Should we deploy a GenAI salesbot?
Considerations for the decision
Jeannie persistently pushes the need to be “transformative” to warrant her stance on deploying an AI chatbot now, rather than later, going against leadership concerns over risks of hurting relationships with current clients, head-count reduction, and AI workflow concerns and accuracy. As Jim Lecinski states, Jeannie is acting upon the “fear of missing out” over strategic implications for PulsePoint, drawn by the excitement and speed of how quickly competitors are incorporating AI.
Where Jeannie saw opportunity, others saw risks in losing stability within the company with an AI chatbot, alluding to how first movers tend to face the most risk with immature technologies. A key client had voiced concerns over data privacy, and especially for sales, human-touch may be needed to handle complex requests or capitalize on opportunities to upsell through personal interactions. While other members of the company acknowledge the potential personalization benefits and additional services that an AI chatbot could offer, their main concern was that for such a large transformation, there’s no guarantee that the first mover will do it right.
This concern directly fuels Jeannie’s ambitions – what if the first mover can do it right? Then, those that are late to the genAI game are “left in the dust”. A genAI chatbot would elevate sales by attracting more clients with more personalized services that anticipated customer needs, cutting expenses, and “freeing up more capital to invest in innovation” – this means that the longer they wait to start development, the larger the gap will get. This opportunity goes beyond improvements to existing workflows, gathering detailed data from every customer interaction to open up new client services, such as automating content creation instead of relying on a team of writers.
Deploy now, or later?
To decide whether to deploy the chatbot now or later, PulsePoint must consider its impact on overarching business goals, existing relationships with customers, and organizational and technical readiness. From there, the best solution for entering the genAI game with minimal risk is to deploy AI in incremental stages, starting internally and picking up pace when customers and company infrastructure are more adjusted before a full customer-facing launch. This allows for internal feedback loops that gathers data for eventual customer interactions and allows for performance testing of technical inaccuracies. An evidence-based approach means PulsePoint can enter the race without all the risk.
