Here’s the thing.
Despite the rise of sales and marketing software – and over 7,000 products to help – B2B buying is still difficult, takes too long, and can be really frustrating.
And if you’re in sales and marketing today, it’s not that you’re trying to create a bad buying experience. Nope. What I’m saying is that the explosion of software has, well, made things about the technology and the company – not the customer.
So at Drift, we decided to put an end to that.
Today we’re introducing Drift Automation – marketing automation built for the customer era.
An AI Engine That Works For You – And Your Customers
Imagine if your buyers could get exactly what they wanted when they visited your website. No more waiting to get an answer from your sales team. They could get their answer in real-time, even if it was at 2 a.m. or on a holiday.
Imagine if your marketing team didn’t have to spend days or weeks creating workflows trying to deliver that experience.
Imagine if you could take your top-performing salesperson that customers love and instantly train your whole sales team to do things the way she does.
With Drift Automation, you don’t have to imagine. It’s what you get. An AI engine built specifically for your business and your buyers.
You won’t get promises. You’ll get results that will drive your business forward.
There’s no extra work for you. We have a 100% full-service solution where we do it for you. But you get all the credit.
And here’s the best part. Remember that explosion of B2B software I mentioned? You know, the kind of software that puts the company first, not the customer? Drift Automation is built first and foremost for your customers.
How Drift Automation Came To Be
Before I tell you how it works, I want to tell you a quick story of how we got to where we are today.
Back in 2018, I met Dr. Jeff Orkin. This is Jeff👇
His company, Giant Otter was founded out of the MIT Media Lab. Jeff had spent over 20 years in AI and machine learning and completed his Ph.D. thesis on conversational artificial intelligence.
When I first sat down with Jeff, he told me Drift wouldn’t be able to scale because our bots weren’t good enough. I was like, “who is this guy?”
But then he showed me his AI and I instantly knew we needed it. We started testing the AI, first on our own website with real buyers who were visiting our pricing page. The results were amazing. But we were very eager to get this to real customers. And it didn’t take long to find the perfect customer to test Drift Automation. More on that later.
So today, as we’re launching Drift Automation, I can’t emphasize enough that we’re not launching a promise. We’re launching a product that has been out in the market, that has been tested and used by real customers like you for more than a year.
For more on Jeff and the Giant Otter story, click here.
Keep reading to learn about what we’ve been working on with Drift Automation.
Meet Qualification Bot
Today we’re also introducing our first solution powered by Drift Automation: Qualification Bot.
Because our AI technology learns from your previous conversations, the Qualification Bot is like cloning your best SDR and putting them on your website to chat with every website visitor 24/7/365.
Think about that! Of course, you can’t afford to actually put your best SDR on your website. And even if you did they couldn’t work 24/7 and be consistently awesome for every person that visits your website.
But it’s not enough to just tell you about what Qualification Bot is.
So I’m going to give you a real-life example of what it can do for you, for your business, and most importantly, for your customers.
Let me tell you about our friends from Keap.
Keap is a leading provider of CRM and marketing automation software designed specifically for small businesses. Their team has been using the Qualification Bot since February 2019. Here’s what they have to say about it👇
How It Works
Qualification Bot is trained by our team of experts based on your previous conversations between your best SDR and real buyers. That’s how it learns. Our team works with you to make sure your bot is behaving as you want it to.
Once it’s on your site, Qualification Bot can both answer and ask questions. So when a potential buyer has a specific question about an integration or how your pricing works, your Qualification Bot knows the answer – day or night, weekday or weekend.
And then, your Qualification Bot can ask a question of its own and qualify the lead for sales.
Once it determines fit, it can route the conversation or book a meeting for your team. And it does this 24/7/365.
With Qualification Bot, your sales team doesn’t lead the conversation, your customers lead the conversation.
Qualification Bot In Action
Before Qualification Bot, the Keap team had 26 SDRs on chat, but they encountered some limitations like not being able to staff chat 24/7.
For something like PPC, Keap converts 7% of prospects into opportunities. With Qualification Bot on their website, they were able to convert about 70% of their prospects into opportunities.
That’s 10X better!
That’s because “Bottie” (what they call their Qualification Bot) responds to all conversations instantly, answers buyer questions, and never takes a break or has something else to do.
And guess what? With Bottie at the helm, Keap is able to deliver an amazing experience to every single person that chats in.
Bottie even converts more conversations into prospects for their sales team. Keap’s SDRs convert 21%.
Bottie converts 27%.
For more on Keap and the results they’re seeing with Bottie, click here.
Now Keap no longer needed to staff those 26 SDRs on chat. So they moved 17 SDRs into other roles helping close business for the company – something they couldn’t automate.
They also saw their pipeline increase 50% in the first 50 days after going live with their Qualification Bot.
The Future Is Ours
This is just the beginning.
Today we’re introducing Qualification Bot, but our team is hard at work building more solutions that drive real results and outcomes for your business.
Are you ready for what’s next?