Since it was introduced earlier this year, we’ve been closely watching the evolution of HubSpot’s ChatSpot – the generative AI tool combining ChatGPT, Dall-E, Google Docs and HubSpot’s CRM.
While it’s still in the relatively early stages of development, the technology has already improved – and its potential is considerable. As an often-overlooked feature, it’s one all users should be aware of.
Today we’re looking into how users can start taking advantage of it and where it’s likely headed.
Getting Started with ChatSpot
As with many things, the best way to get going with ChatSpot is to just start playing with it. Here are a few ideas to get comfortable with it.
- One of the more common use cases is for content development, so you might see how it can speed up the blogging process (there’s a good rundown on this here).
- Craft a LinkedIn article based on topic, target audience, desired reaction and your personal topic experience.
- If you’re on the sales side, use it to summarize a contact, company or deal in your CRM, or use it to perform research on prospective companies by industry, size or even funding data.
- Generate a handful of AI-generated images to see what you can create (beware – photograph-style images of people are still hilarious but occasionally alarming).
Yum!
Another good way to familiarize yourself with ChatSpot is to review the various templates available as this provides a good overview of applications and capabilities.
Systematize Usage and Integrate Into Your Process
Once you’ve had a chance to test it out, you’ll likely land on a handful of specific use cases most relevant to your business that you’ll want to incorporate into your operational process.
Make a point to document how this will work for your team. Answer these questions:
- What’s the use case?
- How should it be used?
- Who is in charge of using it?
- Are there any limitations/gaps/gotchas to look out for?
- Are there exceptions when it should NOT be used?
There’s a handy Favorites tab in ChatSpot, so you won’t have to dig for the prompts or templates you use regularly.
Anticipate Evolution
The tools you decide to use now will not be the same six months from now. As of the writing of this post, this tool is still very new. How long will it be until users can say (or just think into existence with the help of Neuralink), “Hey HubSpot, create a dashboard showing marketing attribution, ROAS, client lifetime value by channel for year to date – oh and throw in a couple more reports you think would be helpful for the executive team to understand how marketing is impacting revenue.”?
I’m not going to guess the number of years, but I’ll bet it’s coming sooner than we might think. (Who knows – maybe by the time you’re reading this, it’ll seem quaint that I was even wondering such things.)
In any case, here are a few predictions for what’s coming:
Advanced AI and Machine Learning
The future of ChatSpot likely involves even more advanced AI capabilities, with the potential for more natural and human-like interactions (and fewer glitches).
Predictive Customer Service
Leveraging AI to predict customer needs and provide proactive service could be a game-changer, transforming ChatSpot into an engine that anticipates the needs of its users.
Voice Integration
Voice command integration could expand ChatSpot’s utility, making it easily accessible through various devices and platforms.
Personalization at Scale
Further advancements in personalization, powered by AI, could enable ChatSpot to offer highly individualized customer experiences at scale.
Integration with Other Emerging Technologies
We might see ChatSpot integrating with emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) for more immersive customer experiences.
How This Changes the Role of the Technical Specialist
As tools like ChatSpot continue to lower the technical barrier to entry to leverage powerful technology like HubSpot, there will be less reliance on the technical admin to act as gatekeeper. That’s a good thing, but it’s not without risk. While it’ll be much easier to accomplish more, it’ll also be much easier for people who don’t know the upstream effects to wreak havoc without the right guardrails in place.
In this context, we’re already seeing our role as a HubSpot technical consultant evolving. Rather than simply knowing how to receive requests and implement those changes in the system, we can often provide more value using our expertise to help develop the best vision and architect the most effective solution to achieve that vision. For example, ChatSpot is great at performing tasks, but it doesn’t think to ask things like, “Why do you want to do it that way when there’s a better way?”
It’s an interesting time to be in the CRM space, and we’re excited to see how ChatSpot continues to evolve. Want to chat about how AI and HubSpot can improve your business process? Let’s talk.
