The Bot-efits: Top 3 Reasons Your Company Needs Email and Chatbots

Well, it’s official! BrainSell is officially a partner with both Drift and Conversica. The future of bots is upon us, which begs the question: why do we need email and chatbots, and what benefits come with implementing them into your business?

We live in a digital world. Something that has only become increasingly apparent during COVID-19, as most businesses shifted to online work and communication to adhere to the “new normal.” With this new approach to doing business comes changes, and organizations of all sizes and industries are adopting bots to reduce operational costs, optimize processes, and drive top-line growth across the customer lifecycle. Think of them as Intelligent Virtual Assistants, or IVAs (if you’re pronouncing it as Wall-E does, you’re not alone!), and their purpose is to guide your prospective clients down the funnel until they meet with a real human being.

So, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what these email and chatbots are and what they can offer your company.

Email Bots

Conversica is an automated marketing tool that can respond quickly to incoming email leads. By using Artificial Intelligence and contextual analysis, it can deliver customized SMS and email responses, allowing you to respond with the right message and engage potential leads automatically.

Another way to think of it is like a conversational AI assistant that can be pre-programmed with specific “playbooks” and responses to answer questions, follow-up, qualify, or nurture leads.

For example, let’s say someone reaches out because they wanted to know the pricing of a specific product. Conversica could send them back a comparison guide, general rate sheet, or try and set them up on the phone with an account executive to answer their questions. With its artificial intelligence, it can figure out what the lead needs, and respond quickly and effectively to continue to nurture them down the sales funnel until they make a purchase. This AI assistant ultimately will save you time, and money as AI can work faster than a human and can automate a fair amount of the average SDR’s workload, thus saving money on human capital.

Conversica also boasts 30% more leads converted into opportunities, as well as 100% follow up with your leads, 100% of the time.

Chat Bots

Drift is a worldwide leader in conversational marketing. With their chatbots, they can simulate real-time conversations with a human counterpart. But how does it work?

Let’s say a potential customer comes to your site. Your Drift chatbot acts as a secretary or administrative assistant, of sorts, and will greet them. This is the beginning of a scripted conversation or playbook. The bot will ask questions and display buttons with several answer options they can choose. Once a lead selects an answer, the bot responds with an appropriate pre-programmed response. Using NLP (Natural Language Processing), they can handle basic inquiries or refer more complex queries to sales teams by setting meetings with real humans.

The ‘Bot-efits’ of Email and Chatbots

1) They Save Time

Email and chatbots are faster than humans. That’s just fact. They have one job, and they do it well. AI is so much faster; whether you’re looking to provide answers in a chat, email, social media, or more, if a bot like Drift or Conversica can automate it, you will save time and close deals that much faster.

This is especially important in the beginning sales stage. When you’re trying to guide leads down the sales funnel and to a member of your sales team, prompt responsiveness is vital. Leads want to feel important, and if you can have your bot email them back within a matter of minutes, it will make a more lasting impression. The same thing goes with chatbots. If someone is ready to ask a question, their interest is piqued, and they want to know right now. Having playbooks prepared to answer any questions they may have will add reliability and credibility to your site. It can provide customers a more seamless experience and cut down the wait time.

2) They Save Money

It’s crazy to think bots could take over aspects of a BDR or SDR’s workload, but they do. No more monitoring a live chat or getting sidetracked by phone calls. By integrating Conversica into your SDR’s life, a majority of their email workload is transferred to the email bot, and (s)he can focus on actually calling the leads and continuing to nurture them down the funnel to set a meeting with an AE. With a lighter workload, you won’t need as many SDRs to generate the same results. You will ultimately save money in addition to making their lives so much easier.

(If you’re nervous about eliminating jobs, don’t be. According to Gartner, AI will create 2.3 million jobs in 2020, while eliminating 1.8 million, still an upward trajectory!)

3) They Don’t Give Up

If you’re in sales, you know that follow-up is key to pursuing leads. Yet, sales reps regularly miss opportunities because they are too busy or stop after a few attempts. Eighty percent of sales require at least five follow-ups to close, but 92% of reps give up after just four attempts.

Bots can handle the follow-up for you. They create consistency and keep your company at the top of mind as you nurture leads. Chatbots and email bots provide an immediacy with human-like interactions that can drive leads through the sales funnel more quickly. Here’s just a quick look at what exactly they will persistently do:

• Follow-up on abandoned chats;
• Nurture leads through 1:1 conversational emails;
• Remind prospects of upcoming meetings; and
• Follow up with the no-shows to reschedule.

Conclusion

So what’s the verdict? If you’re looking to save time, money and take on a more persistent or aggressive outbound strategy, bots are the way to go, and Conversica and Drift are the best in the business, and BrainSell is here to help you get them up and running. If you’re convinced and ready to take the next steps, contact us and take the first steps toward the future of sales and technology.