Handle customer enquiries with AI
Answer common questions around the clock without lifting a finger.
Most customer enquiries ask the same questions. What are your prices? Are you available on this date? Do you cover my area? How long does it take? What do I need to prepare?
Right now, every one of those questions either goes unanswered until business hours, or lands in your inbox and takes up your time. An AI chatbot changes that. It answers the common questions instantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without you being there.
What an AI chatbot can handle
A well-set-up chatbot can handle:
- Common questions about your services and pricing
- Availability enquiries
- Location and coverage questions
- How the process works
- What customers need to do before a job starts
- Collecting contact details for you to follow up
- Directing people to book an appointment or call
It cannot handle complex negotiations, unusual situations, or anything that requires actual human judgment. But for the routine questions that make up the majority of customer contact, it works very well.
The tool: Tidio
Tidio (tidio.com) is the simplest way to add an AI chatbot to your website. It has a solid free tier, takes about an hour to set up, and does not require any coding knowledge.
It adds a chat widget to your website. When a customer clicks it and types a question, Tidio's AI tries to answer from the information you have provided.
How to set it up
Step 1: Sign up and install the widget
Go to tidio.com, create a free account, and follow the instructions to add the chat widget to your website. If your site is on Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress, Tidio has one-click integrations. For a custom site, you paste in a small piece of code.
Step 2: Train it on your business
This is the important part. Go to the Tidio dashboard and add your business information. This is what the AI will draw on when it answers questions.
Include:
- A description of your business and what you do
- Your services in detail
- Your pricing (or a note explaining how to get a quote)
- Your service area
- Your opening hours
- How customers can contact you or book
- Your most frequently asked questions, with answers
The more you put in here, the better the chatbot performs.
Step 3: Set up handover
When a question goes beyond what the chatbot can handle, you want it to hand over smoothly. Set up a message like: "That is a great question. Let me get one of the team to give you a proper answer. Can I take your name and email address?"
This way, you never lose an enquiry. The chatbot captures it and you follow up when you are ready.
Step 4: Test it yourself
Before going live, test the chatbot yourself. Ask it the questions your customers ask most often. See where it does well and where it falls short. Go back and add more information to fill the gaps.
What to expect
After setup, you will start seeing the chatbot handle simple enquiries automatically. Customers who would have sent an email and waited until the next morning will get an immediate answer and a better experience.
You will also get fewer of the basic questions in your inbox, because they are being answered before they reach you.
The businesses that benefit most are those where potential customers compare several options quickly. A fast, helpful response at 10pm often wins the job over a slow response the next morning.
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