Every new chatbot comes with a premade workflow. These workflows are meant to be used in nearly every circumstance. However, you may find that you would like to customize the various questions, responses, and lead information capture methods in your chatbot's workflow. This article will detail how to use and modify chatbot workflows.
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Understanding Chatbot Workflow Logic
Chatbots are an automated communication service. They allow users to search for answers about your content, and they provide a series of answers and means of collecting data. Whenever you create a new chatbot, SharpSpring provides a default chatbot workflow. This workflow is made to be a general-purpose chatbot that can be used in nearly every circumstance.
Conversations through chatbots use a specific logic path. A chatbot workflow starts with a welcome message, progresses to an initial question, provides specific answers, allows the user to respond, collects any necessary information, and then displays a message that ends the conversation. This logic path best emulates person-to-person communication.
Though chatbots have a certain amount of customizability available to them, their general structure cannot be changed, and few parts of the workflow can be deleted outright. These limitations are in place to prevent chatbots from suffering from logic breaks in the workflow.
Modifying Welcome Messages
The welcome message is the starting point for all chatbot workflows. As its name implies, it is what stands in as your greeting. To modify the content of a welcome message, do the following:
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Important: A display message is required. You will be unable to click OK if the text editor is blank.
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Important: Welcome messages cannot be deleted.
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Modifying Questions
Once a chatbot has properly greeted a site visitor, it will then ask a question. The chatbot, by default, asks what it can do to help the visitor. To modify the content of a question, do the following:
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Important: A display message is required. You will be unable to click OK if the text editor is blank.
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Important: Questions cannot be deleted.
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Using Outputs
Once the chatbot asks a question, it will display a number of outputs. These outputs are premade answers and act as a sort of multiple-choice answer to the question. All answers are valid, and they will each branch off into a different set of responses and information gathering.
You can add, modify, and delete outputs to better customize answers to a question and provide different ways to continue a conversation.
Adding Outputs
Chatbot logic can function with as few as two outputs. SharpSpring provides a three outputs by default. While these default outputs cover many general responses, you may want to add more. Adding additional outputs allows you to provide more possible answers. To add outputs to a chatbot workflow, do the following:
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Note: Output messages can only contain text.
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Important: Chatbots can have a maximum of 20 outputs.
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Modifying Outputs
You can modify the content of your outputs as needed. This allows for some flexibility, as you may need to update or change an answer that is not as helpful as you expected. To modify the content of an output, do the following:
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Important: A display message is required. You will be unable to click OK if the text editor is blank.
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Note: Output messages can only contain text.
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Deleting Outputs
You can delete outputs at any time. Be aware that deleting an output will also delete the response and end messages directly under it. To delete chatbot workflow outputs, do the following:
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Important: While outputs can be deleted, a minimum of two are required for the chatbot to function.
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Modifying Responses
After a site visitor selects an output, the chatbot will respond with a confirmation message. SharpSpring provides a selection of premade responses. You can also create your own.
Standard Responses
There are a few standard words and terms available for use with a response. These responses exclude the custom response. To add a standard response to a chatbot workflow, do the following:
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Note: Selecting multiple responses will result in a response being used at random.
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Important: Responses cannot be deleted by themselves. The entire output branch must be deleted.
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Custom Responses
If the standard responses do not suit your needs, you can create your own customized responses. To add customized responses to a chatbot workflow, do the following:
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Important: Responses cannot be deleted by themselves. The entire output branch must be deleted.
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Important: A display message is required. You will be unable to click OK if the text editor is blank.
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Configuring Actions
Actions follow a chatbot response. Actions are the core of a chatbot workflow. They are how you provide information, collect visitor data, and otherwise facilitate human interaction with a visitor. While chatbots will function without actions, the majority of your logic branches will need actions to help a visitor with their problem.
To add actions to a chatbot workflow, do the following:
For more information on available actions, including how to configure their parameters, refer to the following help articles: |
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Important: Actions can only be added to created outputs. The two default outputs cannot have actions added to them.
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Modifying End Messages
Once a chatbot workflow has received input and information from an action, it will display an end message.
Configuring End Messages
End messages provide a way to inform the user that the conversation is at an end. To modify the content of an end message, do the following:
End messages will leave the user with a choice of Yes or No, so be sure to enter a message that reflects this choice. |
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Important: A display message is required. You will be unable to click OK if the text editor is blank.
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Important: End messages cannot be deleted.
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Customizing End Messages
Normally, these end messages signify that the conversation has reached its end and that the visitor no longer needs help. However, visitors can select to restart the workflow from the beginning. When reaching the end of the workflow, visitors can select one of the following conversation options:
- Yes to restart the conversation
- No to end the conversation
In addition to ending the conversation, the No option can display a final farewell message. You can customize that message in the chatbot workflow. To customize end messages, do the following:
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Activating Chatbots
Once you have completed creating and modifying your chatbot workflow, you will need to activate the chatbot. To activate the chatbot, do the following:
Chatbots set to Active will be live on your site and will interact with visitors. Chatbots set to Inactive will not be live on your site and will not appear. |
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Important: You must have tracking code enabled on your site in order to activate your chatbot.
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Previewing Chatbot Actions
You can click a chatbot action to preview how its message will appear in the main chatbot window. This lets you see how your message text is formatted. To preview chatbot messages, do the following:
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Previewing Chatbots in the Builder
You can preview how the chatbot will appear in the main chatbot window. This lets you see if your workflows are functioning as expected. To preview chatbots in the workflow builder, do the following:
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Previewing Chatbots on Websites
If you would prefer to see how your chatbot appears on your website, you can preview it in real time. This lets you see if your workflows are functioning as expected. To preview chatbots on your website, do the following:
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Note: Pop-up blockers may prevent the chatbot from loading on your website. Disable pop-up blockers to see your chatbot.
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Using the Text Editor
The Text Editor is how you got about customizing the displayed message for each chatbot action in the workflow. It is largely a what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor, and it has been streamlined to prevent potential formatting issues.
To enter messages into the Text Editor, do the following:
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The Text Editor has the following available functions: | ||
Function | Description | ||
Bold |
Bolds selected text or text after the cursor. |
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Italics |
Italicizes selected text or text after the cursor. |
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Emojis |
Inserts a Unicode emoji. |
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Merge Variables |
Inserts a merge variable from a list of available merge variables. | ||
Text Field |
The field where you enter text and customize the message. |
Using Merge Variables
In SharpSpring, a merge variable is a placeholder value that represents a specific contact’s field value. When an email is sent to a lead, the merge variable is dynamically populated with the value of the field in their contact record to add an extra layer of personalization to the communication.
To add merge variables to a message, do the following:
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Note: The Fallback variable is the text that will be displayed if merge variable criteria is not met.
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The available merge variables are as follows: | ||
Available Merge Variables | |||||
• SharpSpring ID |
• Phone Number |
• City |
• Is Unsubscribed |
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• External CRM ID |
• Extension |
• Country |
• Owner ID |
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• First Name |
• Office Phone |
• Zip Code |
• Is Qualified |
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• Last Name |
• Number of |
• Description |
• Custom Field |
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• Hard Bounced |
• Lead Score |
• Fallback |
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• Is Opted In |
• Mobile Phone |
• Has an |
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• Title |
• Fax |
• Is Contact |
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• Industry |
• Street |
• Lead Status |
Regarding User Input and Conversations
When a site visitor does not reach the end of your workflow and abandons a conversation, lead information will be updated with the chatbot conversation event fifteen minutes from when the conversation was abandoned. If there is no lead information available, or if lead information cannot be updated, SharpSpring will instead store the collected information.
Site visitors have the option to restart chatbot conversations at any time. When a site visitor does not reach the end of your workflow and restarts the conversation, the conversation event information is collected and will be part of the visitor's Life of the Lead information. However, when a user has already entered information and chooses to restart the conversation, SharpSpring will not collect that information again unless the chatbot has reconfirmation enabled.