Every business owner dreams of skyrocketing sales without doubling their workload. You want your sales process to be a well-oiled machine: potential customers pour in, conversions increase, and your team is free to focus on qualified leads.

But that’s not always the case. Too many brands struggle with sales automation for various reasons. In fact, only one in four companies has automated at least one sales process.

The good news is, for these struggling companies, there’s an easy way to improve sales automation. Enter chatbots.

These programs that ensure human-like conversations are effective, too. Businesses adopting automation in their sales processes witness significant growth, with reports showing an astonishing 67% increase in sales attributed directly to chatbot technology.

That said, here are five ways to improve sales automation with chatbots and exceed your sales goals.

1. Use Them for Lead Generation

Lead generation is the first step in building a robust sales pipeline. However, any seasoned salesperson will tell you that not every lead is a “good” or “quality” lead. Sifting through the masses to find those ready to engage or make a purchase is often a time-consuming and frustrating task.

That’s where chatbots come in: they enhance customer engagement by interacting with visitors the moment they land on your site.

Unlike traditional forms that passively wait for a visitor’s attention, chatbots like the one above actively initiate conversations, and encourage visitors to share information like contact details. Once this data is collected, you can use outreach tools to verify emails and maintain effective customer communication.

Chatbots are also equipped to qualify leads on the spot. Through a series of predefined questions, custom chatbots can assess a visitor’s needs, preferences, and readiness to buy.

2. Leverage Them for FAQs

Remember the last time you had a question about a product’s advanced features before you decided to buy? Did you enjoy digging through an endless FAQ page with common questions, or did you wish for a simpler, more direct way to find answers with a faster response time?

Faster assistance doesn’t necessarily mean putting in more human resources; AI-powered chatbots are a more cost-effective way to provide immediate and accurate responses, without the risk of human errors or the need for repetitive tasks.

When customers land on your website and type their questions into a chat window, they receive instant responses tailored to their needs. This personalized experience helps build credibility and trust in your service.

Chatbots also offer valuable insights, like what customers are asking about. This feedback will help you refine your FAQs and even product offerings, to suit your customers’ preferences and needs.

3. Automate Sales Funnel Navigation with Them

One of the trickiest parts of any sales process is sparking interest and actually crossing the finish line—closing a sale. Push too hard, and you risk scaring a lead away. If you’re too passive, you might lose them to your competitors.

So, why not seize the opportunity to improve sales automation with chatbots? You can automate your sales funnel navigation in a way that feels both personal and timely.

For instance, when a visitor looks at a specific product page, a chatbot can immediately jump in and offer relevant recommendations, comparisons, or even product demos and customer testimonials. Or they can offer better options that fit the potential customer’s criteria better. All this is meant to move them closer to a purchase.

This is exactly what Sephora’s Virtual Artist chatbot does.The powerful tool helps potential customers find a Sephora lipstick that matches the color they’re looking for. All potential customers need to do is upload a picture that contains their preferred color:

Remember, though, that the effectiveness of your sales funnel isn’t solely reliant on chatbot interaction. The tools and platforms you use to build and manage these funnels are equally important. For instance, tools like Leadpages and other Leadpages alternatives can help you create high-converting landing pages and capture leads effectively. You also need customer relationship management tools like HubSpot to track interactions, personalize customer journeys, and ensure timely follow-ups.

All these combined will help ensure a boost in sales conversion rates, enhanced customer satisfaction, and improved retention rates.

4. Get Customer Feedback with Chatbots

Did you know that 95% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase? It’s an integral part of the buying process. You need to collect feedback on your products and showcase it on your marketing channels to get people to buy. You also need to get feedback on your customer experience. Companies that provide good customer experiences boost their sales at a rate that’s 4 to 8 percent higher than the average.

But traditional methods of gathering customer feedback—like sending out surveys via email or making direct calls—are not very efficient. This is where you can seize the opportunity to revolutionize feedback collection using AI.

With chatbots, customers don’t need to fill out lengthy forms or wait on the phone. They can share their thoughts and experiences directly through the chat interface, making the entire process feel seamless and unobtrusive.

The above is an example of a chatbot collecting customer experience feedback on HostPapa

Moreover, these smart tools can sift through responses in real time, categorizing feedback into actionable insights. This means you can quickly spot trends, identify areas for improvement, and even catch minor problems before they turn into complex issues.

5. Use Them for Sales Performance Monitoring

Gone are the days when sales performance analysis was a monthly ordeal of spreadsheets and guesswork. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, monitoring sales performance has taken a quantum leap forward.

Chatbots track interactions, conversions, and customer engagement in real time, offering data that can be used to gauge sales performance.

But they don’t stop at data collection and analysis. AI chatbots can help scale your business by alerting sales teams to areas requiring immediate attention.

For example, if a particular product is seeing higher-than-usual abandonment rates at the checkout stage, the chatbot can flag this issue in real time. This will allow the team to investigate and address any underlying issues promptly.

Moreover, chatbots can personalize performance feedback for individual sales reps. This data encourages sales representatives to set personal goals, experiment with new sales tactics, and continuously refine their approach based on real-time feedback.

Conclusion

There’s no denying that businesses can significantly improve sales automation with chatbots; the question has been “How?’’. While chatbots cannot take charge of the entire sales process, they help streamline the sales funnel navigation from the time a lead enters the funnel to the point of closing.

Chatbot solutions have also been instrumental in offering excellent customer service. They initiate proactive communication, can schedule appointments, respond to customer inquiries promptly, and offer personalized product recommendations, all leading to improved conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

Let’s not forget the invaluable data chatbot platforms can provide. The information helps identify common issues, and pinpoint areas for improvement. It also plays a crucial role in helping businesses refine their sales strategy to better meet customer preferences and needs.

What are you waiting for? Invest in AI-enabled chatbots and your sales team will reap the wide range of benefits they provide.