09/01/2026
In small businesses, the phone either rings or it does not.
It is five calls at one time, or there are no calls for two hours.
And you cannot hire somebody to sit there and cover the overflow for a couple of hours a day, so those calls go unanswered and that customer moves on to the next company until someone picks up.
That is where I have implemented AI with clients, and it works because we go through and train it first.
The bot sounds just like you or I.
It asks the questions, it gets their name, address, phone number and email address, it validates their address, and then it gives you a message to call them back.
Then a human being calls and says, hey, I heard you are at 123 Main Street, and I understand you have the following problem.
Are you available next Tuesday for us to send somebody out there?
That to me is the best way to use AI.
Some big companies have gone in and eliminated their whole online support groups, so it is AI and a chat bot and you are lucky to ever find their phone number.
That is not the way to implement AI.
Use it as a force multiplier to answer the phone and get the basic information, then let your people close the relationship.
Where in your business do calls get missed most? Share your thoughts in the comments below 👇