How to Use Conversational AI to Accelerate Revenue Growth

Your customer’s digital buying experience is critical for revenue acceleration.

AI-powered chat can help you respond to inquiries quicker, convert customers, and drive revenue—for less money and at scale.

This post will show you how to get started using AI chat to accelerate revenue at your company.

These insights came from How to Use AI Chat to Accelerate Revenue, an AI Academy for Marketers course presented by Kyle Bastien (@kyleBastien) of Drift. 

The Shift in Power to Conversational AI

Netflix, Amazon, Uber, Lift and other fan-favorite companies don’t offer brand new services. We have always been able to watch videos and get cabs. What these companies did that makes them different is deliver these services on demand.

With more purchasing options available than ever, consumers often choose the provider with the quickest or most convenient services. The consumers have all the power, and companies need to offer better customer experiences as a result. 

One key way to do this is by introducing more digitally enabled sales channels. 

AI-powered chatbots can help. Your customers will have questions about your products and expect quick responses. Chatbots give you that opportunity to provide that instantaneous interaction with your potential customers.

Challenges of Live Chat

While live chat can boost your customer’s experience, there are five limitations that may occur.

1. Response time. It can be difficult to make sure chats are responded to within the right amount of time after a customer asks a question. 
2. Staffing. It can be expensive to staff live chat 24/7. However, only staffing during the day could result in lost interactions that drive revenue.
3. Location. Chat should not be put on every webpage on your site. Only place them on high-intent pages related to sales, or your sales team could get inundated with unrelated questions all day.
4. Consistency. The average employment length of a chat representative is 14 months. This means every year, you are replacing your current chat representative team. This creates a lack of consistency within the work completed.
5. Cost. As your groups of sales reps are promoted to a better position every year, it can be expensive to maintain that process due to promotions and training.

While these limitations seem frustrating, AI can help. With an AI-powered chatbot, it can respond within seconds, be available 24/7, and can only improve over time. As a result, your costs will be lowered and your revenue will rise.

Designing Your Conversational AI Chatbot

Once you decide to implement an AI-powered chatbot as a digital sales channel, there are a few steps you can take to create a successful one.

1. Optimize the experience. Consider what your customers expect from your services. Some customers may want a white glove, red carpet, VIP experience depending on the potential value of their business. Adjust the experience to customer expectations.
2. Segment your customers. Some visitors may be existing customers, while others may be new. Categorize who your bot is talking with to improve the experience for the person.
3. Design your conversation. Note who is actually coming to your site and what their intentions are. Your bot should be able to answer what they want to know.

The Ultimate Goal of Conversational AI

Live chat can be beneficial, but it requires time, money, and constant monitoring. AI-powered bots are just as beneficial, but require little human capital and are more efficient in their work.

These bots are just as effective by being trained to recognize certain phrases, words, and actions collected over the years. Replacing live chats with AI-powered chatbots will improve your customer relationships, conversions, and increase revenue.

How to Execute a Conversational AI Strategy

These insights came from How to Use AI Chat to Accelerate Revenue, an AI Academy for Marketers course presented by Kyle Bastien (@kyleBastien) of Drift. 

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