Drift

Comentários: We have very complex products that require a great deal of one-on-one dealing with our salespeople. In other words - they're not simple products like a t-shirt, but are highly-engineered with extremely specific specs. With this in mind, we use our chatbot as a way to funnel people to get in touch with us based on what they need: service, parts, repair, equipment quotes. It works super well and has cut down on the frustration of not knowing where to go on the website. It provides them an immediate way to reach out.

Vantagens: Drift is a robust, clean platform that is relatively simple to work. The caveat to that is that you have to get the hang of it first! The previous chat builder was tough to work with - not very intuitive and lots of scrolling up and down, back and forth (think vertical, with everything jumbled together). They've just introduced a new version that is easier to work with, but still complex. When implemented on the website, it looks clean. You can also modify your icon, which is a fun and creative aspect. The "playbook" you build can also be as simple or complex as you want - due to the complex nature of our products, we use ours as more of a "reach out to us, we can help" chatbot. But you can go much, much further.

Desvantagens: The main thing I dislike about Drift isn't actually the platform - it's the onboarding process. The onboarding process at Drift is a bit aggressive. The onboarding teams have a very set mindset in what will make Drift work for you - no matter what your business is, or how many times you let them know your business' unique needs. They are almost 100% focused on getting live chat involved, which at the start isn't always the best option. I'd recommend that they start listening more closely to their clients, rather than bopping them over the head with their "this will be best for you" mindset.

Comentários: - Providing a beautiful and direct contact option directly on my website
- Direct targeting of specific customers groups with chat messages, emails and pop-ups
-> Increasing the number of leads & sales

Vantagens: - The design of the chat widget is gorgeous. It works on any browser and every mobile phone, I've tried, like a charm. With other chat widgets, I had lots of issues that it hasn't been displayed always correctly.
- Advanced bot and automation capabilities based on tags and other attributes
- Live view of prospects on your website with direct contact via web chat functionality
- Outbound marketing (sending sequences and tracking of emails) with their drift Gmail extension.

Desvantagens: - Drift is quite expensive for what they offer. I'm one of the happy customers, which has gotten a startup license of the pro plan for a fraction of the normal price. Even with the pro plan, you have unnecessary restrictions like customization of the chat widget with CSS and using the smaller version. Most of the enterprise features as account-based marketing are great for any startup. Why isn't just the support by Drift and the quantity of usage restricted? Why do I have to see the restrictions within your account always and cannot just hide them if I cannot afford? Are they in need of that kind of marketing?
- The calendar cannot be completely translated into the language of your choice and you can't use a custom domain.
- Help center is branded with drift, even if your plan support branding free chat widget.
- I've received lots of emails from Drift about their Hypergrowth Conference (at least 10 in the last few months), which is quite annoying, no matter how personal and funny they have been written.
- I receive quite some emails regarding extensions of the core product like Drift Signature and Drift Help Center, but I've never gotten an update what has changed in the core product. After a while looking into the bot creation section, I've been flabbergasted that the whole design of the visual builder has changed, without me receiving any message about the advantages the new design and process brings with it.