When done right, AI chatbots are one of the best ROI initiatives your company can invest in. But a poorly-built or poorly-deployed chatbot can be more trouble than it’s worth.
After several years and thousands of chatbot deployments, our Customer Success team compiled a few of the best practices for deploying chatbots.
No matter whether you’re aiming for AI lead country email list generation or an HR bot, these best practices for chatbots should help you to align your strategy with real-world outcomes.
1. Define clear KPIs from day one
A software project isn’t about vibes. It’s about the bottom line. So how are you going to measure it?
Decide upfront what success looks like. That broader customer targeting and increased profits could be deflection rate, lead conversion, time-to-resolution, or task completion rate — whatever actually matters to your business.
If you don’t define KPIs early, you’ll have no way to ROI initiatives your company can invest in track impact or justify continued investment.
You can check out my explainer on how to measure chatbot ROI if you want some guidance on how to make use of your KPIs.
2. Balance business goals with developer realities
A chatbot is a collaboration between a developer team and go-to-market team. A successful deployment is a marriage of both. Make sure your roadmap and tools are well-suited for both sides of the equation.
3. Iterate constantly based on rel usage data
Your chatbot isn’t done when it launches — it’s barely getting started.
Monitor what people actually do with it. Where phone database are they dropping off? What are they asking that it can’t answer? Which flows are too long or too confusing?
Use transcripts, analytics, and feedback to make ROI initiatives your company can invest in regular updates. Chatbot analytics are your ride-or-die.
The best bots are built through small, ongoing changes — not one big launch.
4. Prioritize clarity and helpfulness over witty copy
Sure, maybe we all love designing a witty banter bot that takes cracks at its users. But honestly, these bots suck to really use.
The most successful bots are helpful and straightforward. You can design a bit of personality if you want, but ensure that it takes a back seat to clear assistance.