Leveraging AI Phone Agents to improve Sales and Customer Service Productivity

Here’s a question, Do people care if they're talking to AI as long as they get the answers they need, and can they even tell it is AI?

In every business, communication is key. Whether it's answering customer phone calls, managing support tickets, or growing sales through customer prospecting, efficient communication can make or break a business.

Enter AI phone agents, a technology set to revolutionize how businesses handle calls in, calls out, and everything in between with the intent to reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction, and streamline operations. “Give me a break, there’s no replacing my sales team!”

AI phone agents are in fact here to stay, but they might not be exactly what you think.

What is an AI Phone Agent?

AI phone agents are sophisticated systems that utilize artificial intelligence to handle voice interactions with customers. They are built on three core models: transcription, language processing, and text-to-speech. Here's a detailed breakdown of how they work:

1. Transcription Model: This model listens to the caller and converts spoken words into text. Advanced speech recognition algorithms ensure high accuracy, even in noisy environments or with dozens of languages.

2. Language Model: Once the speech is transcribed, the language model processes text to understand the caller's intent. It uses natural language processing (NLP) techniques to generate appropriate responses based on any instructions, prompts, or conversational pathways set by the user.

3. Text-to-Speech Model: Finally, the generated response is converted back into speech using the text-to-speech model. This model synthesizes human-like speech, ensuring that the AI agent sounds natural and engaging.

What’s incredible is all of this happens in less than a second. For instance, when a customer calls to ask about his laptop's warranty, the AI listens to his query, requests his order number, and asks about the issue. It simultaneously searches the company’s database for relevant data, then tells him that his laptop is under a 1-year warranty, all while helping explain the next steps for reviewing the claim.  

Use Cases for AI Phone Agents

A.I. phone agents can be deployed in various scenarios to enhance business operations and customer interactions. Here are some common use cases:

• Outbound Sales: AI agents can handle cold calls, follow-ups, and appointment setting. They can engage potential customers, provide product information, and schedule zoom calls - seriously. By automating these tasks, businesses can increase their outreach efforts while putting more human emphasis on customers further along in the buying process.

• Inbound Sales: Inbound reps often follow scripts and have dozens of FAQs ready for prospective clients. The ability to consistently recite this script and accurately answer these FAQs on 30,000 calls annually highlights the difference between human imperfections and an AI that can maintain the highest closing rate on the team, day in, and day out.

• Customer Service: Today, AI chatbots excel at managing support tickets, answering FAQs, and resolving common issues. It's time to take that one step further to service phone calls now as well. The ability to address common questions and choosing when to delegate unique or critical cases will improve customer service experience on both sides.

• Technical Support: I’m sure at least once in your life you’ve had a product with the WORST directions known to man. Well, we help those companies install voice support centers to guide customers through troubleshooting. The result? Fewer returns, higher product ratings, and happier customers who are more likely to recommend their new products—word of mouth is the most powerful marketing.

• Appointment Scheduling: AI agents can access calendars and set up appointments in real-time. If you have the ultimate AI sales agent on the call who can also schedule service, you have an incredibly powerful tool for any service business, from pest control to a SaaS business, and anything in between. 

Measuring Impact

Implementing AI phone agents can lead to significant cost savings and productivity improvements for businesses. It’s not about replacing team members but augmenting them. In every business I've been, almost every department wishes they had one more support role but never has enough budget. This is your solution—AI agents provide that extra support, enhancing efficiency and allowing your team to focus on more complex tasks without the overhead.

Annual Cost of an Employee

When hiring, we have many costs associated with onboarding – from salary and benefits to equipment and training. On average, an outbound sales manager can run you $200,000 annually in total comp, maybe more depending on the industry. An AI agent on the other hand is roughly $.12 - $.20 per minute depending on the complexity. Even running 24/7 365 days per year, you'll pay $105,000 a year for high frequency sales calls that never tire or quit, and always perfect the script. By augmenting human agents with AI, businesses can avoid additional payroll while improving the downstream work that those sales teams handle in qualified leads.

The Evolution of AI Phone Agents

Yes, AI are seemingly the future scabs of the modern world. All joking aside, we anticipate less direct replacement and more augmenting of teams – ObsidianATG want to help companies ethically install AI voice agents to support and augment their team, not uproot or remove them altogether. The evolution of AI phone agents is just beginning, and the future holds exciting possibilities for those that creatively embrace it. Here are some trends and advancements to watch for:

• Cross-Integrations: AI phone agents will increasingly integrate with CRM systems, social media platforms, and other business tools to provide a seamless customer experience. While some integrations exist today, they are not yet user-friendly for the average user to manage. AI agents will access and update customer data in real-time, offering personalized and contextually relevant interactions.

• Real-time pivot: Cold calling often faces resistance and unforeseen questions. Different personalities, from assertive to quiet and reserved, require varied approaches. Future AI agents will blend scripted responses with real-time data analysis to dynamically adapt conversations, always maintaining the perfect response. This capability will enable AI agents to handle complex queries, objections, and personalities more effectively, enhancing their value in sales and support roles. Imagine AI referencing the logic of thousands of books like Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" in seconds to build relationships and react accordingly—something no human can achieve with such precision.

• The student becomes the teacher: Today there are great tools to help Sales managers improve their sales performance through training - one of those companies is Chorus.ai. However, our guess is that AI agents will evolve into highly skilled salespeople who can analyze their own performance and thousands of others across the same industry, then coach humans how to deal with specific product-fit questions or objections.   
  

What I anticipate is that within 18-24 months, none of us will have a clue if we’re ordering a burger and fries or being sold a condo by AI. 

Case Study: Noch Power and ObsidianATG

Imagine you run a chain of EV charging stations in Southern California. Your customers need quick, reliable support, and your team can't handle calls 24/7. This was the challenge faced by Noch Power, a regional EV charging station operator. They partnered with ObsidianATG to implement AI phone agents. Now, their customers can call anytime and get immediate help.

Noch Power’s AI agents handle everything from fielding complaints to directing customers to the nearest operational station. The AI is trained to deal with disgruntled customers (we all love a good late-afternoon angry customer, right?) and can provide answers to frequently asked questions. The system also automates signals to Noch Power’s engineering team for necessary maintenance in order to improve uptime of each station.

Want to Install AI Phone Agents in Your Business?

If you’re ready to revolutionize your customer communication, ObsidianATG can help. Our team specializes in implementing AI phone agents tailored to your business needs. Whether you’re looking to enhance customer service, boost sales, or streamline operations, we’ve got you covered.