Artificial Intelligence (AI) has certainly made its mark in the media with the terminology being used more frequently and across different mediums over the last few years. Valuations are also ramping as the AI market was worth $454 billion (USD) in 2023 and is set to grow to over $2.5 trillion by 2032. The growth and mentions are backed up by usage statistics that suggest business is embracing AI technology:
- 63% of businesses plan to adopt AI technology globally
- In 2019 alone, 54% of healthcare businesses adopted AI
As AI applications become more mainstream and usable, big business has shown that AI can benefit productivity and efficiency but is there a place for AI in small and midsize businesses? The assistive nature and high engagement of AI based technology can deliver benefits and efficiencies to SMBs in certain facets of business. With the many hats that small business owners and managers wear, assistive AI technology can be used to ‘lighten the load’
Customer Service and Management
One of the bigger challenges for SMBs is maintaining a minimum level of customer service and with smaller footprints, answering customer inquiries in a timely manner and effectively may be difficult. For small business and midsize businesses, engaging with initial interactions or follow up inquiries is crucial in keeping brand reputation and customer loyalty at high levels. AI technology can provide basic but effective frontline gatekeeping services that are always available and deliver instant responses back to the customer. The flexibility of AI technology enables it to understand typed or voice inputs and can engage with customers in their preferred method of communication. Chatbots and AI powered voice IVR systems can help acknowledge customers instantly and offer basic levels of customer service, ensuring no inquiry or contact is engaged. AI technology can also gather customer data quickly, ensuring live customer service representatives have all the information they need to maximize the transaction. Customer management can also benefit from AI technology by automating tasks and organizing information that can help owners and managers make better decisions regarding customer service and processes.
Back Office Tasks
One of the more important ‘hats’ that SMB owners and managers wear is the accounting hat and running accurate and efficient back end processes is essential for business growth and success. Machine learning models can help assist with accounting processes by automating tasks and ensuring account procedures and compliance are adhered to. AI powered accounting technology can also make recommendations to improve operations and increase efficiency by optimizing resource use. Inventory and asset management can be easily monitored by AI technology and deliver essential data and analysis for better decision making and cost control opportunities. Other back end facets that can benefit from AI technology are:
- Interviewing and hiring
- Training new hires and upskilling existing workers
- Cyber and facility security
Mainstream adoption of AI based technologies has driven innovation and now SMBs can benefit from the capabilities for machine learning systems.
Marketing and Brand Presence
For many small and midsize businesses, outbound marketing and branding are key parts of the revenue generating equation and AI technology can deliver significant features that can elevate marketing initiatives. Many small businesses rely on content marketing and blogging to get the word out and AI’s content generation abilities can help owners and managers create relevant content that speaks directly to their customer. All-in-one marketing solutions can also deploy content precisely and automate posting and engagement tasks. High performance data analytics using vast amounts of historical data points enables machine learning models the ability to help strategize and optimize marketing efforts, maximizing resources used in the area.
The Bottom Line
Small and midsize businesses are crucial components of any economic ecosystem and driving productivity and efficiency in this sphere is critical to maintain and grow the business. Moreso in small business, owners and managers play many roles within the organization and optimizing each facet of the business can be a challenge. AI technology can provide resources and assistance in several areas of business and can provide the attention that many of these business operations need. Task and analysis automation can simplify things for SMBs and create a smoother running operation. Controlling costs and driving business are that much more important for SMBs as negative impacts are more widely felt within the organization. AI based technology can deliver important functionality and capabilities that create efficiencies and identify opportunities to grow the business. AI tech does have a place in small and midsize businesses and can ease the burden that owners and managers have with running smaller operations.
