Artificial intelligence (AI) is a fast-moving technology, and businesses are vying for the best possible use of AI for their benefit. At its heart, AI is about building intelligence into software applications so that activities that would be time-consuming, repetitive or just mind-numbing for a human can be handled by software instead. The concept relates closely to another, machine learning. With machine learning, software can “learn” what to do based on past history without being told what to do.
You probably already use AI in your personal life. Those smartphones, after all, aren’t labeled “smart” as a simple marketing ploy. That’s good news for small business because it means that AI is neither cost-prohibitive nor out of reach. Thus, here are three ways you can use AI to help your business.
Let Chatbots Drive Customers Deeper Into the Sales Funnel
A well designed website tells customers a lot about your company. This could include the products or services you offer, and next steps the potential customer can take toward making a purchase. However, they might have a few brief -- even simple -- questions about your products before starting a business relationship with you. Some may pick up the phone, but you both know that phone calls often lead to frustration. This is especially true if your call center is already spread thin, and high turnover rates mean that not all representatives are as experienced as you would like.
Enter the chatbot, AI that can answer customer questions. You can install a chatbot on your website or even your Facebook page. Through some relatively basic logic programming, chatbots can determine what the customer is asking and instantly provide answers.
Perhaps more important, chatbots can also determine if a question is one they can’t answer. Information Age wrote in February 2019 that chatbots are currently ideal for low-level questions. They cannot replace the human element for more sophisticated interactions. Chatbots can transfer the conversation to an actual human being, relieving your trained staff of a certain amount of monotony. Then then utilize their skills for more extensive customer engagement and nurturing through the selling process.
Streamline Your Hiring Approach and Find Better Candidates
It can be difficult for an interviewer to know if that candidate -- the one who is telling such an amazing story about their experience and fit for your industry -- will be the kind of performer you need when the rubber hits the road. AI can help in those cases by providing a more objective look at job candidates.
In February 2019, Forbes said that the two immediate and far-reaching effects of AI on the the human resources field are eliminating human bias in the interview process and greater efficiency at evaluating and communicating with candidates. Forbes also said, in a May 2018 article, that AI can more quickly efficiently look at a candidate’s overall application, freeing up HR staff for other duties. AI can also evaluate the data for several candidates at once, something that human HR personnel cannot.
Develop New Products and Services
Organizations like spice maker McCormick, 130-year-old company, have decades of information about what works and what doesn’t in the market. So, as CNN Business reported, McCormick turned to that wealth of data. They compiled data on sales trends, consumer tastes, raw ingredients, seasoning formulas, and the like -- and put AI to work sifting through it. The results help the company bring new spices to market.
Danish beer maker Carlsberg is also using AI to more efficiently predict beer flavors. According to a July 2018 article by CNET, the brewer uses sensors to create a catalog of flavors. Then, using AI helps determine future recipes. The AI can already tell the difference between a lager and a pilsner!
AI excels at applications like this because it can analyze large amounts of data far more quickly and efficiently than a human can. Additionally, logic can be built into the AI to help guide it in making decisions based upon that data.
These approaches to applying AI to your business are really just the tip of the iceberg. If you have an in-house IT department or a relationship with an IT organization, take some time to discuss with them how AI can apply to your particular business model.
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