Chatbots for Small Business — What I Learned When Building Chatbots for Small Businesses
My professional journey has allowed me to observe the meteoric rise of online chatbots from very close quarters. And I’ve been able to appreciate the invaluable assets that they can be for a small business — if they are implemented and leveraged in the right manner. I’ll dedicate this article to a discussion about small business chatbots, and what my experience with small business chatbot development has taught me so far.
Small businesses don’t tend to plan for the long run
I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. Yes, it’s true that fixating on immediate results isn’t always the best idea, but the average small business owner does rely on quick results. Anything that can pay for itself is an asset for a small business. This is exactly why I recommend building chatbots for small business websites. There are minimal costs associated with chatbot development, and any investment it does ask for brings returns right away.
As a small business owner, you can create a chatbot for your website as early as tomorrow, and get started on interacting with hundreds of new clients or customers in no time. In my experience, small business chatbots always pay for themselves. And they do that while getting your business a solid footing in the customer service department.
Small businesses can’t start building chatbots from scratch.
Well they can, but that would defeat the purpose of adding online chatbots to their websites. Unless yours is a business that revolves around chatbot development or coding, you won’t have the time or the knowledge to create a chatbot on your own. I’ve come across several instances of small business owners trying their luck at chatbot development, only to give up in next to no time.
Chatbot platform that is already built by professionals and ready to be tailored for your website is what will get you the maximum return on your investment. Time is money when you’re starting out as an entrepreneur, and you need to invest it in marketing, sales, and areas that need your specific expertise. There’s very little point in wasting time trying to create something that will continue to need work before it can be fully functional.
Small business owners should get chatbot experts support.
There’s another reason why I don’t recommend attempting to create a chatbot all by yourself as a small business owner. Unless you already have technical knowledge about building chatbots, you won’t know what to do if and when a problem arises. While you’re in the process of finding your footing in your niche, it is important that your time and effort are invested in assets that work well, and are able to fix themselves, so to speak.
As a small business owner, you should opt for a chatbot platform that comes with a service package. Essentially, you should be able to talk to a support team if you face any issues with your chatbot. Even if you don’t encounter any issues, an inexpensive safety net such as this makes for a wise decision during the initial stages of your business’s journey.
The ‘work first, educate later’ policy.
Starting up and running a small business is all about taking small but calculated steps towards sensible, realistic goals. The same principle applies to small business chatbot development as well. In my experience, the best chatbots for small business websites are those that start out with the basics, and slowly expand to include additional functionalities. Successful small businesses wait for their new chatbot to fulfill their first set of objectives — bringing in a certain number of new leads in a given time period, for example. It’s only after this that they consider using the chatbot for other features such as shopping cart integrations, customer support, promotions, and so on. It’s a fail-safe approach that brings positive returns, which is what a small business relies on.
You can find more insights on building chatbots for small businesses on VirtualSpirits website. To learn more about chatbot development, keep following my blog or comment below with your responses.
About VirtualSpirits
VirtualSpirits is the leading chatbot for website platform for businesses. Powering +12,000 chatbots for customer service, lead generation, and sales around the world.