By Dr. Kartikeya Bolar
We have all been caught in a blind street of dialogue with an awkward chatbot–vending machine, rather than assistant. That communication can be impersonal and brief. But what if they are moulding the way people feel about your company–in silence, in aggregate, daily? The new data provided by the users of real-life chatbots in the workplace indicate that they are not only tools. They have now become the first line of public relations: creating impressions of the nature of your company, establishing (or destroying) relationships, and creating an identity of your brand at scale.
1) Your chatbot has been turned into the face of your business.
When a person talks to your bot they feel you. It is due to the instinctive personification of organizations by its audiences. The chatbot, being the most common point of contact, turns into the voice and the face of the organization. Studies of chatbot social conversation (i.e. natural, warm, human-like dialogue) have indicated a direct impact on attitudes toward the overall character of a company.The ability to produce a well-designed conversation with chatbots consolidates three desirable Corporate Character traits:
Agreeableness: The business appears to be honest, open, caring, helpful and socially responsible.
Enterprise: The business is contemporary, daring, and imaginative.
Competence: The firm seems to be dependable, competent, secure, industrious and credible.
There is one caveat, however, one of the dark characteristics was also looked at in the studies, that is, ruthlessness (self-serving, domineering, proud). Although social conversation has a positive effect on positive character perceptions, it is not a consistent or predictable way of reducing ruthlessness perceptions alone. Translation: a genial bot cannot completely supersede previous impressions of tough and edgy conduct (e.g. controversial pricing, secretive policies). Conversation design is a solution, though not panacea to reputational baggage.
Summary: The robot is not an individual–but he/she speaks on behalf of the company. Use it as a brand ambassador, as opposed to a simple FAQ engine.
2) The way your bot talks can be more important than what it is aware of.
Yes, accuracy is at the center. but in the systems of competency manner sometimes distinguishes results. Chatbot social conversation has two ingredients that are particularly powerful:
Social Presence: The perceived warmth, humanness, and connection–people feel that they are speaking to a conscious being, not posing questions to a computer.
Human Voice of conversation. Simple, polite, responsive expression, which is natural, not bureaucratic–good tone, short sympathy, proper humility, and in suitable cases a good taste.
In a text-only situation, these cues are used to replace eye contact, body language and voice tone. They make utility a relationship. A respectful and responsive session is one that is easier to remember, is more forgiving of minor hiccups and more apt to create a positive brand residue.
Lesson: Never go after flashy hotdogs without learning the ropes first. Make clarity, relevancy, responsivity, and simple politeness indicators (Thanks for clarifying, I understand this is urgent) the priority to support presence and voice.
3) Great bots do not merely talk, but they also listen- and make the organization feel to be listening.
PR has constantly preached bilateral communication. As a matter of fact, a lot of companies continue to air. Chatbots can reverse that scenario, as they can indicate organizational listening, not just by collecting inputs, but by displaying to the user that they are listened to and heard. There seems to be a strong chain reaction:
Social Conversation – Organizational Attribution – Perceived Listening.
Whenever the bot responds with respectful dialogues, users will assume that the organization hears them. The image goes upwards: Since this is the way the bot treats me, this must be the way that the company treats people.
The basis of trust is an ability to feel heard. Even simple showings of understanding, even short-lived ones (I understand why that is frustrating, here is what I can do now…. ), can turn frustration into collaboration. Listening cues make it less defensive, open up to better information on the part of the user, and open the door to problem solving.
Design for listening:
Reflect and summarize: To clarify, you want to know about the waivers on the late fees last month on the invoice–is it like that?
Give ways, not walls: introduce choices, follow-ups, and upgrading in a dignified manner.
Seal the loop: ensure step completed, what comes next and when the user will receive a response.
4) A social, listening robot increases transparency and relationship quality.
There is transparency and long-term Organization-Public Relationships (OPRs) developed with trusted brands. Chatbots that are socially competent aid on both fronts:
Informational Transparency: The users feel the organization supplies them with pertinent, easy-to-understand, and recent information. The bot leads and does not fence, elucidates and does not obstruct.
Participatory Transparency: Users feel that their feedback is valued–that the organization is open to it, appreciates it, and alters the policies or following actions based on this information.
These impressions are sources of OPR quality- trust, satisfaction, commitment and control mutuality (a sense of fair influence and voice). When individuals listen to you, they will stay and refer their friends to you and work jointly to resolve issues. The chatbot makes it a scalable system of delivering these experiences.
Guardrails: Make it clear that it is a bot. State limitations, and escalation. When you over-promise (I can do anything!), then transparency is ruined; when you can frame in honest capability, then transparency is established.
What this means for leaders
Talk like brand strategy. The tone of your bot, when it appears, and it taking a turn are tactical levers–not cosmetic ones. Clarity, responsiveness, and respect signal audit flows.
Contrive micro-cues. Minor issues (advisor words, latency treatment, providing options) bring about huge perception changes.
And use charm not to mend policy. Even a beautiful voice is not able to counteract bad habits. Make conversation design consistent with substantive fairness and user-centric policies.
Test the correlation, not resolution. Measured perceived listening, transparency, trust, satisfaction, and commitment and first-contact resolution and CSAT.
Escalate with grace. The bot is supposed to transition flawlessly to human operators where necessary and what they have recorded so that they do not repeat themselves.
The author is Associate Professor, Information Systems and Analytics, T A Pai Management Institute , Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Views are personal.
