If you’ve caught yourself saying “Siri, please schedule a meeting at 4 pm” or “Alexa, please play my favorite playlist” frequently, then you are a part of the growing tribe of people who rely on AI-driven virtual assistants for their everyday tasks.
Not, that it’s a bad thing.
In fact, these amazing, highly interactive AI-driven virtual assistants are designed to make your workday and personal life easier, so there’s no harm in using them as often as you like.
Both Siri & Alexa are here to stay, and it’s time you get used to them being in your home or office.
Though they may never replace virtual assistants, due to the personal touch factor, they are gradually making a transition in playing a significant role on the work front and in boosting your business.
Let’s take an in-depth look at some of the areas in which virtual assistants can help boost your business? But before we begin, let’s take a moment to know a bit about them and what they really are?
What are AI-Driven Virtual Assistants?
AI-Driven Virtual Assistants or Intelligent Virtual Assistants, as they are also known as, are AI-powered software programs that can work independently, without the need for constant human intervention.
They are a far superior version of the chatbots one usually finds on many websites. What makes them exceptional and better for businesses is their capability to keep learning as we interact with them.
Their skill at understanding and responding to customer queries naturally makes them a preferred choice over chatbots.
How can AI-driven virtual assistants boost your business
Improve Customer Service
While playing your favorite songs or looking up the latest movies in town are some of the most frequent tasks managed by AI-driven virtual assistants, they can also play a prominent role in improving your customer service levels and making it more cost-efficient.
As a business owner, you are well aware of the benefits and difficulties of managing a good customer service team. However, being able to promptly respond to customer queries and guide customers to the best resolutions quickly to the problems they are facing are highly challenging areas. Also, these chatbots act as personal assistants for home buyers, providing them with information about properties and answering questions offering guidance throughout the home-buying process.
It requires a well-trained, dedicated and disciplined customer service team, which is precisely what you can achieve with AI-driven virtual assistants.
Designed using neural networks and machine learning-based algorithms, AI-driven virtual assistants can recognize customer queries and respond accordingly. With natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, they can easily understand what a customer is saying and reply accordingly.
The AI-driven virtual assistants can also recognize synonyms, misspelled words, plurals, and informal language, making them indispensable as customer service representatives.
Another area that AI-driven virtual assistants can help improve your customer service levels istracking tracking and sharing the delivery status of a customer’s orders on a real-time basis with them.
Reduce costs and overheads
With AI-driven virtual assistants being programable to manage a wide range of tasks, from booking hotels and airline tickets to scheduling social media posts and following up on payments, you can save a lot on your employee retention costs. Solve resourcing challenges using a tool like Beamible to streamline task allocation and maximize efficiency.
Further, you don’t have to worry about hiring costs (which are pretty high nowadays) and resignation issues compared to employees who work from your office, making it a win-win situation for you.
An added benefit is the savings you can enjoy on salaries and other benefits (including taxes) that you would otherwise need to pay your office employees and regulatory authorities.
Improve efficiency at the workplace
AI-driven virtual assistants can also help free up the time of your senior team members in the digital workplace, allowing them to focus more on growing the business and building the customer network.
Similar to administrative virtual assistants, AI-driven virtual assistants can schedule your appointments, prioritize meetings based on your guidelines, and auto-respond to emails. If you’re looking for an easy way to work faster, this is a great option.
While these tasks may seem routine and small, they actually end up taking a better part of your workday and leave you exhausted, with very little energy left over for other important tasks.
AI-driven virtual assistants can manage all these tasks efficiently and share a detailed report on the tasks they perform throughout the day.
What also adds immense value to this entire process is that you can easily listen to your AI-driven virtual assistant during the drive/commute on your way back home in your favorite voice.
Assist your HR Team
Whether you are a small or large organization, many of your HR employees end up spending a considerable part of the day answering routine queries. From payroll details to annual leave policies, the query cycle seems never-ending and, more often than not, repetitive.
Using AI-driven virtual assistants is an excellent way to streamline the entire process and make it highly efficient. Furthermore, as employees receive prompt answers to their queries, it will also help build employee goodwill within the organization and keep them motivated towards their work.
The efficiency of the AI-driven virtual assistant system is not limited to just answering queries. You can also use it to screen and identify the top candidates, schedule interviews, answer questions from prospective employees, etc.
Other areas that they can assist the HR department are employee engagement, conducting discreet exit interviews, and actively seeking feedback from employees on the work culture within the organization.
AI-driven virtual assistants are revolutionizing the traditional ways of business
As companies grapple with workforce shortages or offer higher salaries and perks to retain their team, they need all the help they can get in the post-pandemic era.
With the effects of “The Great Resignation” still looming over many small and big businesses, AI-driven virtual assistants and remote assistants seem to be the only way ahead for businesses to survive.
AI-driven virtual assistants can help improve customer service levels and improve work efficiency with minimum human intervention. They can also increase the business momentum and engage better with prospective customers.
Businesses looking at using economies of scale and better brand awareness can also deploy AI-driven virtual assistants to improve and manage their marketing efforts for better ROI and long-term results Or even this new content marketing start-up that incorporates AI with a human team to deliver content at scale.
Given the scope of things AI can be used for, “Siri’ and “Alexa” may turn out to be the savior organizations have been waiting for to boost their business.
