The Cost of Inaction
Not Adopting AI May Leave Your Business Behind the Pack
Annmarie Baylan
November 2024
Why would you not integrate AI Into Your Business?
In today's competitive landscape, not adopting AI is more than just missing out on innovation, it could mean losing revenue, market share, and growth opportunities.
I believe many business owners know they need to look at this but just aren't sure where to start and maybe fearful of how much it might cost. In this article I explore the cost implications and share some fundamentals on where to start.
How much will it cost? Nothing, it should make you money!
Your focus should be clear: Boosting your bottom line. It’s not about flashy tech or expensive solutions; it's about an accountable and practical approach that drives profit and improves efficiency. Its that simple.
By initially targeting AI and automation to increase lead-to-sale conversion rates and plugging leaks in your lead follow up process, you'll start seeing additional income quickly.
Integrating AI into your business may require some initial outlay, however, it should quickly start to positively impact your bottom line by increasing sales and decreasing overheads.
I would expect businesses to be paying around £900 to £5,000 per month, depending on the business size and objectives. This should include the design, implementation and maintenance of a customised plan that develops inline with your business growth and the latest technology. if you don't start to see a healthy impact within the first three months, something is going wrong.
Matching Lead Preferences 24/7
Often, businesses repeatedly call leads who don’t respond, wondering why they aren’t answering. If these leads are busy working during the day, they may simply be unavailable to take calls. Or, they might find an initial phone call too intrusive. By extending outreach timing and using AI text chats as the first point of contact, you can increase engagement. Its about matching what works for them and accommodating a range of preferences and availability to the maximum.
For instance, a lead might prefer to learn more about your service at 9 p.m., after a busy day, when they’re relaxing in front of the TV. By offering flexible outreach options, like AI-driven text chats available 24/7, you can engage leads at their convenience, increasing both responsiveness and engagement..
Out-of-Hours AI Bots: With AI available 24/7, your business can engage leads as soon as they submit an enquiry, even when it is out of hours. This means your team can come in the next morning and focus on qualified and motivated leads that have been engaged by your AI, before competitors wake up! Companies using conversational AI report a 40% rise in engagement, showing the impact of being instantly available.
AI Text Conversations vs. Calls: Research by YouGov highlights that over 55% of UK adults prefer text-based interactions initially rather than phone calls, as many find calls intrusive. An AI-driven chat lets prospects gather information when it suits them, perhaps later in the evening when they're free. This doesn’t mean replacing calls, but meeting your lead’s preferences to increase engagement.
"Many businesses spend thousands on ads or leads and don't know their average time to make contact. Yet speed to lead should be one of the top performance indicators a business monitors as it's crucial factor in how many leads a business converts. Research shows that responding to leads quickly greatly increases the chance of converting them into customers. AI can improve your speed-to-lead, on a consistent basis, leading to a significant boost in conversion rates. Some of our clients start by testing AI with a small batch of initial contacts. Once clients experience the positive impact of AI, they often expand its first-contact outreach to all leads, enabling sales teams to focus on qualified prospects and boosting overall efficiency. And don't understand the impact of true consistency, it’s where AI truly excels.
Annmarie Baylan, Go Automation
So, where do you start?
Choose a partner with proven expertise in customised AI and automation solutions who can thoroughly assess your processes and offer tailored recommendations. Off-the-shelf solutions often fall short of unlocking the full potential that AI can bring to your business, and they can be a drain on your time.
Here are a few areas where AI can have a meaningful impact in your business. These are just a starting point; there are countless other possibilities that can be tailored to meet your specific needs.
Lead Conversion: This is nearly always number 1 for me! Imagine this; your team clocks out at 6pm, your AI system carries on qualifying and converting leads until 9am the next day. Prospect responds later in the evening and your AI is ready to answer their questions and qualify them 24/7. By the time your team starts the next day, they’ll come into a list of leads that have met your qualifying criteria and requested a call.Those leads that don’t meet your criteria have been automatically referred to your agreed partners or set aside, ensuring your team focuses only on the high-potential opportunities. This approach will significantly boost your lead-to-conversion rate.
If you’re concerned about losing quality leads, consider trialing AI qualification on a sample of your incoming leads. You’ll likely be blown away on how accurately it identifies qualified prospects.
Those equipped with well-trained AI will consistently outpace competitors by reaching leads during crucial decision-making moments.
Automated Lead Nurturing & Database Reactivation: Every business I know has data they have not managed to contact, its a common problem, as your Team focus on the newer data rather than the more difficult to contact data. Let the AI work any dead/no contact data currently in your database, it will find sales out of that data without a doubt, what have you got to lose, the data is sat there doing nothing. However, going forward your AI system will ensure you don't accumulate data that has not been thoroughly worked.
Leads Matching Your Criteria & Referrals: The AI system automatically filters and routes leads that don’t match your specific criteria. If you’re targeting a particular type of lead, the AI will identify and prioritise those that fit, while seamlessly redirecting any non-matching leads to your referral partners where appropriate. This ensures that your team only works with the most relevant opportunities, maximising efficiency and results.
Document Collection & Signatures: If your business needs to collect customer signatures and documents, AI can very efficiently request, chase and verify documents. It creates consistency and significantly speeds up the process.
Voice AI: Businesses can greatly benefit from Voice AI by streamlining customer interactions, providing instant responses, and personalising communication in ways that feel human. It can give you a huge advantage if you want to scale your business as it allows companies to handle a high volume of calls seamlessly, improving lead engagement and reducing wait times. It enables businesses to assist customers 24/7, collect data more efficiently, and route calls based on customer needs, creating a smoother and more satisfying experience. By adopting Voice AI, businesses not only enhance customer service but also increase their capacity to engage leads faster and more effectively, ultimately driving higher conversions and loyalty.
AI Live Webchat: Integrating AI into a live chat on your website is a cost effective way to be instantly available 24/7 and significantly enhance customer engagement and boost conversions. AI-driven chat can respond to inquiries instantly, even outside of business hours, ensuring you never miss a potential lead. By answering questions, qualifying leads, and guiding visitors through their options, an AI-powered chat makes customers feel supported and valued from the moment they land on your site.
Should AI Replace Your Team?
AI bots, tailored to your specific business needs, can boost engagement, reactivate dormant leads, and quickly respond to new enquiries, improving consistency in your operations without the drawbacks of fatigue, sick days, or attitude. Best of all, they work around the clock.
However, AI is not meant to replace your team. It lacks the essential human touch that’s key to building relationships. Instead, AI should support your top performers by handling repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on customer-facing activities where human interaction is irreplaceable.
It’s important to introduce AI to your team in a thoughtful way, emphasising its benefits and addressing any concerns about job security. Your AI partner should help with this transition, showing how AI can enhance their performance and support their work, not replace it.
Integration with your current CRM
A good automation company will provide their own advanced CRM solution that handles their AI and automation processes. However, its not realistic to expect every business that has an established CRM system to switch systems, this is about improving and enhancing process, not throwing the baby out with the bath water.
So it is important to work with a company that can deliver the required services while integrating them into your current CRM.
GDPR and security
With the surge in AI companies, it’s crucial to ensure your automation partner truly understands GDPR and security best practices. Many fly-by-night operations may not fully grasp these critical areas. Make sure to quiz them on GDPR compliance.
What about disaster recovery? Ask if they have robust backups of AI conversations. If their systems went down, could they restore past conversations? This is vital, as maintaining conversation history is key for continuity and effective AI responses in the future.
Additionally, on going access to these records is essential for handling complaints and ensuring consistent communication.
In summary
Embracing AI and automation can transform businesses by enhancing efficiency, boosting lead conversion, and streamlining operations.
AI can take on repetitive tasks, nurture leads 24/7, and eliminate process bottlenecks, leading to increased revenue and improved cash flow. Adding an AI partner into your business should become a profit centre in your business by increasing sales and decreasing waste and inefficiency.
Introducing AI thoughtfully, with clear communication about its benefits, will ease concerns and show how it supports, rather than replaces, your team.
Choose an AI partner who not only has a proven track record in AI and automation but also possesses a wide range of experience in managing business operations and a thorough understanding of your commercial goals.
