The last couple of years have been particularly hard for businesses, with the effects of the pandemic still being felt and the current economic situation creating turbulent fiscal waters. Those businesses that have successfully navigated these challenging times already know the importance of reducing costs in order to stay afloat and thrive.
Next year offers even more opportunities to streamline your enterprise and keep expenses down to boot, with the range of smart AI tech and tools available designed to help businesses like yours do just that. Easy to deploy and use, intuitive, and geared to be compatible with a vast range of working styles and practices, this tech could have a profoundly happy effect on your business’s bottom line.
A Better Email Client
Not all email clients are born equal, and today’s new breed of email apps and platforms is a testament to just how far tech has come on this front. It’s easy to stick with the ‘standard’ email app that came pre-loaded with your business’s software – but switching could save you a significant amount of money by boosting productivity and helping you make better use of staff time.
Look for innovative new solutions that offer features like priority inboxes, which allow your workforce to concentrate on the important task at hand without being interrupted by a frequent stream of un-urgent messages, and the ability to shift from messaging to voice notes or even video calling in-app – a great way to optimize workflow.
The email client Spike provides a unique form of messaging in the form of email chat, combining all the functionality of traditional emailing with the natural flow of instant messaging. This has many advantages: there’s no need for long-winded back-and-forth emailing throughout the day to get an answer or reach a conclusion; the information needed can be obtained quickly and efficiently. Plus, following a thread and locating the salient points is much quicker and easier without the mess of annoying headers, signatures, etc., getting in the way. Email chat is also a great way to connect your team, especially if you deploy remote or hybrid working, and keep everyone in the loop.
Reducing Errors
Errors cost money: fact. Whether a payroll slip-up means an employee needs to spend time sorting out the mistake or if an error on a regularly-occurring order means you end up spending more than was necessary, these things can have a significant detrimental impact on your business’s bottom line.
AI tools can really help out here. By using a tech solution to automate elements of your HR and payment processes, for example, you can be sure that those salary slip-ups will be a thing of the past. You’ll also have peace of mind in terms of compliance and can rest easy that you won’t be hit with a nasty, unexpected bill for filing incorrectly or late.
Consider deploying an AI personal assistant to ensure you never miss a meeting and that every forthcoming appointment gets logged, along with the actions required to be taken ahead of time. This, along with the examples above, are just a few ways that bringing AI tech on board can reduce the risk of having to spend your budget on fixing errors.
Chatbots for Connecting with Customers 24/7
Customers now expect to be able to connect with your business on a 24/7 basis and, if they’re unable to do so, are likely to switch to a competitor. AI chatbots could be the answer! These tools aren’t the clunky virtual operators of yesteryear that had a very limited range of responses and to which you needed to phrase a question in a set way to get an answer that made sense. These chatbots are AI-enriched and use NLP (natural language processing) systems to help clients with even complex problems.
This means that as well as helping you maintain and grow your customer base, you can save on staff time as, even during regular office hours, many people now prefer to use a high-quality chatbot to help them with their queries.
Bolsters Digital Security
A data breach can be one of the worst things a business can suffer. On top of the significant expense entailed in fixing the problem and getting your systems up and running again, the cost in terms of public perception and the reputational damage to your brand can be enormous.
Using AI solutions to bolster your digital security could literally save you a fortune in money and more. One of the key reasons that AI cybersecurity excels is its inherent capacity to learn. It can protect your business from known threats and those that haven’t yet materialized by constantly analyzing patterns of behavior and big data. Further, AI solutions offer advanced vulnerability management by allowing you to assess any system weaknesses quickly so you can resolve matters and guard against threats.
Reducing Costs and Boosting Productivity
Tech is moving faster than ever before, and this is nowhere more apparent than in the field of AI. From tools to amp up and streamline workflow to automated systems which can handle swatches of your business processes, the ways that this kind of tech can cut your annual business expenses are near endless.
Next year is the perfect time to deploy some new AI tools into your business, save on costs and increase productivity, and help make 2023 your most profitable yet!
