How to Use a Chatbot in B2B Sales

Chatbots have become a popular tool for automating communications between B2B companies and prospective buyers. If a prospective buyer needs help choosing a product or service -- or with anything else -- he or she may seek it from a chatbot. A chatbot is simply a program or software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate with prospective buyers. It's not a substitution for direct person-to-person dialogue, but a chatbot can still streamline communications while subsequently improving your B2B company's sales process.

What Is a Chatbot?

In case this is your first time hearing about them, you might be wondering what a chatbot is exactly. As previously mentioned, chatbots consist of programs or software that "talk" to prospective buyers. They usually appear in pop-up windows on companies' websites. In these windows, prospective buyers can type questions or commands to obtain information.

Benefits of using a chatbot in the B2B industry include the following:

• Improved buyer experience
• More sales leads
• Faster responses
• More returning buyers
• Easy to use

Deploy on Your B2B Company's Website

You'll need to deploy the chatbot on your B2B company's website. Prospective buyers, of course, will likely visit your B2B company's website to learn about its products or services. When choosing which product or service to buy, however, some of these prospective buyers may need assistance. A chatbot will allow them to find information more quickly while navigating your B2B company's website during their purchasing journey.

Consider a Social Media Chatbot

In addition to deploying a chatbot on your B2B company's website, you should consider using a social media chatbot. Social media chatbots are designed to communicate with prospective buyers on one or more social media networks. LinkedIn, for instance, supports several chatbots, one of which is Zapier. You can deploy the Zapier chatbot on your B2B company's LinkedIn Page to streamline communications with prospective buyers.

Program With the Right Responses

Don't forget to program your chatbot with the right responses. Whether you use it on your B2B company's website, social media profiles or elsewhere, you should be able to create custom responses for it. All chatbots are programmable. You can program them to respond to specific questions with a specific answer. It requires a little bit of work, bu programming your chatbot with the right responses will maximize its value. Your chatbot will provide a better buyer experience that, ultimately, helps your B2B company close more sales.