5 Methods for Tracking Chatbot Success Rates (+Tool Suggestions)

With chatbots becoming commonplace, a necessity that comes with their implementation is tracking the success they bring to a company. But what factors determine “success” when talking about chatbots?

For some companies, success is measured in terms of lead generation. For others, it might mean revenue growth based on sales. And yet others might track success based on number of site visitors and monthly subscribers.

Regardless, where these particular aspects of business success are often facilitated by a customer service representative (CSR) or outreach coordinator, chatbots are assuming these roles at a rapid pace. This makes it necessary to track the quality of work chatbots are doing to see if they truly bring tangible benefits to a company’s bottom line.

However, where the success rates of human CSRs can be tracked with quarterly reviews and check-ins with their manager, chatbot success rates need to be tracked through other methods. 

Chatbot success rates

To gauge what different types of chatbot success rate tracking methods currently exist, it’s important to ask people whose companies actively use chatbots what they do to track their bot’s success. Whether for customer service, marketing, sales, or other customer-facing business purposes, check out what methods five business professionals say work best!

1. Use external tools to convert and follow-up on leads

“We track our AI bot’s success by using both Hubspot and Salesforce. Using these two tools helps provide us with context we’ll need to nurture and convert more leads. It also helps keep track of leads and follow up with them faster.  

After the user chats with our AI bots, they are connected with an actual person at Codal to take the conversation to a deeper level. Plus, after the AI bot has the initial interaction, someone on our sales/marketing team reaches out to the user.”  

- Clare Bittourna, Marketing Designer at Codal, Inc.

2. Use analytics tools to track conversations

“The most promising solution is utilizing tools like Dashbot, that are similar to Google Analytics for web pages, where all aspects of the chatbot conversation are tracked. Over time, and with multiple users, it's possible to track the intended outcomes of the conversation against the actually planned outcome.

For instance, many chatbot users might be looking to get to the same issue resolved, but might take multiple ways to get there based on the questions they ask the chatbot. Using conversation tracking analytics, it's possible to find the users who got to the question resolution fastest. Then, the chatbot conversation designer might rebuild the conversation flows to suggest potential outcomes.” 

- Jonathan Duarte, Enterprise Chatbot Product Manager and Owner of goHire

3. Use CRM tools to run detailed reports on leads

“Our chatbot on our website is used to acquire leads. When there is an interaction with a chatbot, our head of sale gets an email with the script of the conversation. This data is also added to our CRM with a special lead source. This allows us to track which leads are coming from the chatbot.  

Our sales team directly follows up with these leads via a phone conversation. Our CRM keeps track of them through the sales pipeline, from a lead to a contact to, hopefully, a deal. Using custom reporting through our CRM and Zoho reports, we can then run detailed reports on the leads we've acquired through our chatbot and their conversion rates.” 

- Keri Lindenmuth, Marketing Manager at KDG

4. Use UTM tools and Google Analytics to track and store data

“There are multiple ways we track conversions, inquiry responses, and customer service for our chatbot. We use UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) to track link clicks, form fill, and conversions. Using UTM, we track TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU of sales funnel performance. The tracking data is then stored via Google Analytics. 

We also define goals in different phases of chatbot tree to track and understand user performance. This tracking helps us to know – in detail – what users are experiencing in different parts of the chatbot funnel. We also use third party chatbot tools like ManyChat, a chatbot creation tool with multiple tracking features to easily track performance.”

- Sandip Banerjee, Engineer at Web3Solution

5. Use analytics tools to track cost per acquisition

“The most effective ways to track the success rate of your chatbot are: 1. Conversion rate: what percentage of people using the bot actually contact you and become a paying customer. 2. Cost per acquisition: how much total cost are you putting into that funnel to produce a customer through the chatbot? 3. What is the lifetime customer value of a customer obtained via the chatbot vs. other marketing methods you are using? All of these things can be tracked through Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, AgencyAnalytics and Oribi.”

- David Sanchez, CEO of Mammoth Web Solutions

It’s time to track your chatbots

Some companies place higher value in customer feedback while others place concern in lead generation, sales conversion, and overall revenue. No matter the end goal, tracking the success and value of your company’s chatbot is crucial for keeping it accountable of the good and bad that comes from advancements in artificial intelligence and automation. 

Want to read more about chatbots? Check out how chatbots in retail can help e-commerce grow as well as how to use chatbots to boost your marketing strategy.