I have been considering using one of these virtual agents on my website, but before I do I was hoping to get some feedback.

If you have no idea what a virtual agent is, let me explain.

You go to a website sales letter. When you leave, a Chat box pops up and says something to the effect of – “WAIT, our virtual agent has a special offer for you”. Then, you can click “OK” to exit the page for good, or “Cancel” to stay on the page and look at the virtual agent offer.

To see an example, you can go to Dave Guidon’s Virtual Smart Agent. Watch what happens with you leave the page.

When I first saw one of these virtual agents a few months ago, I was impressed. I even asked the virtual agent a few questions, and the answers were relevant to the questions – it freaked me out a little bit.

I investigated the virtual agent product, but never took action on it.

Then a few weeks ago, everybody and their dog were promoting Dave’s Virtual Smart Agent. I considered buying it, because it is supposed to increase your sales rate. But I wanted to wait a while and see if there was any reaction, good or bad, to this new method of exit promotion.

I have to admit, I am already getting a little tired of seeing these virtual agents. When I see one I have stop, after trying to exit, and think – OK or Cancel, which do I click. This keeps me on the page longer but annoys the heck out of me.

I have also read some opinions on a few internet marketing forums. Some like the virtual agent, because they do increase sales or opt-ins. Others who are presented with the virtual agent vow to never purchase from that internet marketer again.

Perhaps the only way to get the answer is to test a virtual agent. You can measure sales or opt-ins related to the agent, but you can’t measure those who will never buy from you again because you have annoyed them

I also wonder what effect these virtual agents will have on those who don’t use them. Have you ever decided to buy a product, then exited the page hoping to find a virtual agent to get a discount? For those of us not using these virtual agents, will our visitors exit hoping to find a virtual agent, and leave when none is found?

So, what do I do? I’m inclined to think that the internet marketing community is already getting tired of the virtual agents, but those outside of the internet marketing community have probably not seen them yet.

So, perhaps now is the time to implement the virtual smart agent in non-IM niches.

What do you think? I welcome your comments

Mike

Post from: Viral Web 2.0 Internet Marketing Training

What Do You Think About Virtual Agents?