Does your business have the proper answering service? Nowadays people shop and do basically everything online so you better make sure your online customer service is really good for your business to excel. On this Feature Friday episode of the ROI Online Podcast, Steve talks with Maddy Martin, VP of Marketing at Smith.ai about answering services and how to use them best in your business.
Maddy has an Inbound Marketing background and is currently the VP of Marketing for Smith.ai–a company that combines live agents and AI to provide superior virtual receptionist and intake services to small businesses. Under her marketing lead, she took the company to 7-figures in sales. Some of her specialties are Marketing vision, strategy, development, and execution.
If you have a small business and don’t really have any time to answer questions and social media messages you’re probably in need of something like Smith.ai, which can help you professionally answer your business calls, chats, texts, and social messages—without adding more to your plate.
Among other things, Maddy and Steve discussed:
- Maddys’ background
- Smith.ai and all its benefits
- What an answering service is and does for your business
- The cost of an answering service
- What webchat services are
- Ways to improve a chat-based customer service
- What you should know about your sales support
You can learn more about Maddy here:
Follow Maddy on LinkedIn
You can learn more about Smith.ai here:
Send them an Email
We have a surprise for you!
Use our affiliate LINK to get $100 off your first month of service for both calls and chats on Smith.ai!
Read the books mentioned in this podcast:
The Golden Toilet by Steve Brown
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maddy Martin (00:03):
What do I do with the unqualified leads? Most of
the time people think I'm justgoing to, you know, tell them to
take a hike or thanks so muchHave a good day, right. But
that's a huge missedopportunity. Because most
businesses have a network. Maybethey're local businesses. You
don't have to be retail, butpeople know about you. And they
may know about you online, theymay even write a review. If
(00:26):
you're unhelpful at the end ofthat conversation and move them
off to another place. It's notmy business. Sorry, have a good
day, go back to your Googlesearch results. That's not a
good experience. And when we seequite an experience getting sort
of the forefront that the headof the table have the
conversation, right, that's mostimportant to clients today. It's
responsiveness. It's also whathappens during that
(00:49):
conversation. If you tell him totake a hike, you risk a negative
review, and it's totallypreventable. Hi, everybody.
Steve Brown (00:56):
Welcome to the ROI online podcast where we believe
you, the courageousentrepreneurs of our day, are
the invisible heroes of oureconomy. You not only improve
our world with your ideas, yourgrit and your passion, but you
make our world better. I'm SteveBrown. And this is a place where
we have great conversations withwinners just like you while we
(01:19):
laugh and learn together. MaddieMartin, welcome to the ROI
online podcast.
Maddy Martin (01:28):
Thanks for having me, Steve. It's great to be
here.
Steve Brown (01:30):
Man a year, you come from a background of
inbound marketing. You're nowwith Smith AI, you're the VP of
Marketing. So you've earned yourchops. Smith AI is a company
that believes responsivebusinesses win more clients. And
in fact, it's an answeringservice and not tell me if I'm
(01:53):
getting this wrong, but it's acompany that helps businesses
answer faster, moreintelligently the inquiries that
are coming in. Am I correct?
Maddy Martin (02:05):
Yeah, that's that's a start up that is the
core of it is to be responsive,right. So if you put it in the
lens of where an answeringservice, then you start with
something familiar, which isalways important in marketing.
But it goes down a deep rabbithole from there. So it's a lot
(02:25):
more than just a an answeringservice.
Steve Brown (02:28):
Yeah, so that's, that is like the number one
Marketing Challenge that most ofthe companies I work with have
is like we do all these things.
And it's hard to tell someone injust one sentence, the essence
of what we do.
Maddy Martin (02:43):
It's very hard to have that elevator pitch and to
have it be so comfortable thatyou can say it in a number of
different ways. I find that thatis one of the biggest
challenges, you get your pitchdown, and then it comes at you
with a curveball and a differentway. Someone asked it in a way
and you're not prepared. So it'sreally important that you
(03:04):
practice explaining yourbusiness to people who are
totally uninitiated, if there'sanything that you can do in
marketing. It's that becausethere's so many different
formats on digital marketing,even print and offline
marketing. And thenconversations that you'll have
that you need to demonstratesuch amazing flexibility and
(03:25):
familiarity with your brand withyour company that that the
questions follow because you'vegot it so down, Pat, that people
want to hear what you have tosay about what you're doing.
Steve Brown (03:36):
Yeah. And I think to be able to actually put, put
your service in a scenario inthe mind of the person that's
listening where they go, Oh, IExactly. I see it in the future,
right.
Maddy Martin (03:50):
And don't be afraid to start granular. Right.
So that's sort of what you'regetting at. And I think
oftentimes, you know, will youstart to just with the answering
service description of Smith AI,that's totally fine. Let someone
also guide that conversation.
You might say, Well, do you alsomake outbound calls? Or someone
else might say, Well, can youanswer my texts in addition to
(04:12):
my chats? Or can you answer mypersonal cell phone? Like Where
did they want to take thatconversation, but sometimes just
seeding it in a really granularway, saying, you know, all those
people who fill out the contactform on your website and how
quickly are getting back tothem? And that definitely
sparked something in mostpeople's business owning brains
(04:33):
or business operating brainsbecause I have a pretty good
sense that almost everyone whoruns a business has a website,
and it's got a form on it. Soit's not really a shot in the
dark. It might seem granular,but it's widely applicable.
Steve Brown (04:50):
When I read the responsive businesses when more
clients solutions to answer andthey act on every lead. I think
that reveals You understand, asa business owner, we're
struggling to take advantage ofevery opportunity that comes to
us. And so I feel like youunderstand that that's I was
(05:12):
something I'm insecure aboutwhether I'm doing the best I can
every single time.
Maddy Martin (05:18):
And you probably are doing the best that you can.
But the problem comes when youtry and prioritize and stretch
every hour of the day as youpossibly can, often beyond just
the nine to five and you wonderhow in the world am I going to
actually be responsive to newpotential clients or customers
(05:39):
while working on and fulfillingthe existing demand? And
oftentimes contracts for theexisting clients? Right? So
there is a real dilemma? Do youfulfill your current promises?
Who's doing that? Is it you? Isthat your team? And then how do
you not miss the next wave ofbusiness, especially when you're
(06:01):
investing in online marketing,any sort of advertising or
channel where you're exposedonline, if you have referrals,
if you have reviews, you know,those are coming in, and you
need to make sure that you'reresponsive across every channel?
Because often, Steve, we seepeople, you know, sort of have
the remark? Well, I'm answeringmy calls, well, but you have a
(06:24):
Facebook page. And Facebook hasbuilt a very powerful
recommendation engine. And ifyou just think I've added a
website chat, but you're notresponding to your Facebook
messages, if you have a voicephone system for your business
phone, and you don't even knowthat there are text messages
coming in there, then you're notfully responsive, you are only
(06:45):
responsive, insofar as you'recovering all the channels
through which people can contactyou new or existing clients. And
that you are giving them theinformation that you know, they
need, not necessarily that theyasked about because they're not
the experts you are and that youare obviously being speedy to
(07:07):
get back to them. Soresponsiveness is not just a
matter of speed. It's also ofcontent and channel.
Steve Brown (07:14):
So as you were talking, I was thinking about,
let's make a list of all thepotential inbound channels
coming to you that that you knowabout, and potentially are
oblivious to. So, phone, email,if you have a chat, bot a form
(07:36):
on your website, what are thestarting right?
Maddy Martin (07:41):
I all the social media channels that you're on,
and then also Google MyBusiness, which you're going to
need that app to respond andmonitor those messages. Any
other channel that you have abusiness profile online, you
might be on marketplaces andlisting sites, we work with a
lot of attorneys, marketingagencies, are you getting leads
(08:04):
through sites like clutch orreview sites where you might get
inbound email leads with detailsthat are to follow up on? There
are so many different profiles,and more and more these
platforms where those profilesare hosted? are, you know,
taking that messaging onto theirown platform and not necessarily
(08:26):
emailing you, it's important toeven check those settings. But
then to when you take thatinventory, Steve, you're going
to say, Okay, what are the whatis the channel, who is an owner
of it, and is that ownerresponding, or who is the
responsive party, because theymight not be the same. And
(08:48):
that's really important. I canbe the VP of Marketing, but I'm
not going to be in every singleFacebook group and every
message, we have a hiring team,we have so many other
conversations that are going onbeyond just Smith AI as a brand
and it's across many channels.
You can't do that all byyourself. And the sooner that
you learn to document and thendelegate because that's really
(09:10):
the sequence, the happier you'llbe and the more empowered you'll
feel even though you'redelegating to grow your business
further, because you have asolid foundation and you can
spend more money on thatadvertising, you can spend more
money on, you know, sponsoringpodcasts, you can, you can
confidently sort of go out withyour brand because you know, the
(09:32):
new leads ROI will be there. Theresponsiveness is the single
biggest factor in whether or notsomeone is going to move forward
with your business. They willnot wait. They won't wait for an
email back. They won't wait fora voicemail return call in even
when you do call, interestingly50% or less of those calls are
even answered. So if you missit, you have a small shot of
(09:57):
getting them and a small shot ofthem even being available when
you do call, if you call it all.
Steve Brown (10:08):
So the name Smith AI and tomates, that there's
artificial intelligence involvedhere. And it's, it's this big
giant challenge of, well, Iwould like to have a person
answer every call is just morepersonable, it feels better. But
when you list off all of thoseplatforms, that's a big deep
(10:31):
hole. Because Do you have youclaimed all those listings? Each
one has idiosyncrasies each onehas a different form of
communication back and forth,you could hire in house three or
four people and still not haveall your bases covered. And
that's assuming they all haveyour messaging down pat, that
(10:53):
they're answering questionsaccurately, that they're
actually dealing with peoplepolitely, helpfully, that that's
a big, that's just this bigdanger zone that you you have to
go through.
Maddy Martin (11:10):
It's a huge Danger Zone. And actually, what's even
a big lurking danger zone thatyou didn't mention to stack. On
top of that, though, that youput on top of your social media
on top of your phone line,right? We often see that small
medium businesses are puttingthe wrong people there. And what
I mean is, they don't want to betheir people there, they have
(11:34):
other more important things todo. If you have your marketing
manager responding to everysocial media message, and
they're pulling their hair out,because they can't get their
projects done. And they're goingto get a did not complete that
quarter. They're terrified.
They're unhappy, because they'rea high performer. And we see
this across all differentbusiness types. For example, law
firms putting their paralegalson the phones. Apparently, goal
(11:54):
is a billable employee for you,where you can actually charge
back to the client when they domeaningful legal work, don't put
them on the phones, right. Andthere are many other
similarities. It could go to awarehouse, it could be someone
who's running, you know, anonline commerce, whatever. You
have people who are well trainedin general to the business can
(12:16):
take that conversation as asalesperson instead of on the
frontline for screening andscheduling. So when we think
about how do you divide yourteam and assign things wisely,
you want a frontline team thatcan handle those inbound calls
and chats and messages,consolidated under one group, so
(12:37):
you don't have to every time youupdate your pricing or add a new
service or product, tell 20different contractors or
individuals that sort of anightmare, you want to tell one
company, right. And theninternally, the people who
you've trained, you want them todo the most valuable work for
you just as you would expect ofyourself spending your own time.
(13:00):
So it's, it's really criticalthat you take that inventory,
and you also delegate wiselybased on the skill level of the
team that you have.
Steve Brown (13:12):
So I got a list of questions I get asked a lot. And
so what I'm curious about is howyou answer them. And so this
will be fun and helpful. Sothese are obvious, but but
they're important, what is ananswering service?
Maddy Martin (13:31):
So an answering service is, you know, a wide
definition depending on who youask what you're asking me. So
I'll tell you Smith AI hasexpanded the definition. And
what we believe in answeringservice is, is an omni channel
solution that is backed by bothlive agents and AI. So it is
human staff but made moreefficient through technology so
(13:55):
that we can answer and get realwork done by carrying the
conversation forward so that itis ready for someone to take to
the next level that only someoneinternal can for example, an
answering service will take amessage typically what Smith AI
does, is we will screen andprequalify a lead, we will take
(14:19):
payment if you charge for thatconsultation schedule, the
consultation on the calendarbased on the availability of
whomever we're scheduling forand unless someone was available
for a warm transfer, and thenthat call is on the calendar.
The caller gets an invitationprobably through the calendaring
software like calendly acuity,and that's automated. They also
(14:42):
through Smith AI connecting totheir CRM like Salesforce or
HubSpot, you name it, thatcontact and the conversation
those call notes from thereceptionist are logged
immediately in that system. Sowhen you have that call, you
begin from an existing recordand you add notes And you carry
that workflow forward if they'rea good potential client signing
(15:03):
a fee agreement moving forwardwith that work scope, etc. So
that is a powerful solution thatfeeds people from your marketing
team into your proper salesfunnel. And there's no sort of
juggling, losing or stumblingaround leads, that normally
happens now outbound as well,making calls to those contact
(15:27):
forms and anyone who iscontacting you by email, on the
on the new lead side, and alsoon the existing client side, you
might find that you need ananswering service to call the
client to request payment on anunpaid bill, because you have a
close personal relationship, andyou don't want to stumble around
a transactional conversationwith them. So there are a number
(15:49):
of ways to use the services. Andobviously, through website chat,
you have the discreet nature ofthose conversations, especially
during COVID. When people are athome. Imagine again, I like the
law firm examples. But imagineyou've got a couple who are
seeking to divorce might notwant to have a phone call in
your home with someone on thephone with an attorney chat
(16:11):
might be more appropriatefinancial advisors, it people
like that sort of thing. Whentalking about complex or
difficult subjects.
Steve Brown (16:20):
Excellent answer.
We're listening to MaddieMartin. She's the VP of
Marketing at Smith AI, we'reasking a list of questions that
I get asked him on. So Maddie,what does an answering service
cost?
Maddy Martin (16:39):
So a lot of answering services charge by the
minute. And you'll find they aresort of variable costs. And the
trouble is that when you have amarketing funnel that is based
on impressions and clicks andform fills, it's very hard to
have, you know, minute basedpricing, because it's hard to
(17:00):
tell what is your cost per call.
So we have a cost per call, youcan add on optional features
such as the scheduling orpayment collection, maybe an
intake form for a new client.
And that is completelycustomized for every account. So
that you get only an exactlywhat you need. on a per call
(17:20):
basis. There's an upfront quotathat we give you, and then
there's over edge. So you neverhave a missed call, you just
sort of extend beyond your plan,and you know, square up at the
end of the month.
Steve Brown (17:33):
That's funny. so you never miss a call. So some
service that just puttering andgiggling that some services,
alright, it's a flat rate. Butafter you reach that rate, then
we don't answer your callsanymore.
Maddy Martin (17:44):
Now, or they have limited hours, they might be
nine to five, or they mightcharge you extra for the
weekends, right. So you want tolook at those things with Smith
AI currently, depending on whenyou're listening to this, I
can't promise future pricing,but it's about five to $7 per
call. And it really goes down asyour volume of calls go up. And
(18:07):
it's a matter of what otherfeatures you need. Now, when you
think about the value of aclient and missing a potential
client, it's a no brainer,almost marginal cost to have
those calls answered. And sincewe charge per call, there's
never any charge for spam orsales calls or wrong numbers.
Steve Brown (18:26):
Okay, so you mentioned a couple of these, but
what do answering services do?
Maddy Martin (18:32):
So a great answering service will first
work with all any of the systemsthat you currently have, right.
So you don't need to change yourphone system, you don't need to
change your website in the formof website chat. You can forward
your number, you could even portit if you want to. But then they
will answer warm transfersimportant. So you get a heads up
(18:54):
and you get to approve whetheror not a call is coming in to
you. They should be able tohandle transfers to a number of
different people at yourbusiness or different
departments and differentinstructions for different types
of callers. So imagine there areinstructions for new potential
clients and then existingclients maybe existing clients
can be transferred and newpotential clients are scheduled
(19:16):
so that you can prepare for thatcall. Now, the payment
collection is something thatanswering services that have you
know, clear financial, nondisclosure agreements with their
receptionist they can handlethat. Obviously security is a
top concern. And thenintegrations with the
calendaring, billing CRMmarketing automation systems
(19:40):
that you use. At Smith AI, wehave one free CRM with every
account. So whether you useSalesforce HubSpot, etc. You'll
get that information in there soimportant not adding to the data
entry chore, but taking overthose simple tasks that are
routine. Communication chores,scheduling intake, new clients
(20:04):
sort of pre qualification, etc.
Steve Brown (20:07):
Wow. So what is web chat service?
Maddy Martin (20:11):
So web chat is a sort of nebulous world, it can
mean a lot of different things.
For us. It means a chat widgeton your website that is staffed
by live agents combined with AIfor really standard and
consistent and accurate, speedyresponses. We also have a free
chat bot that is not a chatsoftware, it's not chat that you
(20:34):
would use to communicate throughchat on your website, it's
actually completely automated.
So it's just the software, itdoesn't allow you to interrupt
the chat. Now, that's veryhelpful for sequenced
conversations where you mightwant to ask a few questions get
someone down the right path,they could get a callback, they
(20:55):
could fill out a form or ascheduling link. That's actually
a software that we provide forfree for the basic chatbot with
optional add ons. Now there'sthrough chat, we have made that
available to answer Facebookmessages and also text messages
for the business. And on theanswering side, you can call
(21:16):
back those chat leads if youhave both the answering service
and the chat service.
Steve Brown (21:23):
Hey, I wanted to pause right here and tell you
about a book that you need toget today. It's the funniest
book on marketing. It's calledthe Golden toilet, stop flushing
your marketing budget into yourwebsite and build a system that
grows your business. And guesswho wrote it? That's right, I
wrote it. And I wrote it justfor you. Because I want to help
(21:45):
you get past the last hurdles ofsetting up your business and
getting it squared away. I wroteit so that you can avoid time
wasting time wasting moneywasting frustration, get the
book on Audible. You can get iton Kindle, you can get it on
Amazon, but get the book, takeadvantage of the insights in
(22:07):
there. And let me know what youthink. And now back to this
excellent episode. So how toimprove chat customer service.
When I think about these. Theproblem is you want the robots
(22:28):
to handle the first part of theconversation that quickly
discern and then hand it over tohuman. But usually that just
goes goes dead? Because youdidn't design the question flow,
right?
Maddy Martin (22:41):
Yeah, so that's a huge problem. And we built the
sort of funnel performancetracker for that reason, with
every single funnel, basically aplaybook a sequence
conversation, you've got eachquestion in what you believe is
the right order with answersthat are options that relate to
your target audience, etc. Now,there are a lot of assumptions
(23:03):
built into that which I thinkyou're getting at to some
extent, and it's totally true.
You want to know how many peopleare dropping off at what stage
of that question sequence? Andcan you Front Load the ones that
are answered more often moreeasily? And can you look at the
language and say, am I usingterms that my potential clients
understand? Do I need to bringit down to a more basic level,
(23:25):
you know, typically, you want tobe writing in a third grade
reading level, you know, foryour website, maybe fifth grade,
but that's really the most. Soif you're using complex terms,
even if you have a businessaudience, they don't have time
to be doing that processing andsit there and wonder what the
right answer is, it should bepretty intuitive. You don't need
(23:45):
to impress the pants off of themin the chatbot. You want to get
them to the point where they canconnect with someone who will
impress the pants off of them.
So this is all about gettingthem to that next stage and
talking to the right people. Andthat's why we built that funnel
performance tracker. And nomatter what playbook playbook
you have running, you can seethe funnel performance. So you
(24:08):
might have a customer supportticket playbook where they're
telling you what issue theyhave. And you might have a new
lead playbook, where someone isgiving you information and
explaining why they're lookingfor your services or product.
Steve Brown (24:21):
When you say playbook, it really reveals a
lot of strategy and pre workthat's been done to set these
processes up for success. Do youguys help with that?
Maddy Martin (24:34):
We do. And actually we do it completely for
free. There is a sort of teambehind every live staff chat
account that comes on board. Webuilt the software. So we will
install it on your website foryou. We understand a lot of
businesses don't haveadministrators at their disposal
it at their disposal, and thatmight be an extra cost even if
(24:57):
there's a consultant for thatavailable to you. So we Will not
only set it up, we willinterpret even your call
handling instructions and bringthose into chat for you. Or, you
know, follow your guidance forhow you'd like those chats to be
handled. And you also get adashboard to see all the chats
that have come through and tolook through those and see who
(25:19):
needs follow up, if they're notimmediately going into your CRM,
but that account set up even thecoloring and branding and tone,
the greeting of the chat, theplacement on your site and the
timing of it. That is allsomething that we will set up
for you.
Steve Brown (25:35):
Wow. Here's another question. And yet, what is sales
support? What is what salessupport?
Maddy Martin (25:43):
Oh, sales support?
Yeah, I mean, there, there areso much in that realm. We don't
even have time but in the lensof Smith AI sales support, it's
really getting to that sales,qualified lead marketing,
qualified lead, maybe evenright, so you're getting that
sales executive the appointment.
And it's important that when youhave leads through events, like
(26:05):
webinars, campaigns that you'rerunning, maybe really qualified
leads who have gone a bit quietgiven the time of year
seasonality, even on an ongoingbasis, are you reaching out and
following up with them? So oneof the things that we did to
extend the sales support atSmith AI is we we looked at the
calls and we looked at sort ofthe conversation flow and a lot
(26:26):
of people were asking us Can yousend calls and emails while
getting into email is a wholenother thing. It requires a lot
of setup. And it's a bit scary,right to have someone else have
your email domain and insteadsending emails on your behalf.
So we said how can we how can weget to the core The most
important thing here, and weadded SMS and email follow up
(26:48):
after the calls that we arehandling either inbound or
outbound. So if we are making acall to a webinar, registration
lead, for example, they learnmore about your business, they
seem like a potential clientmarketing qualified to call them
back and then to miss that call,or to have a short conversation
(27:10):
or now's not the right time, oreven a good conversation and
they don't bite yet. Yes, you'llprobably initiate an email
nurture flow, you may have usmake some calls back, but an
instant text message or email orboth. After that call, so that
that person when they have theirlunch break, or a moment after
(27:32):
dinner, can just go back to itand say, I've thought about
this, and I do want to moveforward, I talked to my spouse,
I talked to my business partner,I talked to my team and I'm
ready to move forward, you wantto have that at their
fingertips. And that's what itdoes. And with SMS, we find that
the open rate is extremely high.
And that can be a very good wayto send a calendar link for the
(27:53):
sales executive, that would bethe next step in that sales
process.
Steve Brown (28:01):
Excellent. So when when I think of AI, I think
artificial intelligence, machinelearning, natural language
processing, what all does thatmean was Smith AI.
Maddy Martin (28:14):
So we have a very strong engine that helps the
receptionist do their work inthe most efficient way as
clearly to them as possible. Andthen as clearly throughout the
workflow for our businesses aspossible. So it means a number
of things. One is the automaticsort of spam blocking and
(28:35):
detection is critical. Becauseas you can imagine, as a
business ourselves, if we're notcharging the clients for them,
we want to prevent thereceptionist from answering as
many of those as possible. Sothat sort of detection is
critical. Understanding, youknow, what are the different
dynamics at play when spammersor sales people call and how to
(28:55):
flag those not just leaving itup to interpretation for the
receptionist on the integrationside, a lot of API OAuth sort of
connections into other businesssoftware. And there's real time
English translation on the chat.
So that means that if I'm anEnglish speaking receptionist,
and you Steve speak Spanish andyou type in in Spanish, I can
(29:18):
actually translate your chat forme in English and have my
response in English go back toyou in Spanish. So things like
that with the NLP naturallanguage processing. Critical to
to have incorporated, we have alot of complex call routing,
that that's very important aswell, not really on the AI side,
(29:40):
but on the complexity of theservice. More on the AI side,
we're looking at, how do wedetect sort of the tone and
sentiment, that's something thatwe're looking at and make sure
that that the receptionist is atAs is often the case with great
customer service, matching thetone and the intent of that
(30:03):
business, right, we might havebusinesses who have, you know,
very strict screening process,we might have other businesses
that are looking for any client,you know, they're in this
immediate new kickoff growthphase where they're happy to
have anyone contact theirbusiness, it's really important
that we are able to detecteffectively where that column
(30:25):
needs to go and how fast or howstringent, you process it. So
it's, it's always evolving, butI think that the English Spanish
translation is a really coolexample. Because it speaks to
something that the, you know, itwould be a huge business expense
to have, you know, languagetraining, or only hire bilingual
(30:50):
receptionist when our businessdoesn't demand that necessarily,
nor do our clients. Butsometimes it does. So how do you
account for that and not have amassive cost up front? That's
one of the ways deliver thatresponsiveness in the preferred
language, deliver great customerexperience and service in that
way without overburdening ourbusiness to have all bilingual
(31:13):
speakers when we don't need to.
So that that's, I think, theperfect example.
Steve Brown (31:21):
So I'm curious about what's like the most
unique, creative way that abusiness is used Smith AI?
Maddy Martin (31:31):
That's a very good question. Um, I honestly would
say that it's, it's almost notabout the most unique, creative
way to use Smith AI, because thelowest hanging fruit is the most
impactful. So think about what'sgoing to have the greatest
impact. But you know, we havepeople who are trying us out in
all different ways all the time.
And it might be using all theservices sort of together, what
(31:54):
we find are that the people whoturn it into a routine, not just
inbound that also outbound havethe greatest success. And I
guess it's creative, because youdo need to come up with that,
plan yourself and have it matchyour business goals. But for
example, if we're answering allof these calls, and we are
(32:14):
scheduling appointments, we'retransferring calls, we're
getting that business moving foryou and immediately. So you
might also have on a recurringbasis, are getting a call back,
that is at the same time everymonth, consistently, making sure
that they pay their bill that'sreally bringing that vendor that
solution into your business in away that is repeatable. It's
(32:36):
beyond just that one personwho's managing it, you have like
a seat at the table. So I wouldsay, you know, at the outset,
the most important thing is notto get creative, but to do it,
because there's so many peoplewho have heard about answering
services, and they have stalled.
And they said, That's not themost important thing for my
(32:56):
business, I need to spend moneyon marketing, I need to get my
branding, I'm redoing mywebsite, you should not do any
of those things until you have abasic answering service to have
a foundation that strong tocapture everything that you're
pouring your heart and money andenergy into. So that when you do
all those things, you have theconfidence that you spent your
(33:17):
money wisely on those marketingchannels and those platforms,
because you're going to answerevery time and you're going to
get the most value out of that.
It's what your competitors arenot doing a lot of people,
again, procrastinate with this.
And it is the single biggestthing that you can do to win
more business and to and to takeit away potentially from
competitors.
Steve Brown (33:36):
Wow. In my book, I talk about you know, everyone's
all about promoting doing postand the ads and things but they
don't have the systems in placeto harvest the activity they
generate. So that's excellent,what you just shared.
Maddy Martin (33:52):
And the human connection is critical. See if I
mean, if you just have an emailnurture drip going, and if your
clients are worth at least a few$100 to you, then it makes sense
to have those calls go out tothem, it makes sense to have a
phone line that is answered 24seven, because it is a small
incremental costs that is monthto month flexible for you add or
(34:16):
takeaway as you please, to atleast say, I know that when I
call the conversion rate toappointment is let's say one out
of 10. And it's if I can getthem on the phone. It's one out
of two or three who are going tomove forward with me because my
campaign is really welltargeted. Right. And my sales
team is excellent. I'm excellenton the phone. Great. You know
(34:39):
that if you pay $5 for a call or$7 for a call, right? And even
if you have one, move forward,it is immediately paying you
back all those calls that don'tget answered doesn't matter
because you know your conversionrate. So it's not just about
making the most of your spend.
It's also about learning Lookingat your numbers and honestly
(35:00):
saying, if I'm running thiscampaign, how many new clients
Am I getting right now? How manymissed calls Do I have right
now? And are you listening in onthose calls and seeing how your
team, whether that's yourmarketing person, social media,
apparently goal yourself? Arethey a little bit grumpy or
(35:21):
impatient? Are they not hittingall their marks? One of the
beautiful things about sort of acontractor or vendor solution is
that we have to adhere to yourinstructions, or else we don't
have a job anymore, right. Sostaff might have more leniency,
but then also can createperformance expectations and
issues. So sometimes acontractor or vendor is really
the way to go to make sure theexecution is on par every time
Steve Brown (35:47):
you're listening or watching the ROI online podcast.
Our guest today is MaddieMartin. She is the VP of
Marketing at Smith AI. MADI,what's one question I didn't ask
that you wished I would ask sothat you can answer.
Maddy Martin (36:03):
So I think one of the questions that is never
asked not just you didn't askit. But almost no one asked is
what do I do with theunqualified leads? Most of the
time people think I'm just goingto, you know, tell them to take
a hike or thanks so much Have agood day, right. But that's a
huge missed opportunity. Becausemost businesses have a network,
(36:25):
maybe their local businesses,you don't have to be retail, but
people know about you. And theymay know about you online, they
may even write a review. Ifyou're unhelpful at the end of
that conversation and move themoff to another place. It's not
my business. Sorry, have a goodday, go back to your Google
search results. That's not agood experience. And when we see
client experience getting sortof the the forefront at the head
(36:48):
of the table, have theconversation, right? That's most
important to clients today. It'sresponsiveness. It's also what
happens during thatconversation. If you tell them
to take a hike, you risk anegative review. And it's
totally preventable. Do you havea list of other businesses that
you recommend or you can referclients too, if you're not a
good fit, if you know they'renot a good fit, you should have
(37:10):
other recommended businesses, itshould not feel like a risk or a
competitive disadvantage. Andthat is network building. those
businesses if you don't alreadyhave a relationship with them,
will want to build arelationship with you and will
send referrals back to you.
Because here's the thing youalready paid for that lead you
already paid for that callduring that conversation,
maximize it as best you can tomonetize future business coming
(37:33):
back to you either in the formof goodwill, maybe they leave a
five star review, because youput them in touch with a
business that they did end uphiring and that that was thanks
to you, or thanks to yourreceptionist team. So be very
mindful about how all callersare treated and not just those
who are qualified to moveforward with an appointment or
(37:54):
purchase.
Steve Brown (37:58):
Boom. That was excellent, Maddy. Thank you.
Well, I've really enjoyed havingyou on ROI online podcast is how
can folks connect with you? Orhow should they reach out with
you,
Maddy Martin (38:12):
too, so visit smith.ai. That's our website.
And you can actually chat withus there which we would love to
chat with you. You can call usat 650-727-6484. You can find us
on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,everywhere, online, Instagram,
you name it. But we also wouldbe happy to hear from you by
(38:33):
email if you prefer justhello@smith.ai we did create a
special coupon Steve, for yourlisteners and viewers. So if you
use the code ROI online, youwill get $100 off your first
month of service for both callsand
Steve Brown (38:50):
chats. There you go. You're welcome. Thanks,
Maddy.
Maddy Martin (38:55):
Thanks for having me,
Steve Brown (38:56):
David. It's great to be here. All right. And
that's a wrap. Thanks forlistening to another fun episode
of the ROI online podcast. Formore be sure to check out the
show notes of this episode. Andfeel free to connect with me on
LinkedIn where we can chat and Ican help direct you to the
resources you're searching for.
To learn more about how you cangrow your business better. Be
(39:18):
sure to pick up your copy of mybook, that golden toilet add,
surprise that golden toilet.comI'm Steve Brown, and we'll see
you next week on another funepisode of the ROI online
podcast.
What do I do with the unqualified leads? Most of
the time people think I'm justgoing to, you know, tell them to
take a hike or thanks so muchHave a good day, right. But
that's a huge missedopportunity. Because most
businesses have a network. Maybethey're local businesses. You
don't have to be retail, butpeople know about you. And they
may know about you online, theymay even write a review. If
(00:26):
you're unhelpful at the end ofthat conversation and move them
off to another place. It's notmy business. Sorry, have a good
day, go back to your Googlesearch results. That's not a
good experience. And when we seequite an experience getting sort
of the forefront that the headof the table have the
conversation, right, that's mostimportant to clients today. It's
responsiveness. It's also whathappens during that
(00:49):
conversation. If you tell him totake a hike, you risk a negative
review, and it's totallypreventable. Hi, everybody.
Steve Brown (00:56):
Welcome to the ROI online podcast where we believe
you, the courageousentrepreneurs of our day, are
the invisible heroes of oureconomy. You not only improve
our world with your ideas, yourgrit and your passion, but you
make our world better. I'm SteveBrown. And this is a place where
we have great conversations withwinners just like you while we
(01:19):
laugh and learn together. MaddieMartin, welcome to the ROI
online podcast.
Maddy Martin (01:28):
Thanks for having me, Steve. It's great to be
here.
Steve Brown (01:30):
Man a year, you come from a background of
inbound marketing. You're nowwith Smith AI, you're the VP of
Marketing. So you've earned yourchops. Smith AI is a company
that believes responsivebusinesses win more clients. And
in fact, it's an answeringservice and not tell me if I'm
(01:53):
getting this wrong, but it's acompany that helps businesses
answer faster, moreintelligently the inquiries that
are coming in. Am I correct?
Maddy Martin (02:05):
Yeah, that's that's a start up that is the
core of it is to be responsive,right. So if you put it in the
lens of where an answeringservice, then you start with
something familiar, which isalways important in marketing.
But it goes down a deep rabbithole from there. So it's a lot
(02:25):
more than just a an answeringservice.
Steve Brown (02:28):
Yeah, so that's, that is like the number one
Marketing Challenge that most ofthe companies I work with have
is like we do all these things.
And it's hard to tell someone injust one sentence, the essence
of what we do.
Maddy Martin (02:43):
It's very hard to have that elevator pitch and to
have it be so comfortable thatyou can say it in a number of
different ways. I find that thatis one of the biggest
challenges, you get your pitchdown, and then it comes at you
with a curveball and a differentway. Someone asked it in a way
and you're not prepared. So it'sreally important that you
(03:04):
practice explaining yourbusiness to people who are
totally uninitiated, if there'sanything that you can do in
marketing. It's that becausethere's so many different
formats on digital marketing,even print and offline
marketing. And thenconversations that you'll have
that you need to demonstratesuch amazing flexibility and
(03:25):
familiarity with your brand withyour company that that the
questions follow because you'vegot it so down, Pat, that people
want to hear what you have tosay about what you're doing.
Steve Brown (03:36):
Yeah. And I think to be able to actually put, put
your service in a scenario inthe mind of the person that's
listening where they go, Oh, IExactly. I see it in the future,
right.
Maddy Martin (03:50):
And don't be afraid to start granular. Right.
So that's sort of what you'regetting at. And I think
oftentimes, you know, will youstart to just with the answering
service description of Smith AI,that's totally fine. Let someone
also guide that conversation.
You might say, Well, do you alsomake outbound calls? Or someone
else might say, Well, can youanswer my texts in addition to
(04:12):
my chats? Or can you answer mypersonal cell phone? Like Where
did they want to take thatconversation, but sometimes just
seeding it in a really granularway, saying, you know, all those
people who fill out the contactform on your website and how
quickly are getting back tothem? And that definitely
sparked something in mostpeople's business owning brains
(04:33):
or business operating brainsbecause I have a pretty good
sense that almost everyone whoruns a business has a website,
and it's got a form on it. Soit's not really a shot in the
dark. It might seem granular,but it's widely applicable.
Steve Brown (04:50):
When I read the responsive businesses when more
clients solutions to answer andthey act on every lead. I think
that reveals You understand, asa business owner, we're
struggling to take advantage ofevery opportunity that comes to
us. And so I feel like youunderstand that that's I was
(05:12):
something I'm insecure aboutwhether I'm doing the best I can
every single time.
Maddy Martin (05:18):
And you probably are doing the best that you can.
But the problem comes when youtry and prioritize and stretch
every hour of the day as youpossibly can, often beyond just
the nine to five and you wonderhow in the world am I going to
actually be responsive to newpotential clients or customers
(05:39):
while working on and fulfillingthe existing demand? And
oftentimes contracts for theexisting clients? Right? So
there is a real dilemma? Do youfulfill your current promises?
Who's doing that? Is it you? Isthat your team? And then how do
you not miss the next wave ofbusiness, especially when you're
(06:01):
investing in online marketing,any sort of advertising or
channel where you're exposedonline, if you have referrals,
if you have reviews, you know,those are coming in, and you
need to make sure that you'reresponsive across every channel?
Because often, Steve, we seepeople, you know, sort of have
the remark? Well, I'm answeringmy calls, well, but you have a
(06:24):
Facebook page. And Facebook hasbuilt a very powerful
recommendation engine. And ifyou just think I've added a
website chat, but you're notresponding to your Facebook
messages, if you have a voicephone system for your business
phone, and you don't even knowthat there are text messages
coming in there, then you're notfully responsive, you are only
(06:45):
responsive, insofar as you'recovering all the channels
through which people can contactyou new or existing clients. And
that you are giving them theinformation that you know, they
need, not necessarily that theyasked about because they're not
the experts you are and that youare obviously being speedy to
(07:07):
get back to them. Soresponsiveness is not just a
matter of speed. It's also ofcontent and channel.
Steve Brown (07:14):
So as you were talking, I was thinking about,
let's make a list of all thepotential inbound channels
coming to you that that you knowabout, and potentially are
oblivious to. So, phone, email,if you have a chat, bot a form
(07:36):
on your website, what are thestarting right?
Maddy Martin (07:41):
I all the social media channels that you're on,
and then also Google MyBusiness, which you're going to
need that app to respond andmonitor those messages. Any
other channel that you have abusiness profile online, you
might be on marketplaces andlisting sites, we work with a
lot of attorneys, marketingagencies, are you getting leads
(08:04):
through sites like clutch orreview sites where you might get
inbound email leads with detailsthat are to follow up on? There
are so many different profiles,and more and more these
platforms where those profilesare hosted? are, you know,
taking that messaging onto theirown platform and not necessarily
(08:26):
emailing you, it's important toeven check those settings. But
then to when you take thatinventory, Steve, you're going
to say, Okay, what are the whatis the channel, who is an owner
of it, and is that ownerresponding, or who is the
responsive party, because theymight not be the same. And
(08:48):
that's really important. I canbe the VP of Marketing, but I'm
not going to be in every singleFacebook group and every
message, we have a hiring team,we have so many other
conversations that are going onbeyond just Smith AI as a brand
and it's across many channels.
You can't do that all byyourself. And the sooner that
you learn to document and thendelegate because that's really
(09:10):
the sequence, the happier you'llbe and the more empowered you'll
feel even though you'redelegating to grow your business
further, because you have asolid foundation and you can
spend more money on thatadvertising, you can spend more
money on, you know, sponsoringpodcasts, you can, you can
confidently sort of go out withyour brand because you know, the
(09:32):
new leads ROI will be there. Theresponsiveness is the single
biggest factor in whether or notsomeone is going to move forward
with your business. They willnot wait. They won't wait for an
email back. They won't wait fora voicemail return call in even
when you do call, interestingly50% or less of those calls are
even answered. So if you missit, you have a small shot of
(09:57):
getting them and a small shot ofthem even being available when
you do call, if you call it all.
Steve Brown (10:08):
So the name Smith AI and tomates, that there's
artificial intelligence involvedhere. And it's, it's this big
giant challenge of, well, Iwould like to have a person
answer every call is just morepersonable, it feels better. But
when you list off all of thoseplatforms, that's a big deep
(10:31):
hole. Because Do you have youclaimed all those listings? Each
one has idiosyncrasies each onehas a different form of
communication back and forth,you could hire in house three or
four people and still not haveall your bases covered. And
that's assuming they all haveyour messaging down pat, that
(10:53):
they're answering questionsaccurately, that they're
actually dealing with peoplepolitely, helpfully, that that's
a big, that's just this bigdanger zone that you you have to
go through.
Maddy Martin (11:10):
It's a huge Danger Zone. And actually, what's even
a big lurking danger zone thatyou didn't mention to stack. On
top of that, though, that youput on top of your social media
on top of your phone line,right? We often see that small
medium businesses are puttingthe wrong people there. And what
I mean is, they don't want to betheir people there, they have
(11:34):
other more important things todo. If you have your marketing
manager responding to everysocial media message, and
they're pulling their hair out,because they can't get their
projects done. And they're goingto get a did not complete that
quarter. They're terrified.
They're unhappy, because they'rea high performer. And we see
this across all differentbusiness types. For example, law
firms putting their paralegalson the phones. Apparently, goal
(11:54):
is a billable employee for you,where you can actually charge
back to the client when they domeaningful legal work, don't put
them on the phones, right. Andthere are many other
similarities. It could go to awarehouse, it could be someone
who's running, you know, anonline commerce, whatever. You
have people who are well trainedin general to the business can
(12:16):
take that conversation as asalesperson instead of on the
frontline for screening andscheduling. So when we think
about how do you divide yourteam and assign things wisely,
you want a frontline team thatcan handle those inbound calls
and chats and messages,consolidated under one group, so
(12:37):
you don't have to every time youupdate your pricing or add a new
service or product, tell 20different contractors or
individuals that sort of anightmare, you want to tell one
company, right. And theninternally, the people who
you've trained, you want them todo the most valuable work for
you just as you would expect ofyourself spending your own time.
(13:00):
So it's, it's really criticalthat you take that inventory,
and you also delegate wiselybased on the skill level of the
team that you have.
Steve Brown (13:12):
So I got a list of questions I get asked a lot. And
so what I'm curious about is howyou answer them. And so this
will be fun and helpful. Sothese are obvious, but but
they're important, what is ananswering service?
Maddy Martin (13:31):
So an answering service is, you know, a wide
definition depending on who youask what you're asking me. So
I'll tell you Smith AI hasexpanded the definition. And
what we believe in answeringservice is, is an omni channel
solution that is backed by bothlive agents and AI. So it is
human staff but made moreefficient through technology so
(13:55):
that we can answer and get realwork done by carrying the
conversation forward so that itis ready for someone to take to
the next level that only someoneinternal can for example, an
answering service will take amessage typically what Smith AI
does, is we will screen andprequalify a lead, we will take
(14:19):
payment if you charge for thatconsultation schedule, the
consultation on the calendarbased on the availability of
whomever we're scheduling forand unless someone was available
for a warm transfer, and thenthat call is on the calendar.
The caller gets an invitationprobably through the calendaring
software like calendly acuity,and that's automated. They also
(14:42):
through Smith AI connecting totheir CRM like Salesforce or
HubSpot, you name it, thatcontact and the conversation
those call notes from thereceptionist are logged
immediately in that system. Sowhen you have that call, you
begin from an existing recordand you add notes And you carry
that workflow forward if they'rea good potential client signing
(15:03):
a fee agreement moving forwardwith that work scope, etc. So
that is a powerful solution thatfeeds people from your marketing
team into your proper salesfunnel. And there's no sort of
juggling, losing or stumblingaround leads, that normally
happens now outbound as well,making calls to those contact
(15:27):
forms and anyone who iscontacting you by email, on the
on the new lead side, and alsoon the existing client side, you
might find that you need ananswering service to call the
client to request payment on anunpaid bill, because you have a
close personal relationship, andyou don't want to stumble around
a transactional conversationwith them. So there are a number
(15:49):
of ways to use the services. Andobviously, through website chat,
you have the discreet nature ofthose conversations, especially
during COVID. When people are athome. Imagine again, I like the
law firm examples. But imagineyou've got a couple who are
seeking to divorce might notwant to have a phone call in
your home with someone on thephone with an attorney chat
(16:11):
might be more appropriatefinancial advisors, it people
like that sort of thing. Whentalking about complex or
difficult subjects.
Steve Brown (16:20):
Excellent answer.
We're listening to MaddieMartin. She's the VP of
Marketing at Smith AI, we'reasking a list of questions that
I get asked him on. So Maddie,what does an answering service
cost?
Maddy Martin (16:39):
So a lot of answering services charge by the
minute. And you'll find they aresort of variable costs. And the
trouble is that when you have amarketing funnel that is based
on impressions and clicks andform fills, it's very hard to
have, you know, minute basedpricing, because it's hard to
(17:00):
tell what is your cost per call.
So we have a cost per call, youcan add on optional features
such as the scheduling orpayment collection, maybe an
intake form for a new client.
And that is completelycustomized for every account. So
that you get only an exactlywhat you need. on a per call
(17:20):
basis. There's an upfront quotathat we give you, and then
there's over edge. So you neverhave a missed call, you just
sort of extend beyond your plan,and you know, square up at the
end of the month.
Steve Brown (17:33):
That's funny. so you never miss a call. So some
service that just puttering andgiggling that some services,
alright, it's a flat rate. Butafter you reach that rate, then
we don't answer your callsanymore.
Maddy Martin (17:44):
Now, or they have limited hours, they might be
nine to five, or they mightcharge you extra for the
weekends, right. So you want tolook at those things with Smith
AI currently, depending on whenyou're listening to this, I
can't promise future pricing,but it's about five to $7 per
call. And it really goes down asyour volume of calls go up. And
(18:07):
it's a matter of what otherfeatures you need. Now, when you
think about the value of aclient and missing a potential
client, it's a no brainer,almost marginal cost to have
those calls answered. And sincewe charge per call, there's
never any charge for spam orsales calls or wrong numbers.
Steve Brown (18:26):
Okay, so you mentioned a couple of these, but
what do answering services do?
Maddy Martin (18:32):
So a great answering service will first
work with all any of the systemsthat you currently have, right.
So you don't need to change yourphone system, you don't need to
change your website in the formof website chat. You can forward
your number, you could even portit if you want to. But then they
will answer warm transfersimportant. So you get a heads up
(18:54):
and you get to approve whetheror not a call is coming in to
you. They should be able tohandle transfers to a number of
different people at yourbusiness or different
departments and differentinstructions for different types
of callers. So imagine there areinstructions for new potential
clients and then existingclients maybe existing clients
can be transferred and newpotential clients are scheduled
(19:16):
so that you can prepare for thatcall. Now, the payment
collection is something thatanswering services that have you
know, clear financial, nondisclosure agreements with their
receptionist they can handlethat. Obviously security is a
top concern. And thenintegrations with the
calendaring, billing CRMmarketing automation systems
(19:40):
that you use. At Smith AI, wehave one free CRM with every
account. So whether you useSalesforce HubSpot, etc. You'll
get that information in there soimportant not adding to the data
entry chore, but taking overthose simple tasks that are
routine. Communication chores,scheduling intake, new clients
(20:04):
sort of pre qualification, etc.
Steve Brown (20:07):
Wow. So what is web chat service?
Maddy Martin (20:11):
So web chat is a sort of nebulous world, it can
mean a lot of different things.
For us. It means a chat widgeton your website that is staffed
by live agents combined with AIfor really standard and
consistent and accurate, speedyresponses. We also have a free
chat bot that is not a chatsoftware, it's not chat that you
(20:34):
would use to communicate throughchat on your website, it's
actually completely automated.
So it's just the software, itdoesn't allow you to interrupt
the chat. Now, that's veryhelpful for sequenced
conversations where you mightwant to ask a few questions get
someone down the right path,they could get a callback, they
(20:55):
could fill out a form or ascheduling link. That's actually
a software that we provide forfree for the basic chatbot with
optional add ons. Now there'sthrough chat, we have made that
available to answer Facebookmessages and also text messages
for the business. And on theanswering side, you can call
(21:16):
back those chat leads if youhave both the answering service
and the chat service.
Steve Brown (21:23):
Hey, I wanted to pause right here and tell you
about a book that you need toget today. It's the funniest
book on marketing. It's calledthe Golden toilet, stop flushing
your marketing budget into yourwebsite and build a system that
grows your business. And guesswho wrote it? That's right, I
wrote it. And I wrote it justfor you. Because I want to help
(21:45):
you get past the last hurdles ofsetting up your business and
getting it squared away. I wroteit so that you can avoid time
wasting time wasting moneywasting frustration, get the
book on Audible. You can get iton Kindle, you can get it on
Amazon, but get the book, takeadvantage of the insights in
(22:07):
there. And let me know what youthink. And now back to this
excellent episode. So how toimprove chat customer service.
When I think about these. Theproblem is you want the robots
(22:28):
to handle the first part of theconversation that quickly
discern and then hand it over tohuman. But usually that just
goes goes dead? Because youdidn't design the question flow,
right?
Maddy Martin (22:41):
Yeah, so that's a huge problem. And we built the
sort of funnel performancetracker for that reason, with
every single funnel, basically aplaybook a sequence
conversation, you've got eachquestion in what you believe is
the right order with answersthat are options that relate to
your target audience, etc. Now,there are a lot of assumptions
(23:03):
built into that which I thinkyou're getting at to some
extent, and it's totally true.
You want to know how many peopleare dropping off at what stage
of that question sequence? Andcan you Front Load the ones that
are answered more often moreeasily? And can you look at the
language and say, am I usingterms that my potential clients
understand? Do I need to bringit down to a more basic level,
(23:25):
you know, typically, you want tobe writing in a third grade
reading level, you know, foryour website, maybe fifth grade,
but that's really the most. Soif you're using complex terms,
even if you have a businessaudience, they don't have time
to be doing that processing andsit there and wonder what the
right answer is, it should bepretty intuitive. You don't need
(23:45):
to impress the pants off of themin the chatbot. You want to get
them to the point where they canconnect with someone who will
impress the pants off of them.
So this is all about gettingthem to that next stage and
talking to the right people. Andthat's why we built that funnel
performance tracker. And nomatter what playbook playbook
you have running, you can seethe funnel performance. So you
(24:08):
might have a customer supportticket playbook where they're
telling you what issue theyhave. And you might have a new
lead playbook, where someone isgiving you information and
explaining why they're lookingfor your services or product.
Steve Brown (24:21):
When you say playbook, it really reveals a
lot of strategy and pre workthat's been done to set these
processes up for success. Do youguys help with that?
Maddy Martin (24:34):
We do. And actually we do it completely for
free. There is a sort of teambehind every live staff chat
account that comes on board. Webuilt the software. So we will
install it on your website foryou. We understand a lot of
businesses don't haveadministrators at their disposal
it at their disposal, and thatmight be an extra cost even if
(24:57):
there's a consultant for thatavailable to you. So we Will not
only set it up, we willinterpret even your call
handling instructions and bringthose into chat for you. Or, you
know, follow your guidance forhow you'd like those chats to be
handled. And you also get adashboard to see all the chats
that have come through and tolook through those and see who
(25:19):
needs follow up, if they're notimmediately going into your CRM,
but that account set up even thecoloring and branding and tone,
the greeting of the chat, theplacement on your site and the
timing of it. That is allsomething that we will set up
for you.
Steve Brown (25:35):
Wow. Here's another question. And yet, what is sales
support? What is what salessupport?
Maddy Martin (25:43):
Oh, sales support?
Yeah, I mean, there, there areso much in that realm. We don't
even have time but in the lensof Smith AI sales support, it's
really getting to that sales,qualified lead marketing,
qualified lead, maybe evenright, so you're getting that
sales executive the appointment.
And it's important that when youhave leads through events, like
(26:05):
webinars, campaigns that you'rerunning, maybe really qualified
leads who have gone a bit quietgiven the time of year
seasonality, even on an ongoingbasis, are you reaching out and
following up with them? So oneof the things that we did to
extend the sales support atSmith AI is we we looked at the
calls and we looked at sort ofthe conversation flow and a lot
(26:26):
of people were asking us Can yousend calls and emails while
getting into email is a wholenother thing. It requires a lot
of setup. And it's a bit scary,right to have someone else have
your email domain and insteadsending emails on your behalf.
So we said how can we how can weget to the core The most
important thing here, and weadded SMS and email follow up
(26:48):
after the calls that we arehandling either inbound or
outbound. So if we are making acall to a webinar, registration
lead, for example, they learnmore about your business, they
seem like a potential clientmarketing qualified to call them
back and then to miss that call,or to have a short conversation
(27:10):
or now's not the right time, oreven a good conversation and
they don't bite yet. Yes, you'llprobably initiate an email
nurture flow, you may have usmake some calls back, but an
instant text message or email orboth. After that call, so that
that person when they have theirlunch break, or a moment after
(27:32):
dinner, can just go back to itand say, I've thought about
this, and I do want to moveforward, I talked to my spouse,
I talked to my business partner,I talked to my team and I'm
ready to move forward, you wantto have that at their
fingertips. And that's what itdoes. And with SMS, we find that
the open rate is extremely high.
And that can be a very good wayto send a calendar link for the
(27:53):
sales executive, that would bethe next step in that sales
process.
Steve Brown (28:01):
Excellent. So when when I think of AI, I think
artificial intelligence, machinelearning, natural language
processing, what all does thatmean was Smith AI.
Maddy Martin (28:14):
So we have a very strong engine that helps the
receptionist do their work inthe most efficient way as
clearly to them as possible. Andthen as clearly throughout the
workflow for our businesses aspossible. So it means a number
of things. One is the automaticsort of spam blocking and
(28:35):
detection is critical. Becauseas you can imagine, as a
business ourselves, if we're notcharging the clients for them,
we want to prevent thereceptionist from answering as
many of those as possible. Sothat sort of detection is
critical. Understanding, youknow, what are the different
dynamics at play when spammersor sales people call and how to
(28:55):
flag those not just leaving itup to interpretation for the
receptionist on the integrationside, a lot of API OAuth sort of
connections into other businesssoftware. And there's real time
English translation on the chat.
So that means that if I'm anEnglish speaking receptionist,
and you Steve speak Spanish andyou type in in Spanish, I can
(29:18):
actually translate your chat forme in English and have my
response in English go back toyou in Spanish. So things like
that with the NLP naturallanguage processing. Critical to
to have incorporated, we have alot of complex call routing,
that that's very important aswell, not really on the AI side,
(29:40):
but on the complexity of theservice. More on the AI side,
we're looking at, how do wedetect sort of the tone and
sentiment, that's something thatwe're looking at and make sure
that that the receptionist is atAs is often the case with great
customer service, matching thetone and the intent of that
(30:03):
business, right, we might havebusinesses who have, you know,
very strict screening process,we might have other businesses
that are looking for any client,you know, they're in this
immediate new kickoff growthphase where they're happy to
have anyone contact theirbusiness, it's really important
that we are able to detecteffectively where that column
(30:25):
needs to go and how fast or howstringent, you process it. So
it's, it's always evolving, butI think that the English Spanish
translation is a really coolexample. Because it speaks to
something that the, you know, itwould be a huge business expense
to have, you know, languagetraining, or only hire bilingual
(30:50):
receptionist when our businessdoesn't demand that necessarily,
nor do our clients. Butsometimes it does. So how do you
account for that and not have amassive cost up front? That's
one of the ways deliver thatresponsiveness in the preferred
language, deliver great customerexperience and service in that
way without overburdening ourbusiness to have all bilingual
(31:13):
speakers when we don't need to.
So that that's, I think, theperfect example.
Steve Brown (31:21):
So I'm curious about what's like the most
unique, creative way that abusiness is used Smith AI?
Maddy Martin (31:31):
That's a very good question. Um, I honestly would
say that it's, it's almost notabout the most unique, creative
way to use Smith AI, because thelowest hanging fruit is the most
impactful. So think about what'sgoing to have the greatest
impact. But you know, we havepeople who are trying us out in
all different ways all the time.
And it might be using all theservices sort of together, what
(31:54):
we find are that the people whoturn it into a routine, not just
inbound that also outbound havethe greatest success. And I
guess it's creative, because youdo need to come up with that,
plan yourself and have it matchyour business goals. But for
example, if we're answering allof these calls, and we are
(32:14):
scheduling appointments, we'retransferring calls, we're
getting that business moving foryou and immediately. So you
might also have on a recurringbasis, are getting a call back,
that is at the same time everymonth, consistently, making sure
that they pay their bill that'sreally bringing that vendor that
solution into your business in away that is repeatable. It's
(32:36):
beyond just that one personwho's managing it, you have like
a seat at the table. So I wouldsay, you know, at the outset,
the most important thing is notto get creative, but to do it,
because there's so many peoplewho have heard about answering
services, and they have stalled.
And they said, That's not themost important thing for my
(32:56):
business, I need to spend moneyon marketing, I need to get my
branding, I'm redoing mywebsite, you should not do any
of those things until you have abasic answering service to have
a foundation that strong tocapture everything that you're
pouring your heart and money andenergy into. So that when you do
all those things, you have theconfidence that you spent your
(33:17):
money wisely on those marketingchannels and those platforms,
because you're going to answerevery time and you're going to
get the most value out of that.
It's what your competitors arenot doing a lot of people,
again, procrastinate with this.
And it is the single biggestthing that you can do to win
more business and to and to takeit away potentially from
competitors.
Steve Brown (33:36):
Wow. In my book, I talk about you know, everyone's
all about promoting doing postand the ads and things but they
don't have the systems in placeto harvest the activity they
generate. So that's excellent,what you just shared.
Maddy Martin (33:52):
And the human connection is critical. See if I
mean, if you just have an emailnurture drip going, and if your
clients are worth at least a few$100 to you, then it makes sense
to have those calls go out tothem, it makes sense to have a
phone line that is answered 24seven, because it is a small
incremental costs that is monthto month flexible for you add or
(34:16):
takeaway as you please, to atleast say, I know that when I
call the conversion rate toappointment is let's say one out
of 10. And it's if I can getthem on the phone. It's one out
of two or three who are going tomove forward with me because my
campaign is really welltargeted. Right. And my sales
team is excellent. I'm excellenton the phone. Great. You know
(34:39):
that if you pay $5 for a call or$7 for a call, right? And even
if you have one, move forward,it is immediately paying you
back all those calls that don'tget answered doesn't matter
because you know your conversionrate. So it's not just about
making the most of your spend.
It's also about learning Lookingat your numbers and honestly
(35:00):
saying, if I'm running thiscampaign, how many new clients
Am I getting right now? How manymissed calls Do I have right
now? And are you listening in onthose calls and seeing how your
team, whether that's yourmarketing person, social media,
apparently goal yourself? Arethey a little bit grumpy or
(35:21):
impatient? Are they not hittingall their marks? One of the
beautiful things about sort of acontractor or vendor solution is
that we have to adhere to yourinstructions, or else we don't
have a job anymore, right. Sostaff might have more leniency,
but then also can createperformance expectations and
issues. So sometimes acontractor or vendor is really
the way to go to make sure theexecution is on par every time
Steve Brown (35:47):
you're listening or watching the ROI online podcast.
Our guest today is MaddieMartin. She is the VP of
Marketing at Smith AI. MADI,what's one question I didn't ask
that you wished I would ask sothat you can answer.
Maddy Martin (36:03):
So I think one of the questions that is never
asked not just you didn't askit. But almost no one asked is
what do I do with theunqualified leads? Most of the
time people think I'm just goingto, you know, tell them to take
a hike or thanks so much Have agood day, right. But that's a
huge missed opportunity. Becausemost businesses have a network,
(36:25):
maybe their local businesses,you don't have to be retail, but
people know about you. And theymay know about you online, they
may even write a review. Ifyou're unhelpful at the end of
that conversation and move themoff to another place. It's not
my business. Sorry, have a goodday, go back to your Google
search results. That's not agood experience. And when we see
client experience getting sortof the the forefront at the head
(36:48):
of the table, have theconversation, right? That's most
important to clients today. It'sresponsiveness. It's also what
happens during thatconversation. If you tell them
to take a hike, you risk anegative review. And it's
totally preventable. Do you havea list of other businesses that
you recommend or you can referclients too, if you're not a
good fit, if you know they'renot a good fit, you should have
(37:10):
other recommended businesses, itshould not feel like a risk or a
competitive disadvantage. Andthat is network building. those
businesses if you don't alreadyhave a relationship with them,
will want to build arelationship with you and will
send referrals back to you.
Because here's the thing youalready paid for that lead you
already paid for that callduring that conversation,
maximize it as best you can tomonetize future business coming
(37:33):
back to you either in the formof goodwill, maybe they leave a
five star review, because youput them in touch with a
business that they did end uphiring and that that was thanks
to you, or thanks to yourreceptionist team. So be very
mindful about how all callersare treated and not just those
who are qualified to moveforward with an appointment or
(37:54):
purchase.
Steve Brown (37:58):
Boom. That was excellent, Maddy. Thank you.
Well, I've really enjoyed havingyou on ROI online podcast is how
can folks connect with you? Orhow should they reach out with
you,
Maddy Martin (38:12):
too, so visit smith.ai. That's our website.
And you can actually chat withus there which we would love to
chat with you. You can call usat 650-727-6484. You can find us
on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,everywhere, online, Instagram,
you name it. But we also wouldbe happy to hear from you by
(38:33):
email if you prefer justhello@smith.ai we did create a
special coupon Steve, for yourlisteners and viewers. So if you
use the code ROI online, youwill get $100 off your first
month of service for both callsand
Steve Brown (38:50):
chats. There you go. You're welcome. Thanks,
Maddy.
Maddy Martin (38:55):
Thanks for having me,
Steve Brown (38:56):
David. It's great to be here. All right. And
that's a wrap. Thanks forlistening to another fun episode
of the ROI online podcast. Formore be sure to check out the
show notes of this episode. Andfeel free to connect with me on
LinkedIn where we can chat and Ican help direct you to the
resources you're searching for.
To learn more about how you cangrow your business better. Be
(39:18):
sure to pick up your copy of mybook, that golden toilet add,
surprise that golden toilet.comI'm Steve Brown, and we'll see
you next week on another funepisode of the ROI online
podcast.
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