The last little start-up we had was a marketing SAAS. We used a platform called Go High Level, built out winning ads for the industry, and made it so that a client could launch their FB ad with 3 clicks, all from the CRM. This was great, as businesses didn’t have to learn Facebook ads, and we didn’t have to manage it for them. 

The leads rolled in, but they would get contacted late, maybe once or twice, and sometimes, not called at all. This is exactly why I do not like running an agency, but I won’t go down that rant. We had built an awesome platform, but something was missing. Something was always missing. You generate leads and set up your automation, but someone has to do the manual work of picking up the phone and connecting with the leads. 

This sent me on a mission in 2022 to find an AI solution that would work. At the time, Air AI had just come out, but it sounded so much like AI. We built that out, tested it, and it was a dud for us, at the time. We found other tools like Capri which was a text-based AI. We tried that out. Though we had mild success it was slow, outputs were strange, and it didn’t book enough to keep one rep fully booked, no matter the ad spend. 

After that, we decided to just build out a call center and put the AI behind us for the time. We ran the call center, and it booked tons of appointments, but it sucked all of my time. I was constantly getting pressed by setters and managers for more money, the dialer was sucking cash like crazy, and I wasn’t enjoying managing a bunch of overseas setters, or their managers, for that matter. 

After a solid run with the call center, the time had come to start looking at other industries and applying the skills and assets toward something more feasible. We had a few ways to test industries, but all involved a cash outlay, full build, and salespeople. 

I got with my tech team as we looked at target industries and I assigned one of them to start looking back at AI. Air AI seemed to still be the dominant force for voice, and it still wasn’t where I hoped it was. Then we started looking at text-based solutions again. We picked an industry and decided to build out a full AI. This seemed like the easiest way to test out a few industries and see what was worth rebuilding. 

We got into the lab and started building these AIs. Refining the prompts, testing, and refining some more. We got them to where they performed great with us, but you never know what works until you deploy it in the market. 

The companies we were working with all had aged leads they were fine with testing. We spun the campaigns up and it was mind-blowing. 

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Appointment after appointment, notifications hit my phone. One business put nearly $2M in pipeline value in month one of the AI running. It was/ is insane! I knew at that moment, that AI was going to change everything. 

I knew at this moment, this was the most valuable tool we could bring to the marketplace. We started deploying these text-based, conversational AIs across multiple industries. Each time, the same thing. More appointments, less cost, and every single company wanted to now change their business plan to reflect the use of AI as a center-point in their business. 

We then began to start testing voice-ai again, but this time, using different technology. We were able to use a company called Eleven Labs to get more realistic voices and it made all of the difference. I will say that it still isn’t 100%, but it is very close and is still very effective. Instead of using voice AI as the first point of contact, we use voice AI for inbound calls. These Ais are trained on the business, can qualify leads, and can schedule them right to your calendar. 

For our clients, we use them to make outbound calls, but we reserve that until day 3 of a lead opting in and not scheduling. We try and start with the text-based AI and bring in voice when needed. 

If I had to pick one to go with, I advise building the text-based AI. It is versatile as it can work on your GMB chat, FB messages, IG messages, CRM, SMS, Missed-call text back, and more. You also have no idea it’s an AI and the conversation flow is natural. However, the one-two punch of text-based and voice-based AI is unbelievable. You’re able to field customer service and appointment booking on every channel. You’re also able to save a lot of money in support costs each year. 

If you would like to demo each of the AIs for yourself and see how far AI has come, schedule a quick call with our team. Even if it’s not right for you at the moment, you will be impressed!