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A visitor on the pricing page has a question. If the answer takes a day, they might already be talking to a competitor. With chat in HubSpot you can answer right away, with a person, an automated flow or an AI agent, and everything ends up in the CRM.
In short: HubSpot has live chat, rule based chatbots and the AI agent Customer Agent. Live chat suits sales questions on key pages, bots suit qualification and meeting booking, and Customer Agent suits support questions answered from your knowledge base. Every conversation is associated with the contact in the CRM.
Three types of chat
Live chat
A person answers in real time. Works best on pages with high buying intent, such as the pricing and contact pages, during office hours.
Chatbot
A rule based flow with questions and buttons. It can collect information, qualify the visitor, book a meeting or create a ticket. It works around the clock.
Customer Agent
HubSpot's AI agent that answers free text questions based on your knowledge base, website and other sources. It can hand over to a person when the question requires it and answers in a tone of voice you decide.
Example: a qualification bot for B2B
- "Hi! How can we help?" with the buttons Book a demo, Pricing, Support and Other.
- On Book a demo: ask for company, role and number of employees.
- If the company matches your ICP: show the rep's meeting link.
- If not: offer a guide or a webinar instead.
- On Support: route to Customer Agent or create a ticket.
Where should the chat be?
- Pricing page and demo page: live chat or a qualification bot.
- Support pages and knowledge base: Customer Agent.
- Blog: usually no chat, or a discreet bot offering the newsletter.
Common mistakes
- Showing chat everywhere so it interrupts reading.
- Promising instant answers when nobody is there. Show availability and expected response time.
- Bot flows that are too long. Three or four questions are enough.
- Not following up the conversations in the CRM.
- Letting an AI agent loose without reviewing the knowledge base first. Read knowledge base and customer portal in HubSpot.
Frequently asked questions about chat in HubSpot
Does HubSpot have live chat?
Yes. HubSpot has website live chat that is included even in the free version, with HubSpot branding. The paid tiers remove the branding and add more features.
What is the difference between a chatbot and Customer Agent?
A chatbot follows a predefined flow with questions and buttons. Customer Agent is an AI agent that understands free text questions and answers from your knowledge base and other sources.
Can a chatbot book meetings in HubSpot?
Yes. A bot can show a rep's meeting link directly in the chat, so the visitor can book a time without leaving the page.
Do chat conversations end up in the CRM?
Yes. Conversations are associated with the contact and appear on the timeline, so sales and service can see the history.
Is chat suitable for B2B?
Yes, especially on pages with high buying intent such as the pricing and demo pages. Use it thoughtfully and make sure someone follows up.
Summary
Chat in HubSpot makes it possible to answer visitors at the right moment, with a person, a bot or an AI agent. Place the chat where buying intent is high and make sure every conversation is followed up.
Want help setting up chat or Customer Agent in HubSpot? Get in touch with LeadLabs.