Implement an AI Agent (Part 5 of 10)

Part 1: 5th Level AI

Part 2: Coming of Agents

Part 3: AI Sales Agents

Part 4: Prospecting AI Agents

One of the most often asked questions by business owners is, "How do I implement AI in my business?"

So, about a year ago, I published a simple 8-step framework for companies to use as a starting point for implementing their first 'AI Agent'. Let's revisit the framework and use the AIR.ai conversational agent I discussed in my last article as a starting point for implementing AI in your business.

In this example, you are the CXO of ABC Co. going through the 8-step framework.        

Step 1: The first step is choosing a department or area of concentration where you feel AI might be useful.

· Sales

· Marketing

· Service

· Operations

· Administrative

ABC Co.: In this case, we will choose the area of Sales.        

Step 2: Start by asking yourself what type of problem you wish to solve within this department.

· Sales performance

· Marketing campaign effectiveness

· Customer Service issues

· Inventory management

· Generating real-time reports

ABC Co.: The problem I'm trying to solve is a 'Sales Performance' problem; we simply aren't acquiring enough new customers. More specifically, our outbound campaigns (i.e., cold calling) are not effective and/or consistent. So, we need to implement an AI Agent that will help us do that.        

Step 3: List all the steps used today to solve that specific problem (e.g., the steps in the process).

ABC Co.: Right now, we get leads from two sources: Our website via a contact form. Each salesperson gets about 20 leads per week and should then pick up the phone and contact them directly and follow up with an email sequence.  Today, we seem to have 3 problems:

1) We are not responding to all of the leads.
2) We are not responding quickly enough, so when we do, the lead has gone 'cold' or purchased from another source.
3) We don't follow up after initial contact.        

Step 4: Next, ask yourself if you can solve the problem by optimizing/ changing/ reconfiguring your process or if technology, specifically AI, can help. If you feel your processes are already streamlined then proceed to the next step.

ABC Co.: Our process is pretty streamlined. The salesperson (SDR, AE, etc.) gets the lead and simply has to make the call. The problem is consistency and effectiveness.        

Step 5: Having listed all the steps in your process in Step 3, which step (broken link) do you feel is failing you?

ABC Co.: Somewhere between receiving the lead and making the call, the ball gets dropped. The decision here would be to use an AI Agent to receive the leads, make the outbound call, and set up the next step in the sales process (e.g., in-home inspection, software demo, on-site meeting, etc.).        

Step 6: Collect data on the broken link to fully understand and quantify the problem. This data will be your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to measure against once an AI solution has been put in its place.

ABC Co.: Speed-to-Lead (STL) is measured from the time the salesperson receives the lead to when they first make contact with the potential buyer. Today, our STL is between 4-24 hours; the average being 12 hours before a lead receives a call. Our goal is to get the STL down to 5 minutes or less. (KPI: STL < 5 minutes)        

Step 7: Identify and search for AI applications that are available in the market to solve your problem. In other words, what technology or applications will you need to implement this solution?

ABC Co.: We're going to use AIR.ai's AI conversational agent to return calls from leads generated by our website.  The AI Agent will need access to: Calendar and CRM.        

Step 8: Run an ROI and TCO calculation.

ABC Co.: We estimate that out of every 20 leads per week (or 80 per month) the website generates, our close rate today is 10%. This means that we are acquiring 8 new customers per month per salesperson. We believe that our close rate would be closer to 20% if we achieved an STL of < 5 minutes, which would give us 16 new customers per month per salesperson.  

We currently have 5 salespeople with an average compensation of $10,000 per month; an estimated $50,000 per month total cost to the company.

If we can get the AI Agent to return calls, set up the next step, and increase our close rate to 20%, we would be able to reduce our sales staff from 5 to 1, saving the company $40,000 per month.

The AIR.ai agent cost is estimated at $10,000 per month.

Let's run the AI Agent for 1 month and evaluate its performance against the 5 salespeople we currently have.        

I realize this is an oversimplified scenario, but it can serve as an example of how you can begin implementing AI into your business. Using this framework will allow you to:

• Focus on solving a particular problem.
• Research the types of AI solutions available without feeling overwhelmed.
• Create an 'AI Pilot' team to research, implement, and measure.
• And, lastly, discover nuances in implementing an AI Agent which can then be generalized or expanded to other parts of your business.

Next: Big Window, Better Agents (Part 6)

Victor Antonio | Author | Speaker

'Sales Ex Machina: How AI is Changing the World of Selling' (2018) Download a Free Copy

#aiinsales #aiagents #prospecting #coldcalling