12 Best Chatbots for Sales and Support in 2024

The best chatbots can help you reduce lead response time, and enhance customer support. 40% of consumers don’t care whether it’s a chatbot or a person providing customer service. So why not delegate some of your customer service tasks to a chatbot and free up valuable time for your live agents?

Chatbots can be programmed with canned answers to common questions, when powered by artificial intelligence, they can analyze the interactions and learn with them. It's possible to have a personalized chatbot to match your brand's identity, even the tone of speech. Check out the article to learn more.

What is a Chatbot?#

The chatbot can be defined as a conversational artificial intelligence developed to simulate human dialogue via text or audio. It uses existing knowledge resources like FAQs, guidelines, and articles to find the best answer and help customers.

You can adjust this type of software to write using a tone of speech that is adequate to the brand's image and which your target audience will identify with. Probably, you have already seen a chat box on the side of a website screen that pops up when you enter it, even with a personalized message, for example. "How can I help you?" or "Send your question here".

All you have to do is type what you want, and you will receive an automated response based on how the chatbot was instructed.

Chatbots use different types of technology to provide the best service and give the most accurate answers, such as artificial intelligence, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning. Those assets help to make chatbots sound more natural, so customers can have a better experience.

6 Chatbot Benefits#

In addition to helping customers and minimizing interruptions for agents, the best chatbots collect data on your website visitors. As users move through your site, chatbots record page visits, clicks, time on page, and other metrics that can help you offer a better user experience and increase conversions.

Here are some of the other benefits of chatbots:

1. 24/7 availability#

A smart chatbot can field customer inquiries at any time, day or night. For companies with international customers, the ability to offer 24/7 service is a must. And even if your customers are local, they might be looking at your products outside of your usual business hours.

If they have questions, they won’t want to wait until the next business day to get answers to any questions they might have.

2. Scalable customer service#

If your business experiences seasonal fluctuations, using one of the best chatbots can help you respond to increased website traffic and customer inquiries. And when AI chatbots are engaging in more conversations, they’re learning even faster.

3. Reduced operational costs#

Chatbots have the ability to handle 90 percent of customer inquiries. By 2022, they could cut operational costs by $8 billion, as they continue providing the first line of customer support and giving agents time for other tasks.

4. Personalized experiences#

Because chatbot software collects data on site visitors and records transcripts of chats, you have access to a wealth of information that can help you personalize your marketing and messaging.

AI chatbots also use this information to personalize interactions — they can refer back to previous purchases while chatting with a customer, share a relevant product listing in the chat window, or just welcome a returning customer.

5. Increased conversion rates#

Automated, rules-based chatbots can increase conversion rates by 50%, so AI chatbots may be even more successful at moving website visitors through your sales funnel. AI chatbots can be your virtual sales assistants, helping prospects and customers find products, suggesting alternatives if the item they want is out of stock, and tapping into past purchase behavior to make personalized recommendations.

6. Works alongside humans#

You’ll always need live agents, but chatbots can help them be more effective. With the data the best chatbots collect, agents get an in-depth profile for every customer. You’ll know the best way to engage customers — whether that’s through SMS messaging or in a WhatsApp message — and your chatbot dashboard will keep track of all interactions.

6 Important Chatbot Features#

So what is the best chatbot feature? The answer to that question depends on several factors, such as your industry, the size of your client base, and your customer characteristics.

Enterprise-level companies with tech-savvy customers around the world might be most interested in a chatbot’s omnichannel messaging capabilities. Online banking and investment companies would probably put privacy and data security at the top of their "must-have" features.

Let’s take a look at some features that are important to consider when looking for the best chatbot for you.

1. Omnichannel experience#

A chatbot can improve your customer service, but only if it’s where your customers are. Chatbot software with omnichannel capabilities lets you connect with customers in a variety of ways — on your website, via SMS, or through social channels like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

When looking at chatbot pricing, note whether multiple channels are included, or if there’s a premium for using chatbots on certain channels.

2. Accessibility#

The top chatbots include features that make them accessible to all users — automatic language translation, for example.Keep in mind that website visitors with visual impairments may need some help finding the chatbot, which is normally positioned in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Assistive reading technology would need to review the entire page before detecting the chatbot, but you can include a skip link at the top of the page that lets visually impaired visitors quickly find and jump to the chatbot feature.

3. Privacy and data security#

Customers may be sharing their billing address or other sensitive information in chat conversations, so you want to be sure that information is secure. Look for chatbot software that includes Transport Layer Security (TLS) that encrypts data during transfer, and a Web Application Firewall.

4. Integrations#

To get the most out of your AI chatbot, make sure it can integrate with the platforms you use every day — your content management system, your e-commerce store, and, of course, Google Analytics.

5. Autonomous reasoning#

Unlike rules-based chatbots that offer canned responses, AI chatbots use autonomous reasoning to help customers. Their ability to do that, though, depends on whether you’ve given them enough information to work with.

Before implementing your AI chatbot, make sure your knowledge library is up to date and contains ample information that a chatbot can access. In conversations with customers, a chatbot can scan knowledge base content for relevant information or even send the customer a link to a relevant knowledge base resource.

6. Analytics and reporting#

The best chatbots will come with analytics and reporting features that enable you to review conversations, analyze outcomes, and identify any trends. For example, you might find that conversions are higher when the chatbot is proactive rather than reactive.

Best Chatbots in 2024#

1. JivoChat#

Source: JivoChat

JivoChat is a multifaceted chat platform that includes live chat, rules-based chatbots, and AI chatbots that are powered by third-party integrations. With API for both the server side and client side, developers can create custom chatbots.

The JivoChat app is a true omnichannel messaging platform that enables 24/7 customer support and sales optimization. The chatbot collects data from every client interaction and protects it with TLS and a Web Application Firewall.

Key features:

• 14+ CMS platform integrations
• Upselling functionality
• AI customer intent-learning in any language
• AI chatbot-to-live agent transfer
• WhatsApp integration
• Automatic translation
• Chatbot conversations push to JivoChat app upon conclusion

2. Jasper#

Jasper AI chatbot has learned from billions of content published on the internet, which enables it to develop conversations about complex subjects. It also has an intuitive interface that aims to simplify its use.

It can follow storylines, pick up from previous interactions, generate unique content, and understand and write in more than 30 languages. You can integrate it with various apps as well, including Webflow, Google Sheets, and Zapier.

Key features:

• Data analysis
• Offer insights
• Expansive base of knowledge
• Familiar design
• Generate unique content
• Understand and write content in more than 30 languages

3. ZenoChat#

You can tailor ZenoChat to your company's needs and style. It allows you to build a personalized AI based on your input, and knowledge to prevent generic interactions. You can customize your AI personas too.

It's possible to create your own AI chatbot and train it on your data. All you need to do is upload your files, define your personas, and set the AI chatbot characteristics. You can use it on more than 30.000 platforms.

Key features:

• Create custom AI chatbots
• Train it with your data
• Define a persona with a specific tone of voice
• Fix grammar and spelling
• Support over 25 languages
• App integrations
• Personal intelligence

4. WriteSonic#

With Write Sonic, you can offer 24x7 customer support, serve global customers in more than 50 languages, automatically measure resolutions, and integrate the AI chatbot with WhatsApp, SMS, and other channels. The Ai chatbot also offers personalized recommendations to customers and can automate the shopping experience.

Write Sonic chatbot has been used in various industry sectors. For example, in universities as a virtual campus guide. In the real estate sector, it enables agencies to offer instant property details, schedule viewings, and offer personalized buying advice;

Key features:

• AI copilots
• 24x7 customer support
• Automated employee support
• AI-enhanced conversational commerce
• Generate high-quality leads
• App integrations
• Data encryption

5. Workativ#

Chatbots can also enhance internal communication, and that's what Workativ enables you to do. You can solve employee IT issues instantly powered by conversational AI and app workflow automation.

Turning your knowledge base into generative AI chats for user queries is also possible. Connect bots with apps to automate repetitive tasks to free your support agents. Another use for Workativ Ai Chatbot is HR assistance since you can automate employee requests too.

Key features:

• Chatbot builder
• FAQ builder
• App integrations
• Sensitive data handling
• Analytics
• Context switching
• Custom answers
• AI suggestions

6. Certainly#

Certainly was designed to allow you to build tailor-made AI conversational chatbots. It enables you to provide global customer service with multiple domains and multilingual demands. You can create an AI salesperson that intelligently recommends products and helps reduce returns.

With Certainly AI chatbot, you can provide customer service in over 100 languages, 24/7. The AI collects customer data and provides various insights. It also drives customer activation by engaging with them through humanlike conversations, quizzes, and games.

Key features:

• Supports over 100 languages;
• 24/7 automated service
• Collect customer data
• Drive customer activation
• Contextual understanding
• Humanlike responses
• App integrations

7. CoSupport#

You can use CoSupport AI copilot to work in different roles. As a business analyst, your employees can require customer issues analysis, for example. It can act as a product management assistant offering insights about how to improve the products based on customer behavior.

It can also answer marketing questions from your team, provide data like the most visited pages, and give suggestions based on their inquiries, such as generating topics for the company blog. You can automate customer service, and count with an AI agent assistant as well,

Key features:

• AI copilot
• Provide insights into key areas of your organization
• Customer service automation
• Generate personalized responses
• Employee support
• Business intelligence support
• App integrations

8. Ada#

Ada allows you to have an AI agent ready to answer customer questions on multiple channels, including voice and email messages. You can automate over 70% of customer inquiries by connecting the AI agent company knowledge database.

Instead of following a script, the Ada AI agent will figure out how to best resolve an inquiry, even the most complex one. It reasons through a problem and identifies the best step to take. Ada has quality checks, which are applied to every response to ensure they are safe, accurate, and relevant.

Key features:

• Perform complex tasks
• Complies with proprietary safety filters
• Retrieve information from thousands of knowledge sources
• Speaks your language and aligns with your brand
• Engage in human-level reasoning
• Automatically measure solutions
• Supports more than 50 languages

9. Flow XO#

Flow XO is a chatbot-building platform. Its main selling point is that it offers a highly customizable chatbot that integrates well with numerous platforms; however, it doesn’t offer AI as a chatbot feature. This is one of the best chatbot platforms for people who want an easy solution — Flow XO refers to its product as a "no code" chatbot builder.

Key features:

• Payment acceptance
• Integration with FLG, Flow XO’s lead management system
• Lead filtering
• Workflow-based actions
• Incomplete conversations are saved to resume later
• Market-specific update messages

10. Botsify#

Botsify is a chatbot-building platform that includes templates for different types of businesses and use cases (B2B services, pizza delivery, insurance, and legal services, to name a few). Botsify offers an AI chatbot for Facebook Messenger, but it’s not clear whether its other products include AI. Users must create a Twilio account to use Botsify’s SMS feature.

Key features:

• Unlimited conversations, forms, and media
• Facebook, SMS, and website chatbots
• WordPress and Zapier integration
• Chat translation
• Customizable chatbot icons

11. HubSpot#

HubSpot offers a free AI chatbot builder. You don't need to have coding skills to use it to create your own chatbbot. It's possible to choose a pre-built template based on your bot's goal, then customize it using the visual editor to align the desing and content to your brand's identity.

Key features:

• Visual editor
• Conversation templates
• Personalized greetings, based on HubSpot contacts
• Meeting scheduling

12. Tars#

Chatbots from Tars include features that help sales and marketing teams see how customers are moving through the conversion funnel. Tars offers more than 950 chatbot templates and a drag-and-drop chatbot builder for WhatsApp.

Key features:

• Lead qualification
• Conversion tracking
• Google Analytics integration
• Rich media integration
• Call scheduling

Which of the Best Chatbots Are You Going to Try?#

Have you decided which features in the best chatbots are most important for your business? If you’re still not sure how to pick the best chatbot, we’ve got a suggestion: JivoChat.

JivoChat’s AI integration helps you respond to customer inquiries, qualify leads, and collect the data you need to improve the customer journey and create personalized experiences. Engage with your prospects and customers anytime, on the channels they prefer, with JivoChat’s intelligent chatbots.

Ready to learn more about how JivoChat can improve your customer service and boost conversions? Take a look at our chatbot features — and sign up to try JivoChat for free!