What is a Chatbot? (and why would I want one?)

I get this question all the time:

“What is a chatbot?” First off, no: It’s not a Russian spybot.

Chatbots get a bad rap, probably because …

There are SO many bad chatbots out there.

Trust me. I get it. I talked all about how *not* to be one of those on the latest episode of my podcast, Dialog.

Anyways … Here’s what a chatbot is, and what it can do for your business:

In the marketing & sales context:

The chatbot acts as a layer on top of the chat type interface, and it gives automatic responses based on input.

So … in English?

So, a customer using chat may ask a chatbot a question, or they may make a selection. Then, the chatbot may direct them to certain places or route them to certain people.

Or:

A chatbot may give a customer a multiple-choice selection, or it may ask them a question.

Or:

A chatbot may ask them to pick an appointment slot or perform some kind of action, or ask them to enter their email address or join a list … 

You get the idea.

Companies are using chatbots for endless possibilities.

But the question isn’t, what is everyone else doing with them, the question is:

What process could your business automate do with a chatbot? We'll talk about it.

From the beginning of the 5th episode of my new podcast, Dialog. Check out the full episode here.