Quick Question!
You have £50,000 to invest into an installer business, with a 5-year return
You have two options:
INSTALLER COMPANY A
Actively adopting AI and automation
INSTALLER COMPANY B
Currently ignoring AI and automation
Which installer business would you choose?
Annmarie Baylan
August 2024
Obvious answer isn't it?
I deliberately asked a straightforward question to make my point. So why are businesses still hesitant to adopt AI and automation, even with the availability of affordable, tailored solutions? The reason might be the owners simply don’t know where to begin or imagine its too expensive. That’s why I wrote this article, to demonstrate just how easy and cost-effective it can be to integrate customised AI and automation into your business and become the kind of company you'd want to invest in, while improving your bottom line.
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 marketing; it's about an accountable approach that drives profit and improves cash flow. Your AI partner should be just as committed to your success as you are, with elements of their compensation tied to outcomes like increased revenue.
One extra installation a month can easily cover the costs of implementing and maintaining AI systems: By initially targeting AI and automation to increase lead-to-install conversion rates and plugging leaks in your sales process, you'll start seeing additional income quickly.
Improving cashflow: speeding up installs naturally improves cash flow. AI can help eliminate bottlenecks, getting jobs done faster and enhancing your cash flow.
"I just don't have time to look at this" is a common concern I hear. Many business owners are tied up in day-to-day operations, which might be why AI and automation aren't being adopted as quickly as they should be. However, a quick consultation with the right partner is often all it takes to get the ball rolling. An AI expert with specific knowledge of the installation business can quickly identify where AI and automation can have the biggest impact with minimal disruption to your schedule, allowing you to stay focused on what you do best.
"It’s essential to initially focus on how AI and automation can increase revenue, so that you can maintain your investment across the business, while enjoying an increase in profit. Always approach AI and automation solutions with a problem-solver mindset. Ask your AI Partner to start by identifying and prioritising the sticking points in your processes where leads are wasted, and installations
slowed down."
Annmarie Baylan, Go Automation
Contacting Leads: Match customer communication preferences
As you know, the installation business is competitive, people often contact multipe companies for quotes or to see if they qualify for grants. So the sooner you get that conversation started the better. According to YouGov, over 55% of UK adults prefer initial communication via text rather than calls. Even if they’ve made an enquiry, some people find the first call too intrusive and prefer to learn more at a time that suits them, like 10 PM after putting the kids to bed and relaxing in front of the TV! If your competitors aren't doing this, you will engage this customer before they have got out of the starting gates.
There's plenty of evidence online supporting this trend. But does that mean you should stop calling leads? Absolutely not, some people still expect and want a call. It’s about meeting your leads' communication preferences and maximising your contact rate. AI-driven text conversations can help you do just that by being available 24/7 to engage with customers via text, maximising your conversions.
So, where do you start?
Your chosen AI partner should help you quickly identify the areas to focus on first.
The ideas below are examples, partner with an expert who can tailor a strategy to overcome your specific challenges. They should analyse lead wastage and bottlenecks, then collaborate with you to set and prioritise objectives.
Focus first on goals that boost lead-to-install conversions, quickly turning your AI investment into a profit centre.
Out of Hours Lead Management: This is nearly always number 1 for me! Imagine this; your team clocks out at 6 PM, your AI system carries on qualifying and converting leads until 8 PM . The prospect responds later in the evening, say at 10 PM, 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. This approach will significantly boost your lead-to-conversion rate.
Speed to Lead Management: Research shows that responding to a lead within the first 5 minutes increases the likelihood of conversion by 100x. However, maintaining this rapid response time consistently can be challenging. The AI can ensure any leads not yet engaged by your team are automatically followed up within 5 minutes of entering your system. This guarantees timely engagement, qualification, and the scheduling of a preferred time slot, ensuring a seamless and consistent response process.
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 installs out of that data without a doubt. However, going forward your AI system will ensure you don't accumulate data that has not been thoroughly worked.
Leads Matching & Intelligent Routing: AI intelligent routing systems automatically filter and route leads that don’t match your specific criteria, whether it’s based on geography, install type, house specifications, existing systems, or grant profile. This is especially valuable 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. This ensures that your team only works with the most relevant opportunities, maximising efficiency and results.
Survey and Installation Booking: AI can automate the booking of surveys/installations and chasing of any that have not been booked within your required timeframe. The AI system automatically contacts customers or surveyors/installers to chase them up and get appointments scheduled. Whether the delay is due to missing documents, unbooked surveys, or installs, the AI ensures the process moves forward by persistently following up and getting jobs booked in.
Customer Information: Customers increasingly value convenience and efficiency, preferring to provide their information online rather than through phone calls. Consider automating data collection with customer-friendly forms that map to your CRM, reducing manual data entry and speeding up processes. AI can be automatically follow up leads with a link to enter the data you require to qualify them, in my experience approximately 30% of leads will complete a detailed form, this highlights the motivated leads that your team should prioritise.
Document Collection & Automated Verification: Automate requests for documents, including chasing customers, surveyors and installers for the documents required to keep the job moving. AI can actually open and verify documents for you.
Customer Payments: AI can request payments from customers, at agreed trigger points during your operational process. It saves your team time calling customers for booking fees etc.
Automated Service Bookings: For businesses offering servicing, AI can schedule reminders and book appointments, near to the time the service is due, automatically, maximising repeat business with minimal input from your Team.
Supplier Communication: Let AI manage the chasing of paperwork with surveyors and installers, reducing the manual workload on your team.
Automate your reporting!
I once heard a very successful business person I know, say: "any business that doesn't know its key numbers will never make it big!" That advice has always stuck with me. Having a strong grasp on your metrics can significantly enhance the commercial value of your business if you ever decide to engage with potential buyers.Your AI and automation systems should include essential automated reporting.
Should AI replace your sales team?
AI bots, customised to your specific needs, can enhance engagement, reactivate dormant leads, and efficiently manage new enquiries, all without the limitations of fatigue, sick days or attitude.
However, I don't believe AI is here to replace your sales team. Instead, it’s designed to support your high performers by handling the repetitive tasks of filtering out time wasters, unqualified leads, and those who don’t respond. This should leave you with a more motivated high performing team.
AI does mean engagement with your new lead enquiries will be consistent because the AI will be there day in and day out, without distractions. However, you will be able to focus on rewarding your best performers that book the appointments and close the sales and yes maybe removing the ones that are not committed to your business.
It’s crucial to introduce AI to your team thoughtfully, highlighting its benefits while addressing any concerns about job security. Ensure that your AI and automation partner assists in this transition, helping to demonstrate how AI will enhance their work and performance and 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 which 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.
However, if a business does not have a favoured CRM option, using the system provided by your automation expert should provided a huge amount of added value.
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, do they clearly outline their subcontractors and systems in their privacy policy? Have they even supplied you with their data processing agreement for signing?
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.
Additionally, on going access to these records is essential for handling complaints and ensuring consistent communication.
In summary
Embracing AI and automation can revolutionise installer businesses by enhancing efficiency, boosting lead conversion, and streamlining operations.
AI can handle repetitive tasks, nurture leads around the clock and remove bottlenecks in our processes. This should result in increased revenue and improved cashflow from faster lead to install times.
Automation and AI allows your sales team to focus on high-value activities, boosting morale and conversion rates.
Careful introduction and clear communication about AI’s benefits will help dispel any concerns and highlight how it supports, rather than replaces, your team.
Work closely with an AI partner that has experience in an installer business but understand the technical side of AI and automation.
The right partner will identify key challenges, prioritise solutions, and transform your business into a more efficient and profitable operation with long term solutions.
