Selling Chatbots?

Key Points

• Research and understand the relevant regulatory frameworks at national and state/provincial levels 

  
  

• Ensure ethical deployment by diversifying training datasets, conducting regular audits for bias, and communicating chatbot capabilities and limitations clearly to staff and users 

  
  

• Scan vendors thoroughly to identify not only a compliant, responsive, and trusted partner but also one that provides a service that fits the diverse and nuanced shape and character of your sales and marketing team’s voices, opinions, and visions 

  
  

• Develop a comprehensive internal and external communication plan, engage stakeholders early, and ensure your clients understand the benefits of the chatbot

Every Christmas each year I visit the same online music store. I have a lot of family and friends who are musicians, so I enjoy gifting music gear. Typically, I see the usual sales and marketing angles: gear on sale, high-end used equipment, discounts on software, and of course, Christmas ribbons wrapped around everything.

But this year, something different caught my eye: my favorite online music store now has a chatbot. There's a floating blue bubble at the bottom of my screen. It says, "Chat with Steve!" I know Steve personally. He's an excellent salesperson. When I click on the bubble, I see a cartoon avatar of Steve, giving me his patented thumbs-up. He asks, "How can I help you today?" It doesn't take long for me to realize that I'm not actually talking to Steve. Instead, the store modeled AI-Steve off his blogs and articles. It feels like I'm talking to Steve, and that makes me feel good. On my latest interaction, I not only found two great gifts, but I found them faster than I would have by picking up the phone and calling real Steve. After the interaction, real Steve called me anyway and said, "Thanks for your business! Do you want us to giftwrap the keyboard for your mom?"

I loved the interaction. It revealed a lot about the power of chatbots for sales and marketing teams. In a fast-paced, evolving AI landscape, chatbots are transforming how companies design and deliver their services, products, and content. They help differentiate companies from their competitors, showing they embrace change confidently and empower their customers with information that would normally require phone or email conversations. How else would I have found a keyboard with the exact synth sound of "Take On Me" by A-ha if it wasn't for AI-Steve?

My interaction was particularly telling because it demonstrated the pressures faced by sales and marketing teams: the need for consistent lead generation, faster response times, and personalized customer engagement. As technology advances, it's challenging for these teams to stay up-to-date while also meeting performance targets. A well-trained chatbot can address these challenges—reducing repetitive tasks while reflecting the team's ideas, insights, and mannerisms, thereby creating a seamless customer experience.

Chatbots are here to stay, but their implementation must be done correctly. They can make costly mistakes that damage a company's reputation and finances. In this Insight, we'll explore what businesses need to consider before rolling out an AI chatbot to ensure these tools are deployed effectively, responsibly, and with a clear understanding of their potential—and their limitations.

Questions Companies Selling Chatbots Should Consider

What Regulatory Frameworks Do We Need to Follow?

AI chatbots exist in complex legal spaces with regulations varying across regions. Consider, for example, a chatbot designed in New York State used by a company in California who services customers in Europe, the United States, and Canada. They must comply with multiple regulatory frameworks, including the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe, the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) in California, PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) in Canada. Each one of these regulatory bodies place unique obligations on data handling and user protection every time AI is used. Failing to meet these can lead to penalties, fines, and damaged consumer trust.

Here are three things you can do to set yourself up to sell chatbots safely:

1. Research the legal frameworks relevant to your target market

2. Consult legal experts who specialize in AI and data privacy

3. Implement data protection protocols in the form of AI policies and procedures that can be given to your customers to support the implementation of your chatbot

How Can We Ensure Ethical AI Deployment?

One of the primary ethical concerns with AI chatbots is bias. Chatbots trained on skewed datasets may produce biased responses, leading to unintended discrimination. At times, how a vendor trains chatbots on their own datasets can also create anomalies that may be offensive to users. This can be especially problematic in industries like customer service where respect and professionalism are critical. To make matters more complicated, when companies purchase chatbots and train them on their own data - such as newsletters, business plans, training transcripts, and so on - biases can arise when the chatbot vendor's model does not weigh new data properly. This is especially so when new datasets are too narrow and do not reflect the diversity of an entire sales or marketing team's voices, perspectives, and opinions.

The following is recommended to cover some important ethical bases before selling a chatbot:

1. Diversify training datasets with unique voices, perspectives, to minimize biases and ensure that your chatbot does not corner itself when speaking to a wide variety of customers

2. Test your chatbot in a closed environment with your team prior to launching

3. Conduct regular audits to identify and address biases that may come up in responses

4. Communicate transparently with customers about the chatbot's capabilities and limitations. Provide end-users the opportunity to provide feedback

What Vendor Should I Select?

Selecting the right AI vendor is crucial for the success of the chatbot. Prioritize vendors with a proven track record of compliance and have a public-facing set of documents proving that they have robust data handling practices and ethical AI development and implementation standards. The vendor should be offering tools that can easily integrate with your systems, workflows, market, and sales models. They should also be providing ongoing support for not only chatbot maintenance but refinement and improvement overall as well.

Here are some questions you can ask vendors during your chatbot vendor scan:

1. What is your Compliance History? Ensure the vendor has a proven track record of complying with relevant legal frameworks like GDPR, CCPA, or PIPEDA. Ask them when they started implementing compliance and how often they revise their own policies and procedures

2. How Will You Manage Data Security? Evaluate how vendors handle sensitive data, including encryption methods, data storage practices, and access controls

3. How Much Support Do You Offer? Choose vendors that provide ongoing support, including updates, retraining, and bias auditing. It's important to ensure that the tool remains effective and compliant over time

What is your Communication Strategy?

Before you list a new AI chatbot product or service, it is crucial to communicate what is coming to both your staff, investors, stakeholders, and, as importantly, your long-term clients. Failing to do so can lead to confusion, alienation, or even leaving key people feeling undervalued. It is a common perception that AI replaces human beings, and so it is important that people are not caught off-guard when an AI system is introduced.

Moreover, failing to communicate can generate internal misalignment if staff have high expectations for a chatbot that underwhelms or underdelivers in its adoption stage. Without a clear communication strategy, staff and consumers may resist engaging with a new tool, leading to a lack of utilization and ultimately wasted investment.

Here are five things you can do to prepare yourself with a strong communication strategy:

1. Start with an Internal Communication Plan: Ensure that your entire organization understands why the chatbot is being introduced, its capabilities, and how it benefits their roles. Host informational chats so staff can ask questions. Provide easy-to-read documentation so everyone feels comfortable with what is coming

2. Engage Stakeholders Early: Who are your key stakeholders? Talk to them. Engage them early in the process. Seek their input to ensure their perspectives are considered. This will accelerate adoption and buy-in

3. Craft Clear External Messaging: Inform your existing clients about the introduction of the chatbot before it goes live. Highlight the benefits, such as faster response times or 24/7 availability. Clarify the scenarios where human intervention is still available, and how chatbots facilitate better human interaction when it matters most. Transparency is key

4. Create Training Materials: Provide staff with scripts and guides on how to introduce the chatbot to clients. Equip them with clear, consistent messaging that aligns with the company’s brand as well as its tone, voice, and vision

   
   

5. Gather Feedback: Once the chatbot is live, actively gather feedback from staff and clients. Use the feedback to make necessary adjustments to both the chatbot and your communication strategy to address any concerns promptly

Chatbot Success through a Commitment to Research, Communication, and Transparency

One of the most critical aspects of deploying AI chatbots is managing user expectations. Users need to understand what a chatbot can and cannot do. Companies selling chatbots can avoid frustrating users and staff who expect more than the chatbot can deliver. This is why transparency is not only best practice but also a trust-building strategy. When users know the chatbot’s limitations and they are not surprised by its arrival, they are more likely to be satisfied with their interactions and more understanding when redirected to a human agent.

As AI chatbots become an integral part of the business landscape, companies must also approach their deployment with a comprehensive strategy that accounts for legal, ethical, and practical considerations. Ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks, minimizing bias, and selecting the right vendor are all crucial steps in rolling out a chatbot successfully. Equally important is preparing a solid communication strategy to align internal teams and clients.