AI Chatbot ROI for Small Business: A Simple Way to Calculate It

Monthly value = time saved + extra leads won. Time saved = number of questions answered by the bot x minutes you would have spent / 60 x your hourly value. Extra leads won = leads captured outside office hours x the share you convert x your average sale. Subtract the monthly cost of the tool.

Suppose the bot answers 150 questions a month and each would have cost you 3 minutes: that is 7.5 hours. If your time is worth 10 dollars an hour, that is 75 dollars. Suppose it also captures 12 after-hours leads, you convert 20 percent, and your average sale is 80 dollars: that is about 192 dollars. Total roughly 267 dollars a month against a tool cost of zero on a free tier.

These numbers are illustrations, not a promise. Your result depends on traffic, price and how well you train the bot. That is why you measure.

Check the dashboard Overview for conversations and the share that happened outside your office hours. Count leads in the Leads tab and mark how many became customers. Note the handoffs you received. After two weeks multiply by two for a monthly estimate and replace the example inputs.

The unanswered-questions list shows what your website fails to explain, which improves the site itself. Faster first replies also change how customers feel about you, though that is hard to put in a spreadsheet. Treat these as upside, not part of the calculation.

If you receive almost no enquiries, or every enquiry needs a custom quote, the saving is small. In that case a form and a fast email reply are enough. Use the free tier to test rather than assume.