Always On AI · Episode 9

The Business That Responds First Wins

Hosted by Bob Frazier · Published

Customers often choose the first business that provides useful help. Learn why customer interest has a short shelf life and how AI delivers immediate coverage.

Watch Episode 9 on YouTube

Episode 9 Overview: Why Response Speed Wins the Customer

Customers do not always choose the biggest, most experienced or least expensive business. They often choose the first business that provides useful help.

In Episode 9 of Always On AI, Bob Frazier explains why customer interest has a short shelf life, how response delays send opportunities back to Google and how AI can give a business immediate coverage without requiring employees to work around the clock.

The episode also provides a simple responsiveness test that business owners can perform on their calls, website forms and chat systems.

Key Takeaways

Questions Answered in This Episode

Complete Episode Transcript

Today’s Customer Will Not Wait

We live in a 24/7 world where today’s customers expect immediate attention and will not wait.

It is 7:18 on a Tuesday evening.

A homeowner discovers water spreading across the floor beneath the kitchen sink.

She searches Google for a local repair company and calls the first business.

Voicemail.

She like 62% of first time business callers immediately hangs up without leaving a message.

She calls the second business.

The phone rings several times before another recording asks her to leave her name, number and a short description of the problem.

She hangs up again and calls the third business from her Google search results.

Why the Third Business Won

This time, someone answers immediately and engages with the caller.

The voice asks what happened, confirms the service area, gathers her information, schedules the next available appointment, confirms the appointment with an immediate text message, updates the CRM and notifies the appropriate staff.

The third business did not win because it had the lowest price. The customer never asked about price.

It did not win because it had the most experience. The customer never reached that part of the conversation with the other companies.

It won because it responded first.

78% of today's consumers do business with the first business that responds.

Not the biggest, not the best, not the cheapest, just the first business that responds.

24/7 Responsiveness is Today’s Competitive Advantage and Tomorrow’s Minimum Business Requirement

Welcome and Episode Setup

Welcome to Always On AI, the podcast for business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders who refuse to be left behind in the 24/7 Customer Responsive economy.

I am your host, Bob Frazier, Founder and CEO of Digital WorkForce 360.

I've been a business owner for 30-years and I understand the challenges of being the one in charge.

In Episode 8, we explained why the question is no longer if AI will become part of your business.

The question is when will you take advantage of AI and put it to work in your business?

Today, we are going to focus on one of the biggest reasons to move forward: response speed.

We will look at why an immediate response to new opportunities is so important, why 24/7  traditional employee staffing is not cost effective and how AI can help your business respond while customer interest is still hot.

Most important, we will give you a simple test you can perform on your own business.

Why the First Response Matters

Vendasta reports that 78 percent of customers buy from the company that responds to their inquiry first. Vendasta attributes that figure to a Lead Connect survey.

That number should make every business owner stop and think.

Many customers contact more than one business. They may call three companies, complete two website forms or send messages to several providers.

They are not always building a detailed comparison chart. They are looking for someone who can help.

The first useful response starts the first real conversation.

That conversation gives the business a chance to understand the problem, answer questions, build trust and schedule the next step.

Meanwhile, the businesses that have not responded are still names on a search-results page.

This does not mean speed is the only thing that matters. Your service, reputation, experience and price still matter.

But none of those strengths can help if the customer never gets far enough to discover them.

Interest Has a Shelf Life

Interest Has A Shelf Life

Customer interest is strongest at the moment the customer reaches out.

The problem is fresh. The phone is in their hand. They are thinking about the purchase.

They are ready to ask questions and take the next step.

Then the clock starts.

After a few minutes, they may contact another business.

After an hour, they may be in another meeting, driving home or dealing with something else.

By tomorrow, they may not remember which website form they completed.

A new opportunity sitting in an email inbox is not safely waiting for your team.

Its value is changing every minute.

This is why response time is more than a customer-service measurement.

It is a revenue measurement.

Five Minutes Versus One Hour

Vendasta also cites research indicating that a business responding within five minutes is 21 times more likely to turn a lead into an opportunity than a business waiting one hour.

The original Lead Response Management research measured the ability to contact and qualify a lead. It did not promise that every fast response would become a sale.

That distinction matters.

AI cannot make a customer buy something they do not want.

It cannot fix poor service or a weak offer.

What it can do is protect the business's chance to have the conversation.

If nobody responds, the new opportunity may disappear before your employee ever sees it.

Fast response keeps the door open.

The First-Minute Opportunity

Vendasta cites another finding: sales conversions can be 391 percent higher when an inbound lead is contacted during the first minute.

Think about how difficult that is with a traditional process.

A website form arrives. Someone has to notice it, decide who should handle it, find the right information and respond.

If the employee is serving another customer, the form waits.

If the message arrives after hours, it may wait until morning.

If it arrives Friday evening, it may wait until Monday.

The customer does not know that your team is busy.

The customer only knows that nobody has helped them.

The first minute is not a realistic staffing goal for most small businesses.

It is a systems goal.

The Human Coverage Problem

When a business responds slowly, owners sometimes blame the staff.

But your employees cannot answer two calls at the same time.

They cannot help the customer standing in front of them while immediately responding to every form, text, email and social media DM.

They take lunch breaks. They go home. They have weekends, vacations, personal time off and sick days.

That is normal.

The real problem is that customer interest appears around the clock while human coverage does not.

Adding more work to an already busy employee does not create responsiveness. It creates a longer task list.

The solution is to give your team more capacity and coverage.

Three Systems That Create Response Delays

Three common systems create dangerous response delays.

The first is voicemail.

Voicemail records a request, but it does not answer the customer’s questions, explain your service area, qualify the opportunity or schedule an appointment.

It tells the customer, “Leave a message and wait.”

Voicemail is a waiting room for your competition.

The second is the website form.

A form collects the customer’s information, but it does not begin a conversation. It cannot immediately answer questions, overcome concerns or help the customer take the next step.

It tells the customer, “Submit this form and wait.”

That may have worked five years ago, when customers expected to wait. Today, they can return to Google in one click.

The third is limited business hours.

Your employees may finish working at five, but customer interest does not.

People search before work, during lunch, at night and on weekends.

When no one is available to respond, interested customers are forced to wait until your business reopens.

Most will not wait.

They will contact the next business that can help them now.

Limited business hours tell the customer, “Come back when it’s convenient for us.”

Voicemail, website forms and limited business hours may look like three different systems, but they create the same dangerous problem: No immediate response.

And when your business does not respond, the customer often returns to Google and your opportunity becomes your competitor’s customer.

Automatic Acknowledgment Versus Useful Help

An automatic message reply is not a useful response.

An email saying, "We received your request and will contact you soon," confirms that the customer has entered another waiting line.

A useful response moves the customer forward.

It answers questions.

It gathers the right information.

It explains what happens next.

It schedules an appointment or connects the customer with the right person.

The goal is not to just send something quickly.

The goal is to help quickly.

That is the difference between taking a message and being Customer Responsive.

The AI Receptionist and Website Concierge

An AI Receptionist answers calls 24 hours a day.

It greets the caller, understands why the person is calling, answers business questions, qualifies the opportunity, books the appointment, sends a confirmation, notifies the staff and records the conversation in the CRM.

An AI Website Concierge provides similar help through voice or text. Instead of asking the visitor to submit a form and wait, it can have a real conversation while the visitor is still visiting the website.

AI does not have to replace your staff to create value.

It handles the repetitive first responses your staff is not available for and gives your employees an organized opportunity with the information they need.

Your staff can focus on work that requires experience, judgment and a human relationship.

The Business Responsiveness Test

Here is a test you can perform this week.

First, call your business during a busy time. Then call again after normal business hours.

Do you reach a person who can help, or do you reach voicemail?

Second, complete the contact form on your website using an email address your team will not recognize.

Measure how long it takes to receive a useful response.

Do not count the automatic confirmation.

Measure the time until someone answers the question or provides the next step.

Third, try the chat feature on your website. Ask a question that is important to a real customer.

Can it answer, or does it eventually ask you to complete another form?

Finally, test the process on a Friday evening. Would the customer receive help before Monday morning?

Write down the results.

Your business response time is part of your customer's experience, whether you measure it or not.

What Faster Response Creates

Faster responses create more than speed.

They creates confidence.

The customer thinks, "This business is organized. This business is paying attention. This business is ready to help me."

It also protects your marketing investment.

Advertising, referrals, reviews and search visibility bring opportunities to your door.

Immediate response keeps those opportunities from turning around and leaving.

Immediate responses also reduces work for your employees.

They spend less time listening to voicemail, trying to return voicemail messages, leaving messages and playing phone tag.

They begin with better information and a clear next step.

Responsiveness helps the new opportunity and your team at the same time.

Key Takeaways

Here are the key takeaways from today's episode.

First, customer interest is strongest when the customer first reaches out.

Second, every minute of waiting gives a competitor another chance to respond.

Third, slow response is usually a coverage and systems problem, not an employee problem.

Fourth, an automatic acknowledgment is not the same as useful help.

Fifth, AI allows a business to respond 24 hours a day without hiring employees to work 24 hours a day.

And finally, being the best business does not guarantee that you will win the opportunity.

The customer must reach you before they can discover why you are the best.

Digital WorkForce 360 Call to Action and Closing

Digital WorkForce 360 makes businesses 24/7 Customer Responsive with AI Expert Employees trained on your business.

The AI team can answer, engage, qualify, schedule, confirm and follow up, even when your employees are busy or your business is closed.

You do not have to recruit, hire or train additional full-time employees.

You add the coverage and capacity your current team needs.

Visit DigitalWorkForce360.com to learn how the team of AI 24/7 Expert Employees can be added in 72-hours for just $15.97 per 24-hour day paid monthly at $479.00 plus a one-time $199.00 implementation fee.

Because 24/7 Customer Responsive is today's competitive advantage and tomorrow's minimum business requirement.

Thank you for joining me for Episode 9 of Always On AI.

I am Bob Frazier, Founder and CEO of Digital WorkForce 360 and if you have any questions, please email me at: Bob@DigitalWorkForce360.com.

Scan the QR code to visit DigitalWorkForce360.com and make your business 24/7 Customer Responsive.

Opportunities don't wait. Be the business that responds first and wins!

Sources and References

About Your Host

Bob Frazier is the founder and CEO of Digital WorkForce 360. Drawing on more than 30 years of business ownership, sales, customer service, and employee-management experience, Bob helps business leaders understand how AI can eliminate responsiveness gaps and convert more opportunities into customers.

Explore More Always On AI Episodes

Make Your Business 24/7 Customer Responsive

Digital WorkForce 360 makes businesses 24/7 Customer Responsive with AI Expert Employees trained on the business. The AI team can answer, engage, qualify, schedule, confirm and follow up, even when employees are busy or the business is closed.

Make Your Business 24/7 Customer Responsive