Launch Fayette has been running classes for business owners who want to use AI and don’t know where to start, and the Fayette Chamber has hosted AI lunch sessions. So a lot of owners around here are asking the same question: what can AI actually do for my business?
I set this up for a living, so keep that in mind.
What does AI do well right now?
Answering the phone and your website form
This is the biggest one for most businesses here. If a missed call means a missed customer, AI can answer in seconds, get the details, book the appointment, and pass anything unusual to a person. How fast you call back a new lead is where a lot of local businesses lose money, and this part works well now.
Drafting the emails you were going to write anyway
AI sorts your inbox by what needs you and drafts the routine replies. You check them and hit send. Owners who spend most of the day in email get the most out of this, and law firms and CPAs get more out of it than almost anyone.
Paperwork someone keeps retyping
New-client forms, insurance info, and invoices that get copied from one program into another. If someone at your business types in information that already exists somewhere else, AI can usually handle that job.
Asking every customer for a review
Every finished job sends the customer a review request at the right time. Reviews affect your Google ranking and whether ChatGPT names your business when someone asks for a recommendation. Most businesses only ask when the owner remembers to.
Call notes that save themselves
Consults and estimates get written up and saved where they belong, so follow-ups don’t depend on someone remembering.
What does AI do badly?
Being you
If your customers come to you because of relationships, don’t let AI be the one talking to them about anything important. Customers can tell when a reply is automated, and it makes them trust you less. When I set something up, part of the job is deciding which messages stay with a person.
Jobs you can’t describe
AI follows a process. If the process only exists in your head and changes every time, AI will just make mistakes faster.
Replacing someone you’d rather not manage
Sometimes AI can take over the repetitive part of a job. But it doesn’t check its own work. Someone still has to keep an eye on it and fix it when a tool changes, so plan for that time.
How do you pick which jobs to hand to AI?
I ask two questions about every task. How often does it happen? And does it need to come out the same way every time? If it happens every day and needs to be consistent, it’s a good fit. If it happens twice a year or depends on judgment, leave it alone.
Run your business through those two questions and you’ll probably find a few good candidates, which is about the right size for a first project. My audit does this with you in 45 minutes over a beer at Line Creek, and you keep the list.
Why does this matter now?
The tools got good enough for small businesses over the last couple of years, and most of what’s above is setup work now.
The bigger change is that your customers started asking AI for recommendations. When someone new to Peachtree City asks ChatGPT for a family dentist, it names a few businesses and leaves everyone else out. The businesses that get their reviews and listings in order this year will be ahead of the ones that wait. Here’s how to check where you stand.
Fayette County has a lot of the businesses this works best for, like law offices, medical practices, and trades with staff doing the same tasks every day. That’s why I started Bubble City AI here instead of going after all of Atlanta.
Where should you start?
- Pick the problem that bugs you most: missed calls, email, retyping, or not enough reviews.
- Ask the two questions about it. If it happens a lot and needs to be the same every time, start there.
- Start with one to three setups.
- Decide which messages stay with a person, and write it down.
- Whoever sets it up, make sure you own the accounts and get written instructions. If a vendor won’t give you the logins, they’re planning on you paying them forever.
If you want help with the first two steps, text me at (478) 377-5985 to set up an audit over a beer at Line Creek.