Five business flows where companies can gain measurable value from artificial intelligence within 90 days
I talk to many who already use artificial intelligence and it's clear that it makes everyday life easier. Emails are sent faster, meetings can be summarized in a snap and quote drafts become much better. When I ask where they see the most difference in operations such as shorter response times, more won deals or fewer missed inquiries, it's often quiet. There's nothing wrong with the technology, but often it's a matter of it being in the wrong place. Most companies see clear value when artificial intelligence is connected to the business flows they already use every week: incoming request, deal progresses, issue is resolved, meeting is booked, week is summarized. Here are five examples of such flows that are realistic to improve in a quarter without having to redo the entire IT environment.
(Originally published on LinkedIn)
What is a business flow and what is measurable value?
A business flow is like a chain of steps from the first signal to the final valuable delivery. From lead or request, on to handling, delivery or conclusion and finally follow-up.
The real value shows itself when you can show numbers. Faster responses, fewer forgotten deals and a smoother queue of issues.
Artificial intelligence has the greatest impact when it's not just a standalone text generator. It becomes much more valuable when it has context like the customer, the deal, the issue and the meeting. It can help suggest the next step, not just the next sentence.
Before you choose a flow
Choose something that repeats often, has a clear owner and leaves traces in email, CRM, ticket system or calendar. Start with suggestions that someone approves. Not fully automated to the customer. Measure two things before and after, one flow at a time.
1. Incoming inquiries
The most common problem is not how much people have to do, but that everything ends up in the same pile. An important customer can wait as long as someone just asking about opening hours. No one knows who should handle it or if there's already an ongoing deal or open issue.
That's where classification can make a big difference. For example sales, support, invoicing or other. With suggestions on priority and who is responsible. Remember to link to existing customer instead of starting over each time.
Also find out how quickly you get a first response and how many inquiries are actually followed up. A simple rule to follow in the meantime is that each channel should have its own queue and a clear owner. Without that, no technology can work wonders.
2. Sales follow-up and pipeline
Pipeline that looks good in the presentation but where nothing happens is unfortunately more common than you'd think. Deals can get stuck and it's often the next step that sits in the salesperson's head. The forecast risks being based on gut feeling and percentages.
Reminders based on stage and latest activity are a great help. Even more important is to clearly force "next step + date" for every open deal. The technology can show what's missing. Like fourteen days without activity or that no contact person is linked. But human responsibility is decisive.
Track the percentage of deals that have a clear next step and a scheduled time in the stages where you often lose deals. It's a good way to see if you're getting anything done during the quarter.
3. Customer support and issues
There can be a long queue and sometimes quality can vary depending on who answers. We get the same questions over and over again. By using triage - that is, prioritizing, categorizing and setting the tone - and providing suggestions for answers based on similar issues, we can save valuable time.
Being able to give service level warnings before the customer themselves feels the situation is escalating can often be more valuable than just quickly formulating an answer. Please have someone read through and forward it. How quickly you can give the first response and solution often shows clearly if you're on the right track.
4. Bookings and meetings
No-shows and empty slots can become expensive and it's almost as costly to have meetings without follow-up. Good conversations but nothing that leads to the next step in the system. Reminders and suggestions for times based on availability are simple but valuable improvements.
The most important thing is that each booking is linked to a customer or a deal. Without that, the calendar risks becoming just a list of events that doesn't help the business grow.
5. Weekly management
The Monday meeting is still organized very manually with information pulled from Excel, email and three other systems. It can take time and the information you get can quickly become outdated.
A weekly report that includes new inquiries, pipeline, open issues and upcoming meetings with three specific decisions that must be made can make a big difference. It's not that management is slow but that data collection often takes a lot of the meeting time.
Try measuring how much preparation is required and how many decisions you actually follow up on the week after, and you can get a better overview and more efficient meetings.
90 days: how to do it
Week 1–2: choose a flow, appoint process owner, measure baseline.
Week 3–8: introduce rules and assistance, link data between systems.
Week 9–12: compare numbers, adjust or take on the next flow.
The value grows when customer, deal, issue and calendar share the same basis. An assistant that only writes text is convenient. One that knows what's open and can suggest the next step is something else. Regardless of which platform you use.