Conversational bots allow you to approach lead generation in a whole new way. Dynamically interact with all your potential leads by harnessing the conversational skills of your best sales rep.
At this moment in time, more than any other, we are understanding just how much we require a connection with another human being. You might wonder then, why should automated sales bots be the solution you turn to when seeking to engage with your potential customers?
The truth is, without them you’re effectively ignoring all the customers walking in and browsing your website, without even offering them a ‘how ya doin’?’
If you think about the role of a sales professional, so much of the initial conversations revolve around asking the lead about their specific needs and situation. Often, the prospect doesn’t even know themselves until these questions are asked. Well designed bots can easily fulfil this role. It’s especially important for companies in a complex industry or with a website offering a diverse product portfolio.
Conversations in marketing are really important to nurturing and building a connection with your potential leads and customers. To open this up, let’s have a look at the benefits of bots through a psychological lens, through the concept of Conversational Intelligence.
Before we go on, if you’re new to bots and don’t know yet what they can do, have a read of this article.
1.Relieve the stress of visitor navigation
Pioneered by the executive and organisational anthropologist Judith E. Glaser, the first pillar of conversational intelligence is biochemical. Specifically, this concerns how the stress hormone cortisol clouds our judgment with negative thinking. Imagine a customer arrives at your site looking to solve a problem. If that problem is causing them stress, even 30 seconds trying to find a relevant answer is going to be irritating.
Offering customers relevant answers not only makes them feel like you understand their needs, but it also allows them to ‘power-down’ cognitively, letting you do the thinking for them. So, hack your client’s biochemistry and get those happy hormones firing!
2.Build relationships early by knowing who’s really there
We all know relationships are important in the sales process. Of course, the truth is we just can’t afford all the customer service people and sales staff we’d need to build those relationships – not even close! This is where technology comes in. We can get things started by collecting specific data on clients through a variety of bots. This kicks off the relational stage – the second element of conversational intelligence – and forms a basic foundation with your lead through engagement and good questions. Boom! You’re already on your way to building more trust and respect with the lead.
And the benefits don’t end there. A bot conversation turns vague assumptions about visitors into customer-specific, qualified information. When the bots hand over to your sales rep, the rep will feel more confident, improving their motivation and attitude toward the lead. The data they have at hand the moment they pick up the phone means they hit the ground running.
3.Leverage the benefits of co-creation
The fact is, there’s so many common customer questions that can be turned into bot conversations. But even for those that seem unique or unknown, bots let you test and prove your marketing ideas. Ultimately, to convert more leads, you need your sales reps skipping quickly past the basic stuff and into the more creative stage. What is meant by this is testing out new questions to help more prospects with their specific needs.
Glazer referred to this stage as co-creation. Basically, it’s when you begin to know your customer’s needs so deeply, the interactions start breeding new ideas and even the adaptation of your portfolio. Bots will evolve as fast as you do. Automating conversations and interactions allow your people to spend more time in the creativity zone. This means focusing in evermore detail on creating value for every customer and lead.
