You open a website and after two seconds a chat window pops up. “Hi, how can I help you?” You only wanted to check the opening hours. Many visitors close a window like that. Some leave the site straight away.
Even so, a chatbot can deliver a lot. AI chatbots are smarter than they were a few years ago. They understand everyday language, give useful answers and pass on an enquiry. In this article you will read what a good chatbot does, what annoys visitors and how to approach it sensibly.
What an AI chatbot can do today
An old-style chatbot worked with fixed buttons and a decision tree. You chose an option and got a standard answer. As soon as you asked something different, the bot got stuck.
An AI chatbot works differently. It reads the visitor’s question and looks for the answer in the information you give it. Think of your website copy, your frequently asked questions and your way of working. It words the answer itself, in plain sentences.
In practice, a bot like this does three things well:
- Answering questions: about your services, your way of working, delivery times or opening hours.
- Gathering information: for example what someone needs help with, in which region or on what budget.
- Passing on an enquiry: to your inbox, your CRM (the system in which you keep track of customer contacts) or a colleague’s calendar.
That sounds promising. But the technology is not the problem. It comes down to how you set it up.
What works
A good chatbot is like a friendly member of staff at the front desk. It helps quickly, is honest and knows when to bring in a colleague. Those are the traits of a bot that works.
It gives a real answer. A visitor asks how you work, roughly what a project costs or how long something takes. A good bot gives a clear answer. If you do not publish fixed prices, it explains what the price depends on. That is already far more useful than “please get in touch”.
It says honestly what it does not know. AI models have a well-known weakness. They can confidently make up something that is not true. You often see this when a bot gives an answer that appears nowhere on your site. A good bot sticks to your information. If the answer is not in there, it says so and offers an alternative.
It hands over to a person easily. Some questions are too difficult, too personal or too urgent for a bot. In that case a visitor wants to speak to someone. Make that easy. Let the bot give a phone number, book an appointment or forward the conversation to a colleague.
It fits the page. A visitor on a pricing page has different questions from someone on your contact page. A smart bot takes that into account. That way the help feels relevant rather than pushy.
What annoys
Most chatbots that people find irritating make the same mistakes. They are often easy to avoid.
- A pop-up that opens immediately. The visitor has not read anything yet and is already being approached. It feels like a salesperson waiting for you at the door.
- A bot that keeps asking for an email address. Help first, then ask for details. The other way round rarely works.
- Answers that dodge the question. Long, vague sentences with no substance. The visitor notices at once that they are not being helped.
- No way out. If the bot does not understand the question and there is no person nearby, the visitor gives up.
- Pretending the bot is a human. A fake name and a fake photo may seem clever, but visitors quickly feel deceived. Be open about the fact that it is a bot.
The pattern is always the same. The bot puts the website’s goal (winning a lead) ahead of the visitor’s goal (getting an answer). Turn that around. If the visitor is helped first, the lead often follows by itself.
How to get started
You do not have to launch a large project straight away. Start small and learn as you go. These steps will take you a long way.
- Define the goal. Do you want fewer repeat questions by email? More enquiries outside office hours? Choose one and set up the bot around it.
- Gather your own sources. Use your frequently asked questions, service pages, way of working and quotation texts. The better these texts are, the better the bot answers.
- Write ground rules. Set out what the bot may and may not say. For example: no promises about delivery times, no advice outside your field.
- Arrange the handover. Decide when the bot passes a conversation to a person and who picks it up. Make sure someone actually responds.
- Get the timing right. Do not let the bot open immediately. Wait until the visitor has looked around for a while or viewed a second page. Then offer help in a friendly way.
- Think about privacy. Tell visitors they are talking to a bot. Do not ask for sensitive data. Check how the supplier handles data and record it in your privacy statement.
- Test before you go live. Ask the bot the hardest questions you can think of. Have colleagues test it too.
Read back the conversations and adjust
A chatbot is never finished. The value lies in what you learn from it. Every conversation shows what visitors really want to know, in their own words. That is information you would rarely get otherwise.
Suppose you run an installation company and put a chatbot on your site. After a few weeks you read back the conversations. You see that visitors often ask which region you cover and how quickly you can get there. That is not clearly stated anywhere on your site. You also see that on a few occasions the bot could not answer a question about subsidies and politely referred the visitor on. You update your website, add a short page about your service area and extend the bot with an answer about subsidies. As a result the bot answers better and your site becomes clearer for everyone, including people who never chat.
When reviewing, pay attention to a few points:
- Which questions come up most often?
- Where does the bot give a weak or wrong answer?
- At what point do people drop off?
- How many conversations lead to an enquiry or appointment?
Also connect the bot to your analytics. That way you can see whether chat conversations lead to enquiries and which pages help. Without measurement, you do not know whether the bot pays off or is simply nice to have.
Frequently asked questions
Is a chatbot suitable for a small business?
Yes, especially if you often get the same questions or miss enquiries outside office hours. Start with a simple setup and a limited number of topics. You do not need to let the bot do everything.
Can an AI chatbot give wrong answers?
It can, especially if the bot is given too much freedom. You reduce that risk by letting it use only your own information. Also instruct it to refer visitors on when it does not know the answer. Read back conversations regularly to spot mistakes.
Will a chatbot replace my customer service?
No. The bot takes over simple, recurring questions. That leaves you and your colleagues more time for the conversations where a person makes the difference. Make sure visitors can always find a route to a real person.
Book a free 30-minute introductory call
Are you unsure whether a chatbot suits your business? Or is there already a bot on your site that does not do what you hoped? In a free 30-minute introductory call we will look at it with you. We will discuss your goals, your visitors and the best first step. No obligations and no sales pitch. Contact Adventio Marketing in Amersfoort and book a time that suits you.
