The 21st century has brought many incredible new technologies that were once dreamed about in old sci-fi epics, and even some technologies we never saw coming. However, artificial intelligence — sometimes called machine intelligence or just AI — is proving to be one of the most disruptive of all. It’s already being applied by businesses across the globe in a variety of ways, from automating a portion of customer communications to determining product/market fit.

A survey of CEOs from small and medium-sized businesses conducted by executive coaching company Vistage found that AI is quickly becoming an important part of business processes. In the survey, 29.5% of leaders said that of new technologies, AI will have the greatest impact on their business in the next year.

But you don’t have to look to the future to see what AI may be able to do for your business now. Tools have been developed for virtually every task, with AI-based tools offering several benefits including:

• Reducing time spent on tasks

• Lowering costs

• Increasing results

• Improving flexibility and responsiveness

• Reducing risk

In the finance industry, some lenders have started using (and my company has begun testing) machine learning/AI to improve the risk assessment process.

Whether you’ve already begun using AI technology to grow your business or not, you may not be aware of all the benefits artificial intelligence offers. Here are four ways artificial intelligence can help your small business.

1. Improve Sales And Marketing With An AI-Infused CRM

Customer-relationship management (CRM) systems are designed to gather customer data across communication channels such as email, phone and social with the purpose of helping improve and even automate the sales process. Platforms such as Salesforce have begun implementing AI that helps small business owners analyze customer feedback from those communication channels and then automatically adjust marketing and lead generation activities based on that information.

AI-infused CRMs can not only maximize lead generation results, allowing you to generate more leads for an equivalent amount of marketing dollars, but they’ve begun to show how AI can be used to acquire marketing- and sales-relevant insights, optimizing nearly the entire customer acquisition process.

2. Automate Customer Communications (With A Chatbot)

Both product- and service-based small businesses have begun using chatbots on their websites to initiate customer communication and help answer questions. Think of it as a sales and customer service rep that works for you 24/7, even when you sleep.

Chatbots are likely something you’ve already encountered before, whether you realized you were dealing with AI or not. If you’ve seen one of those popups on the bottom right of the screen when you first visit a website asking if you have any questions, you’ve encountered a chatbot.

Many small businesses don’t have dedicated customer service or sales teams yet. If that’s you, chatbot AI can help alleviate the pressure and allow you to focus your time on the tasks that matter most.

3. Streamline Human Resource Tasks

One of the more unexpected areas AI has begun to creep into is human resources. AI tools have been developed that not only help streamline the hiring and onboarding process but also acquire feedback from new employees about how HR can improve those processes, both of which can have a real impact on a company’s bottom line.

AI can be used to automatically wade through hundreds of applicants to find those that most closely match the criteria you’re looking for, not only increasing the likelihood that you find the best candidate available but saving you valuable time and resources. Plus, once the candidate is brought on board, software can serve as a knowledge base for employees with questions on things such as benefits and company policy.

This not only helps reduce the time spent during the hiring process; it can also increase the number of quality applicants you receive (because you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to wade through hundreds of applications) and save HR time on the back end by cutting down on answering new employee questions.

4. Acquire Competitive Intelligence

Ever wish you had a way of analyzing every bit of digital information your competitors produce — from written and video content to social media posts — quickly and easily? AI can do that. Several tools have been created that allow you to keep tabs on everything your competitors do online, gather the data and then distill it into easy-to-read reports. Competitor analysis tool Crayon, for example, uses AI to track competitors across various digital channels such as their websites and social media and gathers a variety of data, such as slight adjustments in their marketing language and pricing changes.

These types of AI competitive intelligence tools let you gather much more detailed information faster, allowing you to respond faster and more efficiently to changes in your industry that could affect your business.

AI has only begun to enter the workplace. However, it already shows great promise as a valuable tool that can not only save you time and money but improve nearly every facet of your daily processes.

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In the not-so-distant future, artificial intelligence (AI) will be able to perform many jobs. While this is a scary concept to a lot of people, you don’t have to be afraid. For instance, AI has the potential to save you time and money by automating repetitive, menial tasks like scheduling, paperwork and timesheets. This will free up your time to focus more on strategy, ideation and creative pursuits to differentiate your business from the competition.

We use artificial intelligence more than we even realize. In fact, according to a study, only 33 percent of people think they use AI when, in reality, 77 percent actually use an AI-powered service or device. It’s already in much of the software we use today and has the ability to drastically improve workflow and increase your profits.

You might be under the impression that AI is only for big, multi-million dollar companies, but smaller companies are taking advantage of AI every day, and your small business can too. Here are three ways artificial intelligence can transform your small business.

1. Improve your customer service.

Customer service and support are some of the most important factors in maintaining customer satisfaction and reducing customer churn. For example, a customer can put in a support ticket and not hear back from you for hours. While this is understandable, some customers want their problem fixed now and will be dissatisfied when you take too long assisting them. You need to provide prompt customer service in order to keep your more difficult customers smiling, and AI can help you with that.

Automated chatbots for your website are a stellar way how AI can improve your customer service. Using a chatbot can reduce your response time to one second and allow customers to connect with you 24/7, which enhances your relationship with customers and leads. Various tools collect data from your website, allowing users to have interactive conversations and get answers to frequently asked questions from bots. When a user can get their questions answered in an instant, they’re more likely to sign up, subscribe and buy.

2. Gain customer insight and predict behavior.

CRM software is an important tool for small businesses to manage their interactions with current and potential customers. Typically it’s used to keep contact details up-to-date and track phone calls, emails and other customer interactions. But AI can take your CRM to the next level.

AI has allowed Salesforce to build the world’s smartest CRM. Built into the Salesforce platform, Einstein can deliver predictions and recommendations based on your business processes and your customer data. You can then use those insights to automate responses and actions to save time for your sales team and keep customers happy.

3. Get better results from marketing.

When you create an ad, the goal is to obviously reach as many new leads as possible, not just any leads but targeted leads. Before AI, you could create an ad on social media and hand pick the demographics of the users you want to see the ad, like their age, location, profession, etc. But what if you could do even better than that and create a more successful ad campaign with AI? Luckily, you can.

Facebook ads are now more effective than ever with the addition of artificial intelligence. Facebook’s Lookalike Audience allows marketers and business owners to upload information about their best customers from their website. Then Facebook’s AI builds similar audiences for your ad based on the data that includes demographics and interests. This way, you’re more likely to reach an abundance of new target users who are interested in what you have to say, because they’re almost identical to your best existing customers.

AI is no longer just for self-driving cars. Businesses of any size can use it to transform their sales, marketing and customer service and without spending a fortune either. Don’t be scared of this futuristic technology. Embrace it, and you’ll see that your revenue will soar to new heights.

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Over the past few years, interest in artificial intelligence has begun to rise in the minds of the everyday person. Artificial Intelligence, formerly known and dismissed as technology only possible in the mind of Hollywood creatives, has now begun to see a huge surge in interest by real-life people. This rise in consciousness can only be ascribed to the very real life advantages people are beginning to realize AI can reward them with.

Artificial Intelligence has the ability to cut across every facet of our life from our personal lives to our business life. And a simple way to look at it is that it exists to make the life of humans easier.

Integrating AI into your business can significantly make your small business life easier. Cutting down the need for unnecessary resources and manpower. And with the daily advances being made in AI research, it is gradually becoming cost-effective and feasible to integrate this technology into work.

AI SOLUTIONS FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS

While it might not be feasible for your business to acquire a fully functioning robot who can knot your bow-tie and sign in visitors at your front desk. There are still numerous artificial intelligence solutions that can make business life sweeter and less exhausting.

You could for instance program a chatbot to help accurately reply all your customer service requests.

Or put a service on your website that approximates the age of visitors to your site to give them tailored services like customized images and offers.

But combing through the sea of artificial intelligence to find the perfect pearl might be a bit difficult. This is because there is a wide array of services and some might not feasible for the level you presently are.

However, there are some services that would entirely be worth your while. Some of them include:

Chatbots: mentioned earlier, chatbots can significantly reduce the amount of time spent on the computer or phone replying to customer complaints. This is especially useful for small businesses who tend to have less manpower and overall time. The chatbot has the ability to reply to customers based on previous complaints and give reliable useful answers to problems. This not only saves time and can reduce costs by as much as 30 percent.

Digital Assistants:

These spectacular assistants can make your work easier and faster. Incorporating a digital assistant into your business can help remove a huge amount of the guesswork needed in sales. With the ability to reply to customers from any time zone, digital assistants are programmed to reply with the solution that best fits a clients profile.

Natural language Generators:

Data analysis and reports can also be taken care of by AI. The program has been designed to take data from varying sources, compile, analyze and bring out reports that are relevant to your business.

Artificial intelligence is an evergreen forest and the possibilities are endless. It is important to keep up with these changes in technology as they can help your business gain traction and leverage.

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Big Data was not created to be big by premeditation. Instead, it is a logical result of the accumulation of data related to consumer habits, tastes, and expectations, as well as the growing sharing of this data, plus worldwide communication, media storage, and entertainment.

Big Data manages a lot. Everything, to some people, but whatever your level of technological prowess, the worldwide system of networks and data centers that make up Big Data likely manages something important to you.

It is true that Facebook, Google, and the other big companies rely on certain types of predictive algorithms to work through their massive amounts of data. These are AI systems that require technical and financial resources that small businesses can’t typically afford.

While often associated with large companies, Big Data can also benefit small businesses that want to tap into new development opportunities.

And these businesses don’t need to make heavy investments in infrastructure or human resources to do so. There are various solutions that make Big Data accessible to almost any business. This is the “how” question.

On the other hand, for the “why” question, Big Data can be integrated into BtoC and BtoB strategies of businesses to help them address at least five key challenges.

5 Ways Big Data can Improve Your Small Business:

1. Customer UX (User Experience)

Big data reveals information about customers and their shopping habits that can be used to understand customer behavior and ensure a better experience for them and the business through marketing, sales, and customer service.

Offering a personalized experience for customers provides a competitive advantage to small businesses that translates into revenue and growth.

In a recent research report, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) expects businesses that create personalized customer experience to increase their revenue by 6 – 10%.

What’s one example of Big Data making this a possibility? We’re sure you’ve seen ads for Squarespace, Wix, and more. These tools can help you build attractive web spaces for your business no matter how small.

2. Predictive Marketing

Understanding the behavior of customers now will help you anticipate the evolution of their needs and tailor effective marketing campaigns accordingly.

If traditional marketing strives to understand consumers to bring them the product that best meets their needs, predictive marketing, thanks to Big Data, goes beyond product or service recommendation.

Predictive marketing is about knowing customers’ desires before they even think about it, and to propose a personalized service that evolves according to the behavior of the customer.

There are web-based tools you can use to do just that. Check out what’s trending on Buzzsumo in relation to your products and services to see who’s attracting the most attention in your neck of the woods.

3. Product Innovation

The two first points above converge to make the often risky endeavor of product innovation, well, less risky.

Big Data also helps brands improve their existing products and/or services (customer UX) or innovate and create new ones to meet future needs (anticipation and predictive marketing).

User data analytics (knowing which features make customers tick and which don’t, detecting problems and discovering new opportunities) allow businesses to improve product adoption and accelerate innovation. If you use a web page for part of your business, check out Google Analytics to see which parts of your page are attracting the most attention.

Tech companies have the ability to design, develop and roll out new attractive products at short periods of times thanks in a large part to Big Data.

4. Decision Making Process

Big Data is changing the paradigm of decision making and can bring much more than Business Intelligence in this regard.

Traditional decision-making processes require internal expertise. However, having a dedicated BI center is not within the reach of all businesses, but if they take advantage of Big Data, it is accessible.

For example, Big Data, via the internet and advanced search engines, allows you to seek out your competitors. From there, you’re able to understand the best ways to stand out to consumers that may have otherwise just stuck with the competition.

A data-centric company is a company that knows how to fructify data and use it to manage every aspect of business.

Big Data enables smaller companies to make informed decisions and choose the right investment to create more wealth.

5. Get Ready for Insights-Driven Business

Competition is getting increasingly intrusive, and you should make use of your own user data before someone else does!

The majority of business leaders plan on taking advantage of Big Data and you should be one of them if you don’t want to be left behind.

In a study entitled Big and Fast Data: The Rise of Insight-Driven Business by Capgeminiand EMC², 75% of business leaders said they will be using Big Data to transform, reorganize and restructure their businesses.

Per the report, 64% of respondents said non-traditional players were getting into their territory, and 53% expect increased competition enabled by data.

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From Siri to Alexa, customers are becoming accustomed to AI-powered solutions and soon they will expect the same for their local businesses. Sure, an AI roll-out can be daunting, but by adopting a strategic approach and adding smart software, small businesses will not only be able to differentiate themselves from competitors, but compete with the industry giants as well.

While many over complicate the technology, AI’s behaviors are predictable – it’s merely an advanced system that is trained, not told. AI mimics the human brain in the way that it learns. It starts with no information, and after being given thousands of pieces of information, is able to understand and make predictions about data it has never seen before.

AI will become a threat to small businesses if owners believe it won’t impact them, or isn’t already impacting them. The fact is, AI has the potential to drastically help companies of all sizes work smarter and more efficiently than ever before.

Before acting on an AI roll-out, here are the top four questions small businesses should ask themselves:

What is it you are looking to achieve?

AI can provide great value for sales, marketing, finance, HR, customer service, and more. Hone in on what exactly you are hoping to achieve with the use of AI – where do you need to increase productivity?

By setting highly focused goals, you will be able to develop a plan that prioritizes specific applications for AI technology. This way, small businesses can slowly adapt and familiarize themselves with the software, that will, overtime, drastically enhance the bottom line.

The most immediate benefit of AI is that it will provide immense efficiency. There will be less time entering data and more time getting valuable insight to augment decision making. There’s a mass amount of data waiting to be analyzed and AI will guide businesses on how to act.

 What data is already in a system of record?

You’ll never hear the words “too much data” and “AI” used in the same sentence. AI systems become more accurate and effective as the volume of data increases. The big industry players have been accumulating business intelligence and already moved on to predictive analytics.

The first step in your AI project is to systematize your business . With the widespread adoption of cloud based solutions (SAAS) and the rapid reduction in the cost of storage and processing, the first step is to start instrumenting all elements of your business. Your website, your marketing activities, your sales – including the business that you “win” and “lose.”

Unlike huge, multi-national companies that are able to capture and process peta-bytes of data, small businesses have had access to significantly less data. This is changing with the adoption of cloud-based products and services and the availability of open data sets from governments and other providers. The goal for small business owners is to have the appropriate systems and infrastructure needed to go and analyze data and extract even more business value.

What is your ability to explore your business data and understand what’s going on objectively?

If you’re looking at the raw data it’s easy to “torture the data” to get the answer you want to be there – don’t fall victim to this habit.

Your goal is to generate several hypotheses from the data. Examine outliers and the associations between data elements. Be careful not to draw conclusions too early though, as outliers could be caused by “bad data” that needs to be cleaned up, and the relationships may not be strong enough to make any definitive conclusions. We often allow our personal biases and expectations get in the way of looking at data. The numbers don’t lie, but if we look at them expecting certain results, we may end up manipulating the information to meet our expectations. In order to take full advantage of AI, we need to be able to trust the numbers.

You don’t need to use expensive tools; use the reports and dashboards that are built into the tools you already have and approach the problem with an inquisitive mind. Look for the unexpected and when you detect something that’s interesting, create one or more hypothesis to explain what you’re seeing, and then set about to prove or disprove it.

Are your technology providers able to support these capabilities to provide more meaningful insights?

AI will not provide any benefit if small businesses lack the IT infrastructure to support it. Start by upgrading your approach to IT – move toward a cloud-based resource that can support AI once implemented. Data is a prerequisite to introducing AI into a system, and a paper system is useless when it comes to incorporating AI.

Make sure your goals are aligned with the direction your software is going. If it doesn’t seem as though your software provider is working toward the same future as you, it might be time to consider another option. It’s important to ensure your provider is taking steps to remain relevant in the future of technology.

If you’re just getting started on the business analytics journey, begin by using the reports and dashboards that your systems have today. Become familiar with the digital assistants that are already on your smartphone; explore what they are already able to do and stay current with how these systems are evolving.

By making an effort to understand and embrace AI, small businesses are optimizing operations, improving customer-service, and growing their bottom line. Imagine where your company would be if you didn’t embrace the uncertainty of the internet or didn’t go mobile in the age of the smartphone. Artificial intelligence is the newest technology adding efficiency and intellect to small business – don’t be late to adapt; be better, faster, smarter operators with the use of AI.

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