0:37

Welcome to the Veronica Edwards

0:39

show where we have fun financial

0:42

conversations that everyone listening

0:44

can apply to their personal and professional

0:46

life . I'm your host , veronica

0:48

Edwards , and I'm so excited

0:51

to be back here . Season three on

0:53

biz radio dot US . We are

0:55

approaching for a thousand downloads

0:57

. That's the goal before season four and

1:00

just so thankful for the V team for continuing

1:03

to support the show . I can't believe it's

1:05

been three years and

1:07

one of the new segments that we have

1:09

season three that we're going to have today is

1:11

our small biz hot topics

1:14

with co-hosts and friends of

1:16

the show . C O O of

1:18

Cassie Electric , the only minority

1:20

female owned electrical business in the state of South

1:22

Carolina , miss Ebony Sullivan . Welcome , ebony . Thank

1:25

you so much for having me Absolutely

1:28

so you know this is our second

1:31

segment of small biz

1:33

hot topics but for those that didn't listen

1:35

to the one we had last quarter , it's

1:37

all about , you know , just

1:40

trying to provide small

1:42

business owners little tips , things that

1:44

can help them with their business , especially

1:46

Ebony , with your background with

1:48

public speaking and business coaching

1:51

. I always tell Ebony she's everyone's therapist

1:53

and doctor and cook and all that

1:55

other fun stuff , so

1:57

I couldn't think of anybody else that I would want to do

1:59

this show with . So today's

2:02

topic is artificial

2:04

intelligence Ebony . We've been talking

2:06

about this AI and it's been

2:09

around for a little while , but we're seeing

2:11

it really explode more and more

2:13

, especially in 2023 , going

2:15

into 2024 . And this

2:17

show is going to air

2:20

right before 2024 . So

2:22

we wanted to give small businesses

2:24

a kind of a leg up on

2:27

using AI for their business . So first

2:29

I want to define it before we jump into

2:31

how it can help a small business . So artificial

2:34

intelligence AI

2:36

is all about

2:39

you know , machines

2:41

and softwares doing things for you

2:43

, as opposed to humans , and in the definition

2:46

. they even say animals . I don't know how much animals

2:48

are doing for you in your business , but the

2:50

areas that we're going to discuss today

2:52

of how this machines

2:54

and softwares can help your business is one in customer

2:57

service , secondly with marketing

2:59

and then , lastly , what we know we get

3:01

the most bang for our buck is reduction in staff

3:04

. So , ebony , can you kick us off with the customer

3:06

experience ?

3:08

Yes , I would love to so

3:10

. As businesses strive to enhance customer

3:13

services , ai is emerging

3:15

as a powerful tool for customer service

3:17

. Chat boxes are becoming increasingly

3:20

prevalent for their abilities to mimic

3:22

human like conversations and

3:24

perform routine tasks . By using

3:26

chat box , small businesses can

3:28

deliver prompt and seamless customer

3:30

service , reducing wait times and

3:32

cutting staff costs . In addition

3:35

, chat box can learn from customer

3:37

interactions , continuously improving

3:39

their accuracy and effectiveness . Some

3:42

examples of AI that we can use

3:44

in customer service will be some

3:46

things like chat , gpt

3:48

or Google Bard , which provides

3:50

a seamless and customizable experience

3:53

for businesses by using natural

3:55

language processing . These platforms

3:58

can recognize and respond to customers inquiries

4:00

effectively to ensure that customers

4:02

receive personalized attention , which

4:04

improves overall satisfaction . So

4:08

you know ?

4:09

I mean I , oh sorry . I mean I just want to jump in

4:11

real quick , because when you mentioned the

4:13

chat box I didn't even think about that

4:15

being AI . But I don't know how many times I've

4:17

gone on a website and immediately a box

4:19

comes up and they're like hey , we

4:21

just want to help you and I know Evanie with your

4:24

business with Cassie Electric . You guys

4:26

provide maintenance and warranty

4:28

. Are you guys utilizing this ? Because

4:30

I was like , oh , it's not as much needed

4:33

in my business being a service provider , but

4:35

I am kind of curious if you've utilized this

4:37

with Cassie Electric .

4:40

So we do not currently use chat

4:42

boxes , but what we do is

4:44

we have a software that we use that allows

4:46

us to use everything in one

4:48

place , and it also automates a

4:50

lot of our processes for us . So

4:52

now I don't have to go in

4:54

and send reminders

4:57

to my customers that I'm coming or

4:59

that we're on our way or that we've

5:01

finished the job , and when

5:03

I send the button for the invoices , all

5:06

of those things have now become very automated

5:08

through these systems because of artificial intelligence

5:11

. Right , so they can

5:13

track you . They can . A lot of

5:15

people are scared of this . I am a little

5:17

bit scared .

5:20

Yes , the whole track is , but it's just . But

5:23

if you got a cell phone , I feel like you're being

5:25

tracked , like , even if you take the location , all

5:27

that . I think now that the way technology

5:29

has just exploded in the last 20

5:31

years , yeah , you might as well put a chip in the

5:33

back of my neck .

5:34

You could find it Pretty much I

5:36

mean with the beautiful part now , while I'm while I'm scared

5:38

to own some more business owners out there , it

5:40

is life changing , it is gang

5:43

changing . I mean there's no more , there's

5:45

no longer a need for the pushing paper you

5:47

know , rolling your company anymore , when

5:49

you can have some automations and

5:52

have some artificial intelligence incorporated

5:54

in your day to day so that you can

5:56

have more efficiency in

5:58

the work that you do . You can streamline

6:00

a lot of processes so that you can just

6:02

set it and forget it , and

6:04

it frees you up to be more of

6:06

an owner of the company where you can work for your

6:08

business rather than in your business . And

6:10

so I think that having this from

6:13

a customer service experience while

6:15

your customers do experience a

6:17

much better

6:19

product and service offering because

6:21

they get to interact with someone

6:23

pretty instantaneously you

6:27

have now to

6:29

really work with your time , because now

6:32

you freed yourself up from having to

6:34

sit on that telephone or having

6:36

to call people back or having

6:38

to do these things , and so really consider

6:40

it as a really good tool for

6:42

you to be able to free you up to work

6:45

on your business .

6:46

Yeah , I think you hit it right on the head , especially

6:49

with the timely turnaround

6:51

for customer service , because we live in an age now

6:53

where if you're waiting more than 15

6:55

seconds , you're like , oh , I'm waiting so long

6:57

. So it is nice when I have

6:59

ordered something or I've

7:01

put in a ticket and I immediately get

7:03

an email saying , hey , we're working on your order

7:06

or we're working on your ticket . It's something about

7:08

that communication and , unfortunately

7:10

, with small business owners , when it's just

7:13

you doing a lot of things as the

7:15

owner your marketing , your customer service or all this

7:17

if you don't have bodies

7:19

helping you , that's okay now , but

7:21

you do have to invest , because AI

7:24

isn't cheap , but it isn't good investment

7:27

in your business to show that you're professional

7:29

. I've had people where they

7:31

won't even work with the company if they

7:33

didn't get good customer service , even if it's a great

7:35

product . So that's a big thing . I

7:37

want those that are listening that provide

7:40

any type of service

7:42

. You have to make sure that

7:44

you're A1 when it comes to

7:47

your customer service turnaround time , because

7:50

that's where you can lose people forever

7:52

. They haven't even got a chance to see your product

7:54

.

7:54

Absolutely . I mean , I was on a call yesterday

7:56

and I had to hold for

7:59

about two hours before I

8:01

actually got a live person on the phone

8:03

and then , after we went through our call , I

8:05

said well , how do I follow up with you to make

8:08

sure that this is actually going to happen ? When you say

8:10

he says well , I would suggest

8:12

that you download our app

8:14

and you chat with someone

8:16

, because you would get a faster

8:19

, better response time . So

8:21

I'm like they're telling their training

8:24

their staff , their training people to

8:26

now use these automated systems , because

8:28

if you want quickly , fast-talked

8:31

customer service , that's

8:34

the new wave .

8:36

I definitely see it being an account . At working

8:38

with QuickBooks , that's always

8:40

the first thing that they say is talk to the person

8:42

in the chat and then , after the chat

8:45

, if they weren't able to answer your question

8:47

, okay , then we'll give you a number . But

8:49

really , to your point , they're really trying

8:51

to retrain all of us and

8:53

even their staff . That , hey , the

8:55

first impulse

8:58

is I want to talk to a person . Well , if

9:00

we can alleviate whatever issues that you're

9:02

having via chat , it's cheaper

9:04

, it's easier . I say do it . I'm

9:07

even noticing now on Zoom

9:09

, there's like an AI feature . So

9:11

I was in a meeting with someone where they were

9:13

using their virtual assistant

9:16

, AI and Zoom to do

9:18

all the notes capturing all

9:21

of that . So that just blows my mind .

9:23

Wow , that's so cool though . Can you

9:25

think about that ? That is really cool , exactly

9:27

.

9:28

Just to the third item , which is how

9:31

artificial intelligence can help you with

9:33

marketing . And I'm experiencing

9:35

that here on Biz Radio

9:37

because we've implemented AI

9:40

for when we're saying , hey , the

9:42

small Biz Chat with Ebony Sullivan's

9:44

on and it's listening to everything

9:46

that we're doing right now and it's creating

9:49

that advertisement . And I

9:51

want to say I'm paying less than

9:53

15 bucks a month for this feature

9:55

, where in the past I would have to

9:57

have written this , that someone else

9:59

is proofing it and double checking it and

10:01

all of these things . So if

10:03

you definitely small business owners listening

10:06

can personalize your marketing . It

10:08

can help you analyze customer service , data

10:10

and behaviors , demographics

10:12

. What makes sense is looking at all

10:15

these , as people have heard , algorithms

10:17

we're just looking at all this data and

10:19

processing it so you can have a better

10:21

idea of who are your customers

10:24

people that are coming on your side , people

10:26

that are buying your items . What is it

10:28

exactly that they're looking for ? We're you

10:30

know how to best target them . So , again

10:33

, this is things back in the

10:35

day . It took years of history to

10:37

get this information and people

10:39

and man hours , and now

10:41

you can actually pay for a software that could

10:43

do that in a sliver of a time . Ebony

10:46

have you again , with you being a

10:48

small business owner yourself . Have you

10:50

utilized any of this marketing tools

10:52

for your business ?

10:54

Every day , all day . I mean , if you're

10:56

a nerd and you're a data collector , you've

10:58

got to be in on all of this right . And

11:01

the old school times like , just to

11:04

help people who may not really understand

11:06

the old school times was research

11:08

right , like we had to go to this

11:11

. We had to go look for things , we

11:13

had to find things . Now

11:16

, with this new AI technology

11:18

and as you were talking about algorithms and

11:20

tracking , this data it's collect

11:23

, it is your reference , it is your encyclopedia

11:25

. It has all the information that you need

11:27

as a business owner to make some real strategic

11:30

decisions about your business

11:32

. So it's important that you invest

11:34

in some portion of

11:37

this if you are marketing your business to

11:39

the public , because there's no way

11:41

you are going to know who your customers

11:43

are . When are they shopping

11:45

? What are they looking for ? It is actually

11:48

tracking people's behaviors . It's

11:50

telling you customers

11:52

are looking at your website between

11:55

the hours of nine and 11 , right

11:57

. So now you know if you're sending out blog

11:59

posts , if you're posting things on your

12:01

social media , if you're doing certain things

12:03

, you know now when to do it , right . You

12:06

also it will tell you these people

12:08

between the ages of 25

12:10

and 35 are looking at

12:12

your stuff . Okay , well , that's great . What

12:15

does that mean for me ? That means , now I

12:17

know my target audience is

12:19

25 to 35 , right

12:21

, and now I know my messaging

12:24

and my words and the things that

12:26

I say should be targeted to these

12:28

specific people . And so , again

12:30

, while I know it's very scary , we

12:32

use it every day , all day , in our marketing

12:35

techniques , because now we know where

12:37

to place our ads , what are the

12:39

key words that we need to say in there

12:41

to be able to help people find us

12:43

. We know who people are

12:45

that are looking at us , we know when they're

12:47

shopping for us , and that

12:49

helps us to make good decisions on how

12:52

we strategically grow our business .

12:55

Absolutely , and , like you said , a lot of the stuff is already

12:57

out here and most of us already use

12:59

, like Google suite . Well , they also now

13:02

have Google Cloud AI

13:04

and their whole mission is to spread useful

13:07

AI effectively all over the world . However that

13:09

might be so , if you're already using Google

13:11

suite listeners , look into that also

13:14

, because any platform

13:16

now software based , I'm sure they're now

13:18

adding a layer of AI

13:20

to their systems because they know

13:22

like this is the way , like this is what we're

13:24

moving to , which leads us . Lastly

13:27

, with all of these benefits

13:29

, the biggest one , I mean we

13:31

know , is reduction in staff , you know so on

13:33

the business owners were like , oh

13:35

, positive . But for

13:38

an employee they're kind of like , okay , this

13:40

is messing up my job security . So what

13:42

positives from the owner standpoint

13:44

do we see with this reduction staffing

13:47

?

13:48

Oh man , I mean it's , it's effective

13:51

, it's efficient , is cost

13:54

effective . You get

13:56

to have less office

13:58

space because you don't have to have so many

14:00

butts and seats . You

14:02

see a huge reduction in expenses

14:05

because you're not having to pay for travel

14:08

or reimbursements and all these

14:10

other things . And if you hire

14:12

a virtual assistant they're

14:15

not really yours , so

14:17

they're 1099 , which means

14:19

I'm not really responsible for any benefits

14:21

. I'm not responsible for all of these other

14:23

things as an employer that

14:26

I would be normally responsible for if I actually

14:28

walk somebody in my door and set them

14:30

at my front desk , right . So the

14:33

benefit of that is that they're

14:35

always available to some degree

14:37

. That's kind of scary too , but

14:39

that they will always be available , that

14:41

you have access to them

14:43

at any place , anytime . So if you're

14:45

traveling , it doesn't

14:47

matter , you know . If you have a home based business

14:50

, it doesn't matter . And if you're running

14:52

a large corporation , it's a huge

14:54

cost savings for you to be able

14:57

to say you know , I don't have

14:59

to pay for one extra head in the building

15:01

.

15:01

Right , exactly , and one

15:03

of the terms that I ran across doing research on

15:05

AI is this hybrid intelligence

15:08

where even though you

15:10

know we are using AI , we still

15:13

need to collaboratively work

15:15

with AI and humans , you know so for

15:17

that hybrid intelligence . So , again , we're not replacing

15:19

all staff , but this is

15:21

an area where we can enhance

15:24

it . And , with that being said , there

15:26

are some cons , some negatives

15:29

, also to keep in mind with AI because , like

15:31

anything , nothing is going to be perfect

15:33

. So , again , there's a cost

15:35

with this . Some are inexpensive , some

15:37

are a little bit more expensive , depending

15:40

on the complexity of your business , but

15:42

, like I stated , you know I'm using

15:44

an AI function . It's less than $20

15:46

a month . Some might be more than that

15:48

, but it's definitely something to keep in

15:50

mind . There is a cost and usually

15:53

a monthly subscription that comes with using AI

15:55

. And then also , ai

15:58

is not always fact check , so

16:00

don't just assume that everything that

16:02

comes through . If you

16:04

have an AI virtual assistant and

16:06

they're putting the information in , sometimes

16:09

you know everything's based on the internet and

16:11

if things aren't up to date , there could

16:13

be some inaccuracies because

16:16

the information has not been updated

16:18

. And then , lastly , again , there's

16:20

always going to be bias and there's no emotions

16:22

when you're dealing with Robots

16:24

. You know and dealing with , you know , artificial

16:27

intelligence . I had somebody before I was receiving

16:29

out again it was a customer service situation

16:31

. I'm emailing and the person was just responding

16:34

back so robotic and so cold

16:36

and sure enough , it was AI

16:39

. So I could tell it's . You know , I could

16:41

tell sometimes where I'm like oh , this doesn't feel

16:43

like it's a real person . But

16:45

at the same time , you

16:47

know there's biases with humans too . You

16:49

know so that you know we have to take the

16:51

good with the bad , but to me there's

16:54

a lot more good . When it comes

16:56

to AI , you know many both

16:58

are still pretty young business owners

17:00

. You know , in the last five years

17:02

we've really focused in Entrepreneurship

17:05

. But I would have to say this is one of

17:07

the areas I'm really excited about , because

17:09

, being a solo for newer , I need

17:11

to have somebody to bat . In the other , something

17:14

does happen . So I look at it

17:16

as a positive that you know I can take

17:18

a vacation , I can take some time off

17:20

and To the customer

17:22

, it appears as if I'm still

17:24

being responsive . Marketing is still

17:26

going out automatically and

17:28

. It's completely seamless

17:31

to the end users .

17:33

I think you said a very good thing . Be that

17:35

it is something that you have to incorporate

17:37

with humans . It's not a all

17:40

a men ends to mean all right

17:42

, like where you oh , I got a virtual

17:44

assistant or I have AI and like

17:46

I don't need people . No , I

17:48

do that . They do work hand in hand

17:51

, hand well together . I don't know if people remember

17:53

the big wave of robots . You know manufacturing

17:56

In South Carolina and

17:59

that was a people's job and then

18:01

robots came , placed

18:03

a lot , but it

18:05

didn't replace all the people , right , and

18:07

so that's how I look at AI

18:09

. Ai , yes , it replaces

18:11

some of these very mundane

18:14

, automated , easy

18:16

, low hanging fruit items that you

18:18

can just scrape off your plate and not have to think

18:20

about , but anything that You'd

18:23

have personality , you

18:25

know that's , that's

18:27

what your business development had on

18:29

, and you have to build Relationships

18:32

. You don't want to use AI to

18:34

do that . Right , you want AI

18:36

or just very , very low

18:39

hanging manufacturing

18:41

type routine things

18:44

that you can set it and forget it and

18:46

not think about that anymore . Because

18:48

AI does not need to be your

18:51

personality or the face of

18:53

your business , because then you

18:55

become very much like you said your brand

18:58

becomes very I

19:00

and stale and very robotic

19:02

, and if you wanted to be A

19:04

feeling that people feel when

19:06

they do business with you , then you still

19:09

have to engage . You still need to be

19:11

the face , the voice

19:13

, the present person for your business

19:16

and allow AI to just handle the

19:18

low hanging fruit for you .

19:20

That's perfect , perfect way to end

19:22

it . So again , thank you , miss Sullivan

19:25

, for coming back on for

19:27

our second installment of small

19:29

biz hot topics . Ebony , if you can just plug

19:31

a little bit about Cassie electric , always do

19:33

a little intro in the beginning but To

19:35

segue out , I would love for you to plug again

19:38

where people can find more information about

19:40

the service that you guys provide in South Carolina

19:42

and the greater area .

19:44

Thank you so much . We are um Cassie electric

19:47

, that's c a s s y electric

19:49

. We are on facebook , instagram

19:52

. We are on youtube catch some of

19:54

our tick tock videos . We have our website

19:56

, wwwcassieelectriccom

19:59

. You can always reach us by phone 864

20:01

735 8882

20:03

. We are small on 100

20:06

woman , minority on business . We

20:08

serve as residential , commercial and facility

20:11

maintenance needs for all electrical installs

20:13

, so we'd love being here on biz

20:15

radio with you , veronica . Thank you so much again for

20:17

having me here , um , and thank you

20:19

, listeners , for indulging us on

20:22

our business chats .

20:24

Absolutely . And yes , I want to thank the

20:26

listeners for tuning into biz radio dot us

20:28

. Please come back next week . Same

20:30

time , same place , 10 am

20:32

On Wednesdays for the Veronica Edward

20:35

show . And if you missed the live airings

20:37

, you can listen to all prior shows at

20:39

Veronica Edwards dot buzz sprout

20:41

dot com .