How to use AI in your business today
When we feared the Internet
In the 1990’s when the internet exploded into the business world, some business owners embraced it, rode the hype even, others feared the unknown. They feared the risk it brought in terms of sensitive information and Intellectual Property being shared and of course the risk of businesses being ‘hacked’ and exposed. They perhaps even feared the unknown, something new and different and didn’t quite understand how to use it within their business.
The way we use the internet in our everyday life and in business has evolved dramatically in the past 20 years.
It’s a normal part of our lives, in fact I couldn’t see myself not living with it. The ease it brings in terms of connectivity, sharing information and how we use it as a tool to assist with processes, systems and efficiencies has streamlined the way we work. It provides a great client journey and assists us in providing great value to people not just locally but across the globe.
With AI, businesses are facing the same predicament they did back in the 1990’s
Now, with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI), think ChatGPT, today’s business owners are in the same predicament as those in the 1990’s - do you ride the hype of AI or do you tread with caution?
If I think back to those in the 1990’s who embraced the internet, one business comes to mind, Amazon. Owner, Jeff Bezos, was able to beat larger and very successful brick and mortar retail businesses with his strategic thinking, planning and execution of a different sales channel - online shopping. While some of these bricks and mortar businesses somewhat struggled at the time to see how the internet could be used in their day to day business, Bezos used the data and analytics he collected to do one thing extremely well, provide an exceptional customer journey.
Take a lesson from Jeff Bezos, Owner of Amazon:
Saw the internet as a new sales channel by leveraging it’s reach and delivering a larger selection of products to more customers across the globe, he wasn’t restricted to his local area like a traditional bricks and mortar retailer.
He could offer a selection of products at a much more competitive price than bricks and mortar retailers by investing in technology to assist in streamlining operations allowing him to offer lower costs of the products and services.
He focused heavily on customer service and building a loyal customer base by providing them a personalised experience.
He leveraged the power of data to understand his customers behaviours and preferences by using algorithms and analytics to track and analyse customers. This allowed Amazon to tailor their marketing strategies with more accuracy than other retailers.
He was able to rapidly grow the business by offering new products and services by heavily investing in infrastructure including warehouse and distribution centres.
Bezos didn’t fear new technology, he embraced it
What Bezos did was to use this new technology as a tool to revolutionise the retail industry and the way consumers interacted with his business. He used the internet from both an internal efficiency point of view and always kept in mind his customers and their journey while buying from Amazon and with the introduction of AI, you can do the same.
But I will caution you to tread lightly.
Here’s what we’re advising our clients to do:
Investigate how you can use AI in your business to streamline and provide more efficiencies. Look at it as a tool for you to do business better.
Look at the tools you already have in your business that you’re not utilising to their full capacity and work out how you can better leverage, refine and improve them.
Investigate AI and begin to see how you can utilise the tools and platforms (there are many) to deliver better value to your customers and retain their loyalty.
You can watch a recent video on the advice I’m giving clients by clicking here:
I will leave you with this final note:
There is still a lot of evolving that AI needs to do which will happen quite rapidly over the next few years. It’s exciting to see where this will lead and how it will impact how we all do business. Those businesses who embrace it as another tool and investigate ways they can leverage AI in their business will benefit greatly from this new technology as long as customer service is still at the forefront of everything they do. Those who jump on the hype too quickly without fully investigating how it will impact them and their customer journey in the long term may find themselves having to backtrack and rebuild customer loyalty.