Demo B2B chatbot connects micro-moments, converts leads

Two tape reels over molten lava with the gap going in between both – almost breaking. To illustrate "lead decay."

If you are a business to business (B2B) marketer, the chances are you have read Google’s research on micro-moments. You optimized your content for I-want-to-know moments. But are your salespeople arriving quickly enough when prospects want to talk to a human? This article is about closing time gaps between I-want-to-know­ and ­I-wanna-talk-to-a-human moments so you can convert more leads from your website.

Two tape reels over molten lava with the gap going in between both – almost breaking. To illustrate

Imagine 10 prospects are on your website right now. Each is typing her name, email, phone number and clicking ‘Contact me.’

Then what? iPhones will ding! Colleagues will knock on doors. By the end of the first hour, your sales people will people dial­. And 9 out of the 10 prospects will hit ‘reject call’ according to this study from InsideSales.com.

I have a term for this; I call it lead decay.

Lead decay operates in the time gaps between I-want-to-know and I-wanna-talk-to-a-human moments. If you could close these time gaps, you could have a major opportunity to stop lead decay and grow sales. That is what a chatbot can do; this article shows you how.

How a B2B chatbot helps a real human

Step with me into a parallel universe –

You work in marketing for SureCourse Business Solutions, and I am a project manager in the marketing department for a bank in Dallas. Here is how your chatbot helps my bank become a customer:

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“The most important competitive differentiator in b-to-b is the customer experience,” –Megan Heuer, Vice President, Research of SiriusDecisions.

Filipino rock icon, Rico Blanco, during his album launch last November 9 at Teatrino, Greenhills.
Galactik Fiestamatik” by Miguel Santiago is licensed under CC BY 2.0

{Drop the mic. Exit stage left.} Megan Heuer’s quote says it all.

Yesterday, on May 26, 2016, SiriusDecisions presented a research report, “2016 B-to-B Customer Experience Study,” during its 2016 B2B Marketing Conference / Summit shared some areas for improvement for B2B Marketers. The finding I especially relate to is:

Aleksander Nowak and I experienced the need to provide post-sale support on the front lines of our reputation management company that we started in 2012. Alek and I had daily involvement in the sales, marketing, operations and support roles of the company. I personally responded to 200 to 400 support tickets per day for two years; the customers must be satisfied!

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How much do your products cost?

One of the questions that B2B customers are typing into Google on mobile is, “how much do [YOUR BRAND] products cost?”

What kind of results are they getting back? Chances are, the answer to their question is buried in a PDF document or some desktop formatted page–not easily accessible on mobile.

Imagine what that B2B viewer is doing when ask search for how much your products cost. They are probably at an airport, in a meeting in between meetings. And they want an answer quickly. My preference is to tell them right in Google AdWords. This is a real-life AdWords campaign for Review Report Card.

Review Report Card AdWords Ad
Tell users how much your products cost in your ads.

If your pricing isn’t as simple as Review Report Card, you can write the ad to explain generally how your pricing works. Is it priced per user? Consumption volume? For example, if you’re a Software company, your ad might read, “Price starts at $50 / user / month. Call for more details.”

Notice the Call button right on the ad. This is the Click to Call Ad Extension in Google AdWords. It’s an absolute necessity for B2B marketers, especially if your products are best explained by a salesperson.

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BQE ROI Calculator

BillQuick ROI calculator from David Engel's advertising portfolioWhen I was a sales rep at BQE Software in Torrance, CA, I cracked the code of how to calculate a realistic return on investment for the BillQuick Time & Billing software.

The ROI Calculator cut the sales cycle down by showing realistically how much cash a company was bleeding across 6 different expense factors. Bleeding that only BillQuick could put a stop to.