If you’re looking for ways to improve your business, chatbots are probably on your list. They can help you improve UX and boost your success rate. They can help potential customers do everything from placing an order to finding the information they need. This is why it’s important to invest in creating a quality chatbot.

The most important aspect of employing a chatbot is the conversation flow. If you fail at writing a quality chatbot script, your efforts will be in vain. That’s why we’ve put together this guide. Below, we’ll share 11 best tips for writing an effective chatbot script and making your dialogues better.

Let’s take a closer look together.

1. Define the purpose

You can’t even think about writing a chatbot script, without precisely defining its purpose. Just ask yourself, what will this chatbot be doing?

Be aware that your chatbot doesn’t have superpowers and it can’t do everything.

Therefore, define the field(s) it is going to provide support with:

• help users navigate the website
• place orders
• find articles & information
• register profiles
• schedule live meetings/calls

A great chatbot can cover several fields at once, and offer your website visitors help on multiple fronts.

Still, make sure not to bite off more than you can chew.

2. Support brand personality

Regardless of the type of business or organization you’re running, you have to think about brand personality.

The way you present yourself to potential and current clients needs to be consistent in every aspect. That includes your chatbot.

You have to think about:

• tone
• voice
• style
• personality traits

So, a brand selling professional lighting can’t have the same brand personality as someone selling school supplies.

When writing a chatbot script, you have to ensure you support your brand personality and stay faithful to it. Fit every line of text to brand personality.

3. Conversational language

Even though your customers will be aware that they’re communicating with a chatbot, it’s still better to make it sound as natural as possible.

That means you have to use everyday conversational language.

Always ask yourself:

• Would I ever say this in a real-life conversation?

If the answer is yes, you’re doing good.

The best way to make a chatbot sound natural is to follow these rules:

• use active voice instead of passive
• avoid complicated, technical terminology
• use everyday vocabulary
• use abbreviations

If your chatbot sounds too formal, your customers will give up on the entire dialogue. They’ll find it exhausting to keep up with you and you’ll fail to provide the help they need.

Instead, try sounding like a human, as much as it’s possible. They’ll trust you more and find the conversation more helpful.

4. Predict user requests

To build the possible chatbot for your target audience, you have to understand them. Being able to predict their requests is a huge advantage.

You should gather a team of people from different departments and discuss:

• customer pain points
• customer needs
• questions they might have
• their main interests
• their worries

Brainstorm ideas and put together a list of all the possibilities. Then, base your chatbot script on those ideas and make sure you cover the right grounds.

With people from different departments, you’ll know what to expect from a conversation and how to prepare for all possibilities.

5. Use video & audio

To make sure your chatbot performs better, you need to consider using video and audio.

Chatbots that strictly stick to written content can only offer a limited amount of information. If there’s something more complicated to explain, they won’t be able to help.

On the other hand, you can use audio and video to provide maximum value. You can use them to:

• explain complicated topics
• elaborate on a subject matter
• support your claims with visuals
• make it easy for a potential customer to understand you

An audio recording or an explanatory video can skyrocket your chatbot success. Use it whenever you feel written content alone won’t do the trick.

6. Offer choices

It’s very important that the chatbot guides the conversation in the right direction. It’s your job to create a script that will help your customers reach their goals.

The best option for staying in control and providing the best guidance is to offer answers.

So, if the question is “What would you like to do?”, you should offer answers:

• schedule a meeting
• learn about prices
• find a product
• learn about shipping
• read informative content

For each of the answers, prepare another set of replies to minimize the time the customer spends chatting.

Use these guiding points to navigate them to their goal quickly and easily.

7. Consider the emotion

Your chatbot is having a conversation with an actual person who has feelings. Just like in a real conversation, you need to adapt to their sentiment.

For each situation the customer is in, you have to consider how they feel. For example, if they’re trying to file a complaint, they’re frustrated and unsatisfied.

Based on their intention and the reason they’re chatting, you should tailor the conversation to their supposed emotions.

They could be:

• curious
• frustrated
• optimistic
• excited

Make sure that you adjust your responses to their current state and guide the conversation the right way.

8. Be concise

When it comes to chatbots, less is more. Your chatbot should be able to get the customer from point A to point B as fast as possible.

The best way to do this is to be concise. Here’s what we have in mind:

• short sentences
• direct questions
• fewer pleasantries

Simply reconsider every sentence from the script. If it doesn’t offer any value and isn’t actionable, remove it, or replace it.

Use sentences that will guide the conversation forward, towards a clear goal. Make sure that every new line of the text brings the customer closer to their primary intention.

This way, you’ll provide a seamless UX and have more satisfied customers.

9. Personalize

You’re trying to build a chatbot that grabs the attention of your potential customer and helps you guide them. Personalization is a great way to improve your chatbot conversation.

Many chatbot platforms allow you to use a limited amount of information about your customers. You can often get access to their:

• name
• gender
• birthday

Consider when would be the best moment to use this information. Also, think about how it could improve the conversation flow.

• Hi, Jane! Can I help you with your shopping today?

A simple personalized greeting message will have a positive impact on your customers. They’ll feel more connected to you, and more welcome.

This will ensure they’re more willing to continue the conversation.

Use personalization to improve your chatbot script and create a more friendly experience for the customers.

10. Simulate real texting

To help your customers relax and forget they’re speaking to a chatbot, you should simulate real texting.

That means you have to make your chatbot act like a real human in the way they respond to messages.

Here’s what to pay attention to:

• don’t give instant responses
• add a slight delay in your responses
• add the “typing…” message

Naturally, your response time shouldn’t be any longer than 0.5 seconds. You don’t want to have your customers lose their patience.

But, this seemingly modest delay will make a huge difference in the way they perceive your conversation.

So, don’t hesitate and use the right timing to create a better conversation flow.

11. Proofread

Finally, there’s one more thing you have to consider when writing your chatbot script. You have to write it like a professional.

Your chatbot represents your brand. And, if you don’t pay extra attention to your script accuracy, you may come across as sloppy and not trustworthy.

You cannot allow any of the following:

• spelling mistakes
• grammar mistakes
• punctuation mistakes
• formatting

You can turn to an essay writing service in case you need help with this aspect of writing your chatbot script.

Otherwise, do it yourself by using a digital writing tool to proofread everything.

Final thoughts

As you can see, there are several majorly important aspects of writing a chatbot script that help you reach your goals. You have to pay attention to even the smallest details and edit it to perfection. Hopefully, we’ve helped you understand what it takes to create a great chatbot. Use the tips listed above to write a chatbot script and create an effective conversation flow.