How to Collect Data from Users with Your Bot

Why Gather Data with Bots?

Imagine having a helpful assistant that asks your customers questions and automatically saves their answers in a spreadsheet. That's exactly what you can do with Boti - completely free.

Whether you're collecting customer feedback, taking orders, registering people for events, or gathering survey responses, your bot can do it all automatically. No manual data entry, no lost information, and everything organized in one place.

The best part? This feature is completely free. You can start collecting data right now without any paid plan.

What You'll Need

Before we begin, ensure you have:

A Google Account - Free, if you don't have one already
A Boti Account - Also free
5 minutes - That's all it takes to set up

That's it. No technical knowledge required, no programming, no complicated setup.

Step 1: Create Your Google Sheet

First, let's create the spreadsheet where your data will be saved.

What to Do:

Go to Google Sheets
Click "+ Blank" to create a new spreadsheet
Give it a clear name such as "Customer Feedback" or "Event Registrations"

Add Your Column Headers:

The first row of your spreadsheet should have headers for each piece of information you want to collect. These headers tell your bot where to put each answer.

Example for a feedback form:

Name | Email | Rating | Comments | Date

Example for event registration:

Full Name | Phone Number | Email | Number of Guests | Dietary Restrictions

Important tip: Give your columns clear, descriptive names. The bot doesn't use letters like "Column A" or "Column B" - it uses the names you give them. "Email" is better than "Col2", and "Customer Comments" is better than "Notes".

Step 2: Connect Your Sheet to Boti

Now let's inform your bot about this spreadsheet.

What to Do:

Copy your Google Sheet URL - It's the web address at the top of your browser when you have the sheet open. It looks like:
```
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1abc123def456...
```
Open your bot in Boti - Go to your bot's settings page
Go to the "Data Sources" section - This is where you tell your bot about external data
Click "Add Data Source"
Choose "Google Sheets"
Paste your sheet URL and give this connection a name like "Feedback Form"
Authorize access - Google will ask you to confirm that Boti can access this spreadsheet. Click "Allow"

That's it! Your bot now has permission to write data to your spreadsheet.

Step 3: Instruct Your Bot on What Questions to Ask

This is where the magic happens. You'll write simple instructions that tell your bot what questions to ask and where to save the answers.

The Basic Pattern:

Think of it as training a new employee. You tell them:

What questions to ask
What order to ask them
Where to record each answer

Example Instructions for Feedback Collection:

You are a friendly feedback collector for Danny's Electronics Store.

Your job is to gather customer feedback by asking questions one at a time and saving the answers to the Google Sheet.

Ask these questions in order:

1. "What's your name?"
   - Save the answer in the "Name" column

2. "What's your email address?"
   - Save the answer in the "Email" column

3. "On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your experience?"
   - Save the answer in the "Rating" column

4. "Any additional comments?"
   - Save the answer in the "Comments" column

5. Always save today's date in the "Date" column

After collecting all information, say: "Thank you! Your feedback has been recorded. We really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts."

IMPORTANT: Never share customer data with other customers. You only collect information, you never reveal it.

Example Instructions for Event Registration:

You are a registration assistant for the Annual Tech Conference 2025.

Your goal is to register attendees by collecting their information and saving it to the Google Sheet.

Greet people warmly and explain that you'll help them register for the conference.

Ask these questions one at a time:

1. "What's your full name?"
   - Save in "Full Name" column

2. "What's your phone number?"
   - Save in "Phone Number" column

3. "What's your email address?"
   - Save in "Email" column

4. "How many guests will you be bringing? (including yourself)"
   - Save in "Number of Guests" column

5. "Do you or your guests have any dietary restrictions? (vegetarian, vegan, allergies, etc.)"
   - Save in "Dietary Restrictions" column

After all questions are answered, confirm: "Perfect! You're all registered for the Annual Tech Conference 2025. We'll send confirmation to [their email]. See you there!"

CRITICAL: Never share attendee information with anyone. You only collect data, never reveal it.

Step 4: Test Your Bot

Before going live, always test to make sure everything works.

What to Do:

Send a test message to your bot - Pretend you're a customer
Go through the entire conversation - Answer all the questions
Check your Google Sheet - Look for a new row with your test data
Verify each column - Ensure the answers went to the correct places

If something doesn't look right, go back to your bot instructions and adjust them. Common issues are usually:

Column names in instructions don't match column names in the sheet (check spelling and capitalization)
Instructions aren't clear enough about which answer goes where

Important Tips for Success

Tip 1: Use Clear Column Names

Your bot reads column headers, not letters. "Customer Email" is much better than "Email2" or "Col_B". Think about what makes sense when you read it out loud.

Tip 2: Keep Questions Simple

Ask one thing at a time. Don't say "What's your name and email?" - that confuses the bot. Instead, ask two separate questions:

"What's your name?"
"What's your email?"

Tip 3: Protect Customer Privacy

Always include this instruction: "Never share customer data with other customers. You only collect information, you never reveal it."

This prevents your bot from accidentally displaying one customer's data to another customer.

Tip 4: Bots Are Great with Headers

Because bots use column names instead of letters, they're actually better at working with spreadsheets than many humans! Just make sure your headers are descriptive and unique.

Tip 5: You Can Gather Hundreds of Responses

Google Sheets can hold thousands of rows, and your bot can add new rows as quickly as customers respond. No limits, no slowdowns.

What You Can Build

Here are some real-world examples of what people build with this feature:

Customer Support:

Collect support tickets before routing them to a human agent.
Gather troubleshooting information automatically
Track common issues and questions

Sales & Marketing:

Capture lead information from website visitors
Qualify prospects with a few quick questions
Schedule sales calls and demos

Events & Hospitality:

Register participants for conferences or webinars
Take restaurant reservations
Collect RSVPs for parties or meetups

Feedback & Research:

Run customer satisfaction surveys
Gather product feedback
Conduct market research

Orders & Requests:

Take custom orders with specifications
Collect quote requests
Process service requests

Next Steps

Now that you know how to collect data, you might want to:

Let users query your Google Sheet data - Your bot can also answer questions about data in your spreadsheets
Learn Google Sheets best practices for bots - Get more advanced tips and tricks
Enhance bot guidelines - Make your bot even more helpful

Need Help?

If you get stuck or have questions:

Join our support - Get assistance from our team
Test with simple examples first - Start with 2-3 columns before adding more
Check your column names - 90% of issues come from mismatched column names

Remember: This is completely free, there's no risk in trying it out. Start with a simple example and expand from there!