Deflection as the Objective–Chatbot-based Contact Page for a Leading Biopharma Company

When launching their new pharmaceutical product in 2021, our customer, a leading German biopharma company, expected to be flooded with questions from a wide range of target groups—from laypersons to the press and medical professionals. However, up until then, only a phone hotline and a contact form were available for queries. The aim was therefore to help the contact center by deflecting frequent and repetitive questions and to give the human agents more time to deal with complex, specific concerns.

In a workshop, we elaborated what was most important to our customer and the users of its product, and from there defined these strategic steps:

• The number of requests to the service center was to be minimized
• The promise of high quality service was to be kept
• The customer dialog was to be maintained at eye level
• The brand and its values were to be reflected in the user experience

The company’s requirements were high. Inquiries from users were to be answered as fast as possible, while the brand with its appreciative, approachable service mentality was always to be recognizable. The solution was an ecosystem of conversational user interfaces (CUI), which we integrated as a full-page chatbot on the contact page and as a widget on the topic-related subpages.

Each subpage already had its own context: Accordingly, we were able to direct users to the appropriate content and answers there. Out of this, we developed a multimodal ecosystem that allows different ways of entering into dialog depending on the page, including via WhatsApp as an external channel for maximum closeness to the customer.

On the contact page, however, the range of possible inquiries is filtered via a “gateway” in which users specify who they are—for example, someone with or without expertise—and what matters to them before the actual dialog with the chatbot starts. This way, they quickly get to the topics most relevant to them, all of which are provided in multiple languages.

From the beginning there were plans and intention to scale as needed. After starting with German and English localizations for the broad user segment, we expanded the languages supported for all content to a total of 12 languages, including French, Romanian, Kurdish and Arabic.

Additionally, new channels and touchpoints became relevant for event-related context and to cover the general public. As such we also made the chatbot accessible via WhatsApp.

For the CUI, we also transferred the client’s values and brand attributes into dialogic principles in such a way that the individual personality of the chatbot—despite any modifications that may be required for the channel—consistently fits the brand.

In addition to the tone of voice, we therefore also defined UX principles that additionally support the main tool, speech, with consistent user guidance.
With these guidelines, the company’s internal editorial team can implement necessary content changes in line with the brand at any time.

Soon after implementing the chatbot, it proved to be the right choice for this multi-layered, extensive project. The service center only had to step in for 22% of inquiries, most of which were very specific or technical. Since then, some 30,000 conversations have been recorded via the chatbot every month.

But it’s not just the numbers that speak for themselves: with the chatbot ecosystem, we have enabled dialog at eye level, creating a personal and, above all, positive user experience. Such a distinctive brand experience makes the company approachable and reduces the emotional barrier to contact.

Thanks to the chatbot, our client was not only able to achieve its business goals, but also to further develop their brand. A double win and a good example of why chatbots are becoming more and more popular.

Strategy

Tone of Voice

Chatbot Personality

UX/UI Design

Conversation Design

Cognigy.AI Development

Frontend Development

Content Management

WhatsApp Integration

CRM Integration