Anyone who is in business knows that lead generation is necessary if you want to grow your customer base. It’s also one of the areas that businesses struggle with the most, particularly early on. What if you could use artificial intelligence to help you find and qualify leads? But wait, do chatbots really work for lead generation?
How Chatbot Lead Generation Works
Essentially, a lead generation chatbot talks to the customer to help get them interested in your product or service. The chatbot is conversational, but collects information that can be used to provide a better experience for the user. People are able to rapidly get answers to their questions and learn more about your business, even if you’re not available.
The Pros and Cons of Chatbot Lead Generation
Some people are still wary of AI, but the fact is, it’s here to stay. So, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of using a chatbot for your lead generation.
The Pros of Lead Generation with a Chatbot
First, let’s look at the good things that come with a chatbot.
Boost Engagement: Your website visitors will not just passively go through your site, they will interact with a chatbot, which can make them feel more welcome and also improve their engagement throughout the site.
Never Sleeps: A chatbot isn’t like a human and it will never fall asleep on the job or need a rest. It’s simply there to keep going and constantly answer the questions that come in.
Reduced Staff: Whether you already hire people or are considering it, a chatbot for lead generation can drastically reduce the need to add more people to the team. This saves on costs and the many issues that come with hiring humans.
Data Collection: As the chatbot converses with a client, it will collect information. This can help you tailor your products and services to their needs. For example, if you run a content business and the chatbot discovers that 80% of your potential leads are looking for a package that takes care of content and email marketing, then you can create the package they want to buy.
Personalized Lead Nurturing: Did you know that 44% of sales reps get so busy that they don’t follow up on leads? That’s a lot of missing money, but a chatbot can help you recapture some of it. After all, a bot will not forget to ask questions or follow up.
The Cons of Lead Generation with a Chatbot
With all those benefits of using a chatbot, are there any downsides? Well, of course, there are, as with anything.
Angry Customers: If you have someone who is coming back with a complaint, a chatbot may not be able to successfully pacify them. In fact, a frustrated customer will become further frustrated when they realize they’re not talking to a human.
Training: Your chatbot needs to be trained or programmed to respond correctly. This takes time and energy, but it is usually still less work than a brand-new employee.
Misunderstandings: Your chatbot will be working off a directory of information that you provide. If there is something asked that the chatbot has no reference for, it can become confused. This is frustrating to the client, as well, and could result in the loss of a lead.
Overall, the downsides are minimal and greatly overwhelmed by the pros. If you are interested in building up a strong business with great lead nurturing, it’s a good idea to consider a chatbot.
How Does a Chatbot Work Step by Step?
An AI chatbot chats with the customer, using natural language, so it sounds like a real person. However, behind the scenes, the chatbot has a database of pre-programmed scripts to use. It also includes AI, so it can work with the scripts and adapt to the customer’s requests. However, the chatbot only knows what information you provide it with, so it will use that data to respond to people.
Here is a quick video that explains how a chatbot works.
You’ll have two options with your chatbot for setting up the question-and-answer system. You can either manually train it and provide a list of the most common questions, along with the proper answers. Alternatively, you can set up automated training, which means you just send it the relevant documents on your products and the AI will train itself.
Natural language processing or NLP is how the bot analyzes the query from the customer and then peruses the database for information. It can then put the information out in natural language, as well.
How Does Lead Generation Work?
Most people don’t immediately see a product and purchase it, particularly if it’s a big ticket item. Instead, they think about it, maybe do some research, and then purchase. However, the vast majority of people notice something and then promptly forget about it as they are lured away by bigger and brighter things.
Lead generation helps encourage people to think about the product or service for a little longer. It also collects information so you can continue to put the product in front of them. Experts recommend 7 contacts with the product within an 18-month period to make a sale. That may seem long, but you can help speed the process up with a chatbot doing lead generation.
With lead generation, you are able to continue to reach out to the person. As long as you have some way to contact them, they’re not lost even if they click away from your site.
Real-Life Examples of Successful Chatbot Lead Generation
Are you curious about how chatbot lead generation is actually being used? Go to any large tech company and you’ll likely be greeted by a chatbot. However, I’ve found some more specific examples of how chatbots are being used to generate more leads.
Hello Fresh
This popular food prep service uses its chatbot, Freddy, to give users special offers when they complete a survey or quiz on the site or social media. It can also suggest recipes to encourage people to try new ideas. Thanks to this bot, Hello Fresh’s response time improved by 76% and it increased incoming messages by 47%.
Slush
This events company for entrepreneurs needed to provide instant responses due to the nature of their work. Adding a chatbot to the mix ensured they improved their customer service drastically. In fact, their chatbot now manages 68% of all the incoming customer support requests.
Sephora
Sephora is a popular store for makeup and the company uses a chatbot on both Kik and Facebook to help customers find the products they want. Not only does it offer chat services to provide advice and tips, it also suggests products and sends makeup tutorials to interested parties. With a quick quiz, it learns what it needs from a client and can provide more tailored responses, which improves sales.
Domino’s
If you want a pizza, you’ll find that Domino’s has made it incredibly simple to order one through Facebook Messenger. Their chatbot lets customers order no matter where they are, as long as there is a Domino’s location nearby. The bot is helpful if people want to personalize their order or if they need extra toppings. It can also upsell products to encourage people to order more.
These are just a few of the companies that use AI on their website to give a better customer experience and improve lead generation. There are plenty more out there, but why not try it for yourself?
Should You Add a Chatbot to Your Site?
Now that you’ve seen the benefits, the real question is whether you should implement a chatbot for your site. There is really no downside to testing one out. The world is changing and that means the businesses that adapt and adjust to the new rules will be the ones that grow fastest. If you want to compete in a business world where AI is king, you’ll need to implement a chatbot.
There are dozens of premade ones already out there, so you just need to provide them with the necessary information. Once the bot has what you need it to do and has access to the database of knowledge, it can run with very little, if any interference. You take over only when someone really needs to speak to a human.
With new AI technology improving all the time, it’s just a good idea to install a chatbot in your business. It can continue to do lead generation, even while you’re sound asleep, all without paying another employee.