Service businesses do physical work in the real world. AI, on the other hand, operates strictly in the technological ether. It can’t install a countertop, replace siding, or service an HVAC unit, so how can it support your business?
It’s this stark difference in ways of working that makes AI a valuable tool for service businesses. Your work is face-to-face and with your hands, but keeping a business afloat requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work that diverts you from your real area of expertise.
AI can take some of that other work off your (literal) hands and be a virtual helper in essential business functions like sales and marketing, customer service, and logistics.
When you can tap AI to assist in support roles, you create more time for you and your skilled team to do what you all do best: Engage with customers and deliver top-notch service.
AI can help service businesses:
- Use AI to set appointments
- Create attention-grabbing online ads
- Optimize your sales pipeline
- Manage pricing optimization
- Build better proposals and estimates
- Strengthen customer communication
- Produce marketing materials
- Streamline dispatch
- Supplement your technician’s toolkit
- Enhance project management
- Help clients realize their dream space
11 Ways to use AI for service businesses
Lets take a closer look at each of these ways in which AI can help service businesses improve efficiency, increase customer satisfaction, and more.
1. Use AI to set appointments (such as Hatch Assistant)
AI can be used to talk to customers and set appointments for your business. This is done by evaluating the needs of your customer and comparing your services as indicated by your business profile or the data source you've connected your AI to.
Hatch Assistant, for example, can take your leads and proactively set them into an appointments funnel for your sales rep to schedule a time with. (In the future, Hatch Assistant will be able to integrate with your calendar system and book appointments for you!)
This improves your ROI for both your AI and whatever lead generator your business uses. With the help of AI tools turning more leads into appointments and connecting leads to reps who can schedule time for your customers, you can quickly increase your returns on software investments.
Curious about what Hatch Assistant looks like for your customers? Give it a try!
2. Create attention-grabbing online ads
Google’s suite of advertising products is incredibly effective in connecting new customers with home service providers. One analysis found that when Local Services Ads are present in search results, they receive 25.3% of all clicks.
Google has integrated AI throughout its ad platform to connect businesses with the right audience at the right time. AI assists with ad placement, bidding, and more.
And now, it can take a more active role in the creative process. Google recently announced a new AI chat feature to create visuals and copy for your Google Ads.
Simply share some existing marketing materials with the AI chat tool, and it will generate suggested keywords, descriptions, copy, and images.
3. Optimize your sales pipeline
Minor tweaks to your sales process can make a big difference for your business. Research shows that a robust codified approach to pipeline management can positively impact growth and revenues.
The faster and more efficiently you can move prospective customers from that first outreach to a purchase decision, the more deals you close–and the more space you create for your team to nurture even more prospects!
AI can support a variety of sales-focused initiatives. It can analyze data to identify your most promising leads. It can also crunch the numbers on your close rate and highlight weak spots within your process.
On the customer-facing side, AI can automate essential prospect communications. You’re 900% more likely to hear back if you contact a lead within five minutes of their first outreach. AI can help ensure you’re always the first business to respond to inquiries.
