3 Simple AI Agent Facts Every SMB Owner Should Know

3 Simple AI Agent Facts Every SMB Owner Should Know

Find out how you can cut through the noise with these three easy AI agent facts from our latest ebook.

Share article

We couldn't believe how AI agents are improving small businesses. That's why we created the free ebook, "Grow Your Business with AI Agents." And, we have some key takeaways to share that may wow you.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made it super easy for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to get things done, all over the globe. And AI agents are bringing out the best in smart technology. AI agents are here to create, build, and customize as you train them to be. These agents can learn, read, recommend, analyze, and so much more. But there are still myths around what they really are. We're here to bust these myths around AI agents and share how it could change the way you do business.

What we'll cover:

• Myth 1: AI agents will make human employees obsolete
• Myth 2: AI agents only help in customer-facing roles like sales and support
• Myth 3: AI agent solutions are too complex and expensive for small businesses
• Agentforce is here to help
• AI agents facts for small business you now know

Myth 1: AI agents will make human employees obsolete

The myth that AI will take over human employees is covered in the ebook, however, here's the TLDR. AI agents can free up a small team's time to focus on more strategic and value-adding tasks. The idea that AI agents will replace humans comes from the fear that machines are learning now, and can do things faster and with less resources. For SMBs, where every team member wears many hats, it's natural to worry that bringing in AI means fewer jobs.

Fact: AI agents handle the boring stuff while your team grows

AI agents don't replace your people. If anything, it frees them up. Your team will train the agent to take care of the "busy work" so that everyone can focus on building relationships, and growing the business. Your team will then need to update, iterate on their learnings, and evolve alongside the AI agents - all part of the team's upleveling process with automation (thus creating jobs here to do so).

Think about the repetitive tasks (yes, the things you despise) you do every day. Now, think about passing those off to a trusted assistant, like an AI agent built right into your customer relationship management (CRM) tool. We'll cover the AI CRM in a bit, but first let's see what AI can handle:

• Updating timely customer information
• Answering common customer questions
• Creating the right marketing campaign
• Aligning product information to your commerce store
• Automating workflow tasks for your team

And that is just a few. These tasks can take up a lot of time, but with a well-trained AI agent, can take minutes to get things done.

Keep reading in the free ebook about how AI agents, like Agentforce, are being trained to quickly sift through hundreds of targeted prospects in seconds, and scheduling calls when given an approved prompt.

Myth 2: AI agents are just chatbots

Many people think AI agents are just chatbots or virtual assistants that answer customer questions. The tech world often markets AI for customer-facing roles, however, AI agents are autonomous and do a lot more behind the scenes to help your entire business run smoothly. Many SMBs don't realize how much time their teams lose on behind-the-scenes tasks that AI could automate.

Fact: AI agents work across every department

AI agents are much more than glorified chatbots. From sales to service, AI agents talk to customers while handling important internal tasks that keep your business organized and efficient. They are woven into every aspect of your team, including:

• Sales: AI agents engage prospects, qualify leads, and close deals faster by providing personalized interactions at scale.
• Service: Deliver fast, accurate customer support by answering queries and resolving issues around the clock.
• Marketing: They analyze customer behavior and optimize campaigns to boost engagement and conversion rates.
• Commerce: Manage transactions efficiently, handle inventory insights, and streamline the buying experience.

Webinar: Become AI Ready: How Small Businesses Can Use AI to Work Smarter and Grow Faster

Beyond conversations, AI agents can analyze transactions and spot suspicious fraudulent activity faster than any human could, protecting your business from costly fraud or cybersecurity threats.

They'll automatically book, confirm, and remind everyone involved with just one prompt. These agents can be trained to sift through piles of data from sales, commerce, or finance to find insights that help you make smarter decisions, fast.

In the free ebook, Grow Your Small Business With AI Agents, you'll find out how to prioritize tasks based on your needs. You can track your team's time spent on various tasks, and gain valuable insights into how to optimize internal workflows. Summarize long meeting notes or documents to get the key takeaways, and keep everything in one collaborative place.

Myth 3: AI agents are too complex for small businesses

According to the latest Small and Medium Business Trends Report, ‌75% of SMBs are investing in AI in some capacity. But if you've been thinking AI agents are only for big companies with huge budgets and fancy IT teams, you're not alone. Many SMB owners worry that adopting AI means complicated setups, big costs, and lots of technical headaches. It's easy to see why. AI used to sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, and early solutions were way too pricey and complicated. Many business owners who couldn't afford to hire expensive developers or invest in custom software started with AI.

Fact: AI is built-in and affordable

You don't need to spend your hard-earned dollars to use AI agents now. New solutions like Agentforce offer low-code and no-code tools, meaning you can set up and customize your own AI agents by simply dragging and dropping instructions. No advanced coding is required. And it can easily be integrated seamlessly with your existing Salesforce system, so no more complicated IT overhauls.

The pricing is flexible: you pay based on what you use, so you can start small without a big upfront investment and scale as your business grows. In fact, if you're already a Salesforce customer, you can get started with Agentforce for free with Salesforce Foundations, making it even easier to try out how AI agents work.

Salesforce is here to help

In the ebook you'll realize that you don't need to be a pull all the threads together to weave something useful. It's okay to take some help. An AI agent like Agentforce is a proactive, autonomous AI application that provides specialized, always-on support to your team or customers. It ‌uses AI to handle everyday tasks like answering customer inquiries, qualifying sales leads, managing orders, and running marketing campaigns 24/7, so your business keeps moving forward, even after hours.

Read how small businesses are using Agentforce

SMB owners who have tried Agentforce love how it lightens their workload and helps them grow faster. Read their full stories in the ebook, but here's a quick snapshot:

• Wiley, a global publishing company, saw a 213% return on investment after using Agentforce, thanks to better self-service and efficiency.
• With Agentforce, Good360 will be able to connect disaster-affected communities with essential supplies up to three times faster with a goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 20%.
• Agentforce resolved 80% of visitor issues without sifting through more than 7,000 search results on the Salesforce Help site.

Read more AI agent facts to boost bizz in the free ebook

Hope these busted myths about AI have helped ease your mind about getting started. Grab the free ebook "Grow Your Business with AI Agents" and learn concepts around AI agents in a simple way. Here are some resources to learn more about AI agents for SMBs:

• What is Agentforce for Small Business?
• What is An AI Agent For Small Business?
• AI Use Cases with Salesforce
• How to Build an AI Agent

Start your journey with Starter Suite today. Looking for more customization? Explore Pro Suite. Already a Salesforce customer? Activate Foundations today to try out Agentforce.

AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.

Share article

Just For You

Explore related content by topic

• AI
• AI Research
• Generative AI
• Small Business
• Startups
• Trusted AI