You are running a small business but you don’t have enough money to start a customer service? Well, you are not the only one. Most small business owners juggle between cost-cutting and boosting efficiency.

Generally, boosting productivity and increasing efficiency means you have to spend a lot of money on everything. Business is indeed all about money so this comes as no surprise. However, as a business owner, you need to look at the bigger picture. You have to understand that there are ways you can work on improving the brand without breaking the bank.

Still confused? Don’t be.

I was in your shoes just a few months ago. I own a small business and have been in the market for the last three and a half years. As a small business, you have to wear many hats. One day you are the client specialist, the other day you are the marketer and some day you are the dispatch specialist. 

Although this offers you a better understanding of operations it may lead you to neglect important things as well. Customer service is one such thing that most small businesses end up neglecting altogether. Blame it on the lack of resources or underestimating its importance, small businesses just cannot seem to get hold of their customer service.

If you are also going through the same, keep reading, as I will help you build solid customer service without spending a single penny or hiring anyone. 

Step By Step Guide To Building Solid Customer Service with AI 

• Scrap Data from Big Brands 

If you think customer service with AI is not a good idea, you need to look at the companies offering the best customer service first. Even big and successful brands like Xfinity through their Xfinity customer service are using AI and their success is a sign that AI actually works.

You can explore and experience their customer service and see how you can implement their strategy for your business. Learning from case studies of big brands will not just help you set a perspective for your brand but it will further help you to replicate the features that have worked out for the big brands. 

To learn from the big brands, using data scrapping tools powered by AI. Tools like Bardeen.ai, Webscraper.io, Instant Data Scraper, ParseHub, Octoparse, and Byteline can help you easily scrap data and learn from brands.

• Build a Humanized Response

For a small business, templates work all the time. You have a template for pitching your business to investors, a template for a complaint response, and a template for a sales pitch. However, most of these templates are general and they make your business sound like another brand on the block.

Don’t want that but also don’t want to write a response from scratch every time? Try Einstein Copilot. This is an AI tool that can help you quickly generate a fully personalized reply every time. The best thing about this AI is that the user can command the tool to write a new response every time. 

The response language is simple and natural and you can customize your tool to write a response based on relevant customer data, blogs on the sites, and any external source data offered by the business. 

• Minimize Response Time via Chatbot

Chatbot is the future and if you are not using them already, you are missing out on a great opportunity. Chatbots are fully autonomous and offer prompt responses to the customer. In case you are worried about the price tag, don’t be.

There are third-party chatbots that can be integrated with your website and communication channels. These chatbots are powered by AI and machine learning so; they get better with time and every interaction. You can train the chatbot based on your needs, help it learn the limitations of your brand, or just use it for FAQ and welcome greetings.

In case you are looking for free Chatbots, you can explore Chatling, IntelliTicks, QuickReply.ai, Engati, Zoho SalesIQ, Verloop.io, and Flow XO. With these options, you can fully customize everything based on the needs and requirements of your brand. 

• 24/7, 365 Customer Service

For a small business, offering reliable customer service 24/7, 365 days a year is quite challenging. I mean how can you possibly pay for it? In case you are thinking about outsourcing, think again. There is no doubt that it is relatively affordable but you will be compromising company data and jeopardizing the reputation. 

A simple solution is to just deploy an AI-powered chatbot. Even big and reputable companies like Photobucket are using third-party chatbots like Zendesk bots. In case you want to check the performance, you can simply check it directly or just try to contact Photobucket to analyze the response. 

Wrap Up

Customer service is important for business but it is quite expensive as well. So, if you are a solopreneur struggling with customer service, the above-mentioned AI tools can help.