The “Roaring Twenties” was a remarkable time of unparalleled economic expansion in the U.S. But today’s business leaders would do well to not reflect too deeply on the era known for widespread prohibition, flappers, and jazz. That’s because there’s a new Roaring Twenties—and it’s being fueled by AI.
Investors Business Daily recently reported on the boom, saying it arrives on the back of productivity gains enjoyed by companies who smartly integrate AI into their operations. Of course, AI isn’t a new topic for the business world. The whole zeitgeist has been buzzing all year about new tech advances. CNBC reported in May that 25% of Fortune 500 CEOs mentioned AI during their first quarter earnings calls, and the topic has gotten even hotter ever since.
Much of the chatter centers on generative AI, such as ChatGPT. The Fortune 500 is harnessing ChatGPT by building customized versions of the AI befitting many a company’s specific business needs. But America’s medium and small businesses don’t typically have a spare $100 million laying around to create a custom version of cutting-edge AI software.
This may sound discouraging on its face—but it’s not. An ever-growing list of applications and AI-driven platforms are coming online to aid such businesses. Even better? They don’t require custom development or expensive and long engagements with experts intent on reinventing the wheel.
Helping organizations find AND implement the right AI system to advance their business is the specialty of my company Louder Co. One of the most challenging aspects of embracing the AI revolution is determining what exactly you hope to accomplish with the new technology. Like any major leap in tech, it can be hard at first to discern what impact new innovation can have on your business. To this end, here are five of the most common questions AI can help you answer, leading you to profit from these Roaring Twenties.
Question 1: What are the tasks no one on our team wants to do—and can they be eliminated?
Every company has routine digital work that AI can handle. Here’s an example: doublechecking shipping labels against customer records to ensure a delivery should go to Columbus, Ohio, not Columbus, Georgia. Whenever such tedium can be automated by AI and eliminated from an employee’s to-do list, you gain productivity and morale boosts.
Question 2: What’s holding us back from being more effective?
Worker productivity has been a big topic since the industrial age. Today’s economy is no different. But productivity isn’t strictly a matter of having the right staff at the right time and keeping workers motivated.
Often, the key to doing more is empowering employees to make smart decisions and putting the tools they need at their fingertips. Case in point: a salesperson can close more when they don’t have to interrupt their day to source customer tracking info, the sort of task an AI customer assistant tool can easily handle.
Likewise, a customer service rep is more productive when they can interface with the public across multiple methods like phone, email, and text—and these are logged into one central system automatically. Now imagine how thrilled your team would be to learn they could have such resources in place in as little as a few weeks, making their lives easier and work more productive.
Question 3: Can we do a better job meeting customer expectations?
For a business owner, one of the worst feelings is realizing a customer “slipped through the cracks.” This can be because they got bounced endlessly between departments playing hot potato with their request, or because a simple human error caused their delivery to go to the wrong place.
Avoiding such pitfalls and applying metrics to customer interactions is a perfect application of AI. Unlike a human, it never sleeps or complains. It also excels at analyzing vast troves of data for insights. Now, imagine a scenario where a jilted customer resorts to posting on social media asking why your company won’t take their concerns seriously.
This person has been trying to get a product issue resolved for a week with no luck. At this point, you’re stuck playing defense, trying to fix the problem while doing brand damage control. Wouldn’t it be better if that same customer problem was flagged on day two as needing special attention since the issue hadn’t been resolved in a timely manner? This is the power of AI.
Question 4: Are legal paperwork and contract details slowing us down?
Legal review, especially concerning specific contract provisions, can turn fast-paced business into a slow-motion nightmare. Just like employees in every economic sector, lawyers get delayed when they must stop work in one area to handle a boring or unproductive (but very necessary) item like contract review.
AI can help in this area. No computer can replace human lawyers, but what it can do is make it far easier for counsel to access the exact provision in question. AI can also provide supporting details to expedite agreements. In short, AI can fix productivity and legal response times by making work easier as it does for your sales reps, customer service teams, and other employees.
Question 5: Are we struggling to track our sales process?
Many small and medium businesses rely on their sales teams to predict future business flow. But practically every sales rep will insist the next big deal is just around the corner. Which does a business owner little good!
Instead, possessing a solid grasp on the sales process enables every business area to function better, from production planning to customer service. AI won’t replace your sales reps, but it can remove guesswork. It can also provide revealing insights into your sales funnel, such as exposing how many customer contacts it takes to close a deal.
Forecasts are suddenly less about guesswork and more about data-driven analysis when AI can better predict order timing based on past trends—all without you having to hire a costly expert business analyst.
A plethora of AI tools exist today to answer these questions and more. Once you know the problems you want to solve with the power of AI, you can determine the best fit for your organization. The good news? Louder Co. can help you every step of the way. Our experts specialize in documenting your operations, helping you find those areas where AI can be most impactful, then locating the right AI system for you.
Also, unlike consultants who only work with a few AI vendors, Louder Co. examines an entire universe of AI options to find the best fit for you. To begin your own journey of empowering business results and employee success, set up a call with Louder Co. today!
