White Paper on how BOTs can assist in the Car Rentals Industry
Background of BOTs
BOT is not an acronym and are the last 3 characters from the word Robot. Like what a Robot does of replace humans in certain tasks or doing part of manual tasks. Similarly, BOTs do the same in the technology world.
BOTs are three types
- Pro BOT
Pro BOTs have use cases where no human intervention are required in the entire process. Typical use case could be in the area
Example of Use Cases
Reconciliations
Eg Reconciliation of Bank Statement with inflows and outflows , GST Reconciliation
- Chat BOT
The most well know usage of BOTs. These types of BOTs can be configured in messengers tools such as Facebook Messenger , Google Hangout , Whatsapp or any proprietary messenger.
Chat BOTs can be classified into two types
- Unattended
In this kind of use case of BOTs , the user is able to communicate with BOTs to get knowledge , order product or services , schedule product or services , communicate with the business without any requirement of a human resource.
Example of Use Cases
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) of business
- Place order for groceries
- Schedule appointment for Salons/Doctor
- Schedule meeting rooms
- Order for rental cars
- Installation of software
And many more
- Attended
In this kind of use case of BOTs , the user is able to communicate partly with BOT and Human Resource if the user does not get satisfactory responses or the BOT is not able to understand what the user wishes to communicate
Example of Use Cases
The same use cases of unattended chat BOTs
- Know BOT
In this type of BOT , the use case is typically to gather knowledge without any human intervention
Example of Use Cases
Eg Say you want to keep a tab on competitor business , the BOT can scan through the internet based on the keywords the user wishes to search and the timeline of each search can get the data required by the user and send the data to the user email etc
Use Case for Car Rental Business
There could many use cases for Car Rental Business
This BOT can be configured on the website of the business as a proprietary messenger or Facebook Messenger , Google Hangout , Whatsapp
If the website is mobile optimised then the proprietary messenger can work on the mobile of the users. The biggest advantage is that business does not have to spend on building apps and do not have to do any change management as the user is used to some of the messenger apps in which the solution can be configured
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The user can ask any kind of questions and the BOT can answer the question/s. If the BOT is not able to answer, it can be redirected to a human resource
- Ordering of the Car
The user can schedule any kind of cars based on the users requirements , the BOT can follow the exact process the user is following by calling the human resource . This solution can connect to the CRM/ERP of the business and any other integrations such as SMS , Email , Messenger, Payment Gateway , Line Tracking etc. If the business has a Yield or Revenue Management solution the BOT can integrate with that solution so the business can reduce car that are not booked
- Monitor Competitor Business
Here the BOT can track the website of competitor to give information to the user for example what kind cars are available, pricing etc
- MIS
The BOT can be used to collate data across multiple sources and based on the queries asked by the user the BOT can respond.
Eg What was the sales for the day? Which partner did the maximum miles ? Which partner did the maximum sales?
Vinayak Pai is the author of this article. In professional circles, he is known as VP and has over 24 years of experience in the areas of CRM , Direct Marketing , Loyalty Programs , BOTs & ERP. He has implemented some of the best in class of CRM programs for Crossroads , India first mall , ICICI Prudential Life Insurance , Raymond , Taj Hotels , UTI Mutual Funds , The Bay Club , Deltin Royale Casino , Welspun
Well articulated article!!!