Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
AI continues to force itself into many major conversations, not just about business, but about government and even personal relationships. We can’t put the genie back into the bottle, and you should be certain that your competition is using AI, so what are some things you might consider implementing to raise the value of your business and make running it easier?
Routine Tasks
AI shines with repetitive tasks like data entry, scheduling, and invoicing. Particularly with scheduling, people often appreciate being able to make appointments without having to call and speak to someone.
Next level: AI receptionists. The best use cases for AI receptionists are businesses that need 24/7 coverage and often have routine, non-complex interactions. Using an AI receptionist can either boost/scale your call coverage or cut your costs (or both). It’s worth investigating to see if it makes sense for your business.
N.B.: chatbots. It may not make any sense for you to consider AI receptionists, but if you have a website, even a very basic chatbot can make a big difference in current customer engagement and potential client conversion.
Brand Voice
Do you occasionally need phrases and prompts written in your company’s voice, but you don’t have a writer on your team? By training an AI with the best examples of your company’s collateral, it can replicate that tone and copy with a surprising amount of accuracy.
Next level: Generative AI. There are an ever-growing number of AI products out there now that can help you with blog posts, social media captions, product descriptions, job descriptions, etc. Consider taking these tasks off the hands of one of your team members to free them up for higher-level work.
N.B.: oversight. Most AI is not yet “set and forget.” You will need to oversee the copy work it does and, whenever possible, give it feedback so it can improve.
Data-Driven Decisions
Do you want to make better marketing or strategic decisions, but don’t have a number-cruncher or analyst on your team? You can give all the data you have acquired to an AI and ask it to identify trends, forecast demand, optimize pricing, or identify any blind spots you may be missing.
N.B.: the data. The AI can only offer feedback on what it’s given, so do your best to get it the data you think it will need to make informed projections.
As you use AI to help your business grow (and keep up with the competition), consider empowering your staff to find ways to use it that you may not have considered. You’ll find a ripple effect throughout the organization as team members share how they used AI to help them complete a task or explore an avenue they had long wanted to but simply didn’t have the time to. We get that AI is scary, but the best way to deal with fear is to learn and experiment with the object of your fear, not to ignore it and wish it away.
Need more tips about AI? Check out this recent podcast with Friend of the Show Jason Terry.