Select Page

Chatbots for Sales

Support along the sales cycle

Global eCommerce revenues are predicted to rise from the current 2.84 to 4.88 trillion US dollars in 2021. Indeed, that’s incredible! It is almost double the amount!

But are your sales processes ready for that?

We are going to tell you why chatbots are the tool you need to master and to take advantage of this immense growth.

Chatbot is one of this year’s main buzzwords, and not without reason. Through constant improvements in AI and machine learning, bots get more intelligent. The once structured question-and-answer game has transformed into a dynamic process with personalized experiences.

This means that new opportunities open up for businesses along the value chain. Many companies are already utilizing bots for customer service. Today, however, we are focusing on the Sales element of the chain.

Let’s take a closer look!

Job dissatisfaction in Sales teams

According to this survey, most employees in sales have no passion for their job. Hence, it is not surprising that 47% of sales force workers say that their job is just good. This is by far no ideal precondition for a successful sales team.

There might be different motives leading in their combination to this dissatisfaction among salespeople. These reasons can be personal or individual as well as in regard to work processes.

Nevertheless, there are several strings your business can pull in order to improve your sales force’s workflow and in turn increase its job satisfaction.

A great way to do it is through automating some of your processes by implementing a chatbot or, better, a salesbot.

Bots can function as an online sales assistant. Leveraged in a good way, they can lead consumers through the sales funnel: from educating to offering a suitable product until sale closing. In addition to that, bots can take over time-consuming tasks.

Salespeople spend on average only 34% of their time in actual sales activities.

Bots increase sales force efficiency

Did you know that salespeople in the US, Ireland and the UK spend on average only 34% of their time in actual sales activities? That is a shocking number considering that this is not nearly half of the time spent in creating a turnover.

The other 66% is taken up by other activities such as: writing emails (21%), entering data into the CRM (17%), prospecting (17%) and other non-revenue-generating activities. 

Besides, according to a Hubspot survey, the biggest struggle faced by the sales force is the task of prospecting. 43% admit that this is the most challenging part. So why not give your sales reps bot support in order to let them do what they are good at: Selling! The task of generating a contact list is left to the chatbot

Also, the data entries into the CRM can be carried out by the bot, as it is collecting data from the initial contact with the prospect.

Furthermore, the bot can schedule appointments and calls with the right salesperson within the team. Through evaluating the needs of the lead, it can match the responsible employee also from other departments like HR or customer service.

Chatbot can sell

However, bots can not only support the sales force with the first steps in the sales process. Instead, they can act as a salesperson. You might think that you’ll rarely find anyone who wants to buy from a bot. Sorry to tell you, but you’re wrong here.

Already 37% of consumers would purchase a product directly from a chatbot with an average price from around $55.

Let’s continue with some more facts: Almost 1.8 billion consumers are digital buyers. Moreover, 88% of online shoppers – according to the Ecommerce Foundation – conduct product research before purchasing a product online. However, the online shopping cart abandonment rate is at about 75,6%. That high number literally calls for online sales force as online experiences are lacking professional advice. But that doesn’t mean that we are speaking about real-life assistants, but salesbots.

The North Face tried to close this gap to provide a great omnichannel experience, by introducing a shopping assistant software with the aid of IBM Watson relying on AI. Online customers go through a kind of funnel by replying to questions. Consequently, it narrows the path to get a group of suitable products presented in the end.

Other companies, like Pizza Hut or Tacobell, use bots for their sales automation by letting people already order via Facebook messenger chatbot and Slackbot.

In 2016 Facebook opened its Messenger for the integration of chatbots. So basically every business on the Social Media platform can deploy its own bot. The significant advantage here is that 1.3 billion people on this planet monthly use the Facebook Messenger app. That provides a low entry barrier for companies since no additional apps have to be downloaded and the interface is well-known.

A salesbot can handle multiple sales at one time, which is perfect especially for intense shopping periods, such as Black Friday.

Bots pave the way to a successful sale

Information sharing and gathering

If your business wants to follow a hybrid solution, a bot can do preparations or rater pre-work for the actual sales rather.

Firstly, it can feed the prospect with all the required detailed information, but also ask relevant questions to collect first data. So, 35% of consumers are open to receiving detailed answers or explanations from chatbots. The gathering of information ensures that the sales team has insights on the lead and thus knows what to sell and can make a customized offer on such base. Also, the customer already has information about the company and services and won’t run into surprises.

Qualify sales leads

Secondly, the bot can qualify sales leads. With the help of a questioning process, the quality of the prospect will be identified. This allows forwarding only promising prospects to the sales force. Consequently, the number of cold calls can be reduced and the number of potential sales successes increases.

Only 43% of consumers prefer to speak with a real human.

Salesbot benefits to your company

1. Sales and efficiency increase
A chatbot can prevent prospects from leaving the website early or an abandoned shopping cart behind. By placing chatbots on the right pages on your website, needed sales advice or last moment discount is only one click away. 

The smoother the way to the checkout is, the better is the customer experience and the higher the will to spend money. Furthermore, bots help to increase efficiency among the sales force whilst also leading to higher sales.

2. Tailor-made Offers
Customer data collection and lead’s needs evaluation enable the salesbot as well as the human sales force to make individualized offers. 

3. 24/7 availability
Another advantage is that chatbots are available at any time, which means that your sales never sleep!

4. Additional Marketing Touchpoint
From the marketing point of view, a chatbot is an opportunity to create an additional marketing touchpoint in the customer journey.

Do you want to get deeper insights about chatbots? Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Salesbots are a powerful tool

Chatbots are a great way to enhance your sales. They are working alongside the sales force; they do not entirely replace them. Bots will be a non-physical team member supporting the sales cycle: They can take different roles in the sales process. From prospecting, gathering information and evaluation, to making a custom offer to closing the deal and follow-ups, bots can perform several tasks.