Should a small business use a chatbot on its website?
Only if it helps visitors get in touch faster than your form and phone already do. A chatbot can answer simple questions and take details out of hours, but a bad one gets in the way, gives wrong answers in your name, and loses leads. For many small businesses, a short form and a fast human reply are often enough.
When it can help
- You get many repeat questions with short, fixed answers.
- Many visitors arrive out of hours and need to leave their details.
- Someone checks what it says and follows up on every conversation.
When it gets in the way
- It covers the page or the button on a phone.
- It answers questions it should not, such as prices, availability or advice, and gets them wrong.
- Conversations are not passed to a person or recorded with the other leads.
- It pretends to be a person.
Before you add one
- Decide what it may answer and what it must hand to a person.
- Say clearly that it is automated, and how conversations are stored.
- Make sure every conversation that is an inquiry lands in the same place as your other leads, with its source.
- Read a sample of its conversations every week for the first month.
Related answers
- What should a contact form ask?
- What is a lead system, and does a small business need one?
- How fast should a business reply to a new lead?
Websites, upgraded or built
Most businesses do not need a new website. They need the one they have to load fast, say clearly what they do and ask the visitor to take one step.