conversation. Online consumers wouldn't have a clue they're talking to a machine.

The tool is meant to solve the problem of customers abandoning their online shopping carts when they run into trouble or have questions that can't be answered online. The virtual salesperson intervenes to close the deal by providing help or giving discount incentives.

UpSellit has closed 500,000 sales valued at about $38 million with 100 customers in the past year.

Click here to see an example of a conversation with a virtual chat assistant.

Other companies have also adopted similar innovations.

Continental Airlines detects when its customers are "stuck" in the process of booking flights. A message pops up on the customer's screen asking if he/she would like a call centre agent to reach them at home. If the customer clicks "yes", they receive a call from a live agent within 30 seconds. The customer's name, booking information and itinerary is already loaded on the agent's computer screen so they can pick up from where the customer got stuck.

The airline says it closes 35% of "stuck" customer's sales.

It's interesting to see how some companies have adopted creative solutions to make the most out of their call centre human resources... even going as far as creating virtual employees in the sales process where real humans cannot intervene.