Kim Littlefield, co-owner of Complete Septic Services with her husband John in Isle La Motte, Vermont, prides herself on answering the company phone in person 24/7. That’s why it was a little unnerving when she handed over the responsibility for answering customer queries on the company website to a customized chatbot.
“At first I wasn’t wild about the idea because I've always been the one to answer the phone,” she says. “I don’t even have an answering service. You’re going to get me from my bedside or if I’m on vacation. I sometimes even bring the phone to the bathroom — that’s how bad it can get.”
The chatbot lives on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen on the company website. It bears the image of the Littlefields’ daughter-in-law, Shea Littlefield, who works for the company as an executive administrative assistant. While some chatbots cheat by simply asking the customer to supply an email address, this one actually answers most simple customer queries before asking for contact information.
Complete Septic worked with a website designer to determine the top questions most frequently asked by customers. Examples include: “How often do I need to have my septic tank pumped?” and “Do you offer sewer installations?”
“The artificial intelligence was trained to answer questions in natural language,” Littlefield says. “I’ve watched it a few times, and the chatbot is literally talking as if it’s me and it answers very accurately. I’ve even had relatives who know me tell me that they were just speaking to me when they were actually interacting with the bot.”
Littlefield says that younger customers seem the most comfortable with speaking with a chatbot, even when they know that there’s nobody there. However, even older customers rarely hit the “stop” button to end the chat when they realize they’re speaking with a robot.
A seasoned multitasker, Littlefield will sometimes hijack the chatbot’s conversation when she’s speaking with another customer on the phone. “I might pop in to answer a particular question,” she says. “Or I might ask the customer to leave a phone number so I can call them back in a few minutes.”
Operating the service costs a few dollars each month, but Littlefield says it’s well worth it. “It’s like having an extra employee who doesn’t require us to pay worker’s compensation premiums or take lunch breaks.”
