To start updating Procore via your Tellhop AI assistant, visit https://web.tellhop.com/?app_flavor=ai_construction_admin and press the "Try for Free" button.

You'll authenticate with Procore, so that your AI assistant can make updates to your Procore records on your behalf. Once you've done that, you'll need to complete registration within Tellhop. After you've completed registration, you'll get your first text from your AI assistant and can start communicating with that phone number to make project tracking a breeze!

Wondering what the updates will look like? Don't worry, your AI assistant will show or tell you what it's planning to update for approval before any records sync to Procore. Once they're in the system, you can go in and view them anytime. 

For questions, reach out to us here: help@tellhop.com

Once you've installed the app via the Procore Marketplace, only a few steps remain to start updating Procore via your Tellhop AI assistant!

Let your Tellhop AI assistant start making Procore updates for you

Integrate your Tellhop AI assistant with Procore

Enable Tellhop's Procore integration

Whether you’re a fortune 500 company, or a solo journeyman, providing the services you’re selling and  running your business, you must invest in some level of marketing to  make sure your business remains profitable, and continues to grow.

Though the budgets, people, and tools might differ between a large  corporation, and a small or medium-sized business, the same principles  apply (just at a different scale). Today, we’re going to outline our top  5 principles and provide some tool suggestions to help even the  smallest of businesses boost their revenue in 2023.

Most marketers refer to the below diagram as a customer journey, or a  sales or marketing funnel. For those newer to marketing, the goal of  this visualization is to help map out the various stages a person goes  through as they look for, engage with, and ultimately become a customer  of any given business.

Awareness is all about making sure that when it comes time for a  customer to have a need that matches what your business can offer, you  are discoverable as a solution.

Interest, consideration, and evaluation are about making sure when  that customer is aware of your business, that they can easily get the  information they need in order to make a decision about a purchase.

Decision and purchase are all about being as friction free as  possible for that customer to buy, whether that’s purchasing a good,  service, or experience.

And repeat, loyalty, and advocacy are all about turning that one time  customers into an agent of growth, helping you fill the top of your  funnel with customers who need less convincing.

As mentioned earlier, the funnel is not meant to give you solutions,  rather it’s a great starting point for you to consider what tactics,  technology, and time you want to put into different areas of the funnel  to help your business grow. A promised, in this article we’ll give you  5-marketing tips that are proven to help businesses of all size and  category grow.

1. Invest in social. Though often hard to measure  the impact of social media, it is no longer a question of if you do it,  but how you do it. With people spending roughly 2 hours and 23 minutes  daily on social media (GlobalWebIndex), and over 4.55 billion active users globally (Social Media Today), you can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines.

For small businesses in 2023, Instagram (owned by Facebook) and  Tiktok are two platform you can’t afford not to be on. While Facebook  (which most small businesses are on) still has billions of people  visiting on a daily basis, in the US, younger generations have moved a  massive amount of that time away from Facebook towards Instagram and  Tiktok. Tools make it pretty simple to publish cross platform, so adding  those two into your mix should not cause too much extra effort.

There is an overwhelming amount of content out there about how to  approach social media, so before you begin, educate yourself a bit, then  make a plan. Here is short list of our favorite resources:

HubSpot - with a great marketing blog that covers a wide range of things, you can find specific social media content, and even platform specific learning tools like this one. For those who really want to dig in, their free marketing academy is actually quite good as well.

Social Media Today  - while not every article will apply given the resources of a small or  medium sized business, you will be able to get a ton of helpful nuggets  from many of the articles. Like this one, that suggests the best time of day to post, or this one that has some helpful tips for planning.

Instagram for business  - if you’re not already following them, Instagram has their own handle  and they post tips and tricks to help make you successful. Here’s a particularly good post with 8-tips for engaging your audience.

Once you have your plan, it’s really about posting good content  regularly and growing your audience by following and engaging with them.  For content creation, there are also a ton of tools out there. These  two are my favorite right now, because they’re both easy to use and  inexpensive:

Mojo - one  of the best tools for creating beautiful content directly on your mobile  device, without a design, it’s easy to use, makes everything look  professional, and is completely free! They have paid upgrades, but you  can go a long way on the free product

Canva - if you  haven’t heard of Canva by now, this should be your first stop. Not only  can you easily create cute, animated content for different social  platforms, but it’s a great tool for all your flyers, leave behinds, and  more traditional marketing collateral. And this product also has a free  offering with a lot of functionality.

Of all the tips in this article, this is likely the most time  consuming so I’d suggest starting with the other four lower hanging  fruit, then circling back.

2. Respond quickly to customers. Though this one may  seem obvious, you’d be shocked by how many people miss out on business  due to poor response rate. In fact, according to Forbes  the average lead response time is close to 47 hours and only 27% of  leads who reach out, particularly online, ever get a response at all!

According to small business trends,  82% of consumers expect immediate responses on sales and marketing  questions, and if they don’t hear back, move onto the next business.

As a small or medium sized business, you may be thinking you’re up  against impossible odds, especially if you are still in the phase of  growth where you need to actually provide the service you’re selling,  making it impossible to get to the phone. Good news is that there are a  few path here you can take: tools, hire, outsource.

Tools: In 2023, there are now tools that help automate responses so  that customers hear back from you right away, even if you’re too busy to  get to the phone.

At Tellhop, not  only do we offer simple, triggered text based automations, but our phone  system also provides interactive menus you can turn on that potential  customers can engage with via text, the preferred means of communication  for 9 out of 10 consumer today (Global News Wire). So when you miss a call, you’re not missing out on business.

Here’s how it works: You can configure it to trigger if you miss a  call, or receive a text from a customers. Once that “event” happens, the  customer instantly gets access to a menu of text options that get them  to the information they need!

You can customize the menu so it can have the options that make sense  for your business. In the case of qualifying a lead, or booking an  appointment, that customer can text all the information needed and that  investment alone on the customer side makes them 10x more likely to wait  to hear back, then do the same “work” with another business.

Other options here are to hire more employees, or choose a platform  where you can outsource a call center, likely cheaper than hiring, but  can come with all sorts of other issues that Business’s article on outsourcing does a good job of outlining.

Today, the cheapest of all three options is for sure tellhop, with  plans starting at $5 a month, but we encourage you to explore all three  paths before making a decision.

3. Text based appointment reminders. No shows (or  not home if you go to the customer) are a big hit for businesses, both  from a time and money perspective, with stats showing that 62% of no  shows occur simple because the customer forgot (Voiceage).  And while calls and emails used to be a great way to connect with  customers, given stats around how often different segment of people  check voicemails and emails, sending those messages via text would  increase your communication efficiency by 6000% (OffTheCusp).

Depending on if you’re using pen and paper, a basic calendar (like  Google or Outlook calendar), or are already set up with a booking system  (which should have text reminders), text based reminders are not hard or too expensive to add to your current workflow.

If you’re on pen and paper, and you don’t want to switch to an online  calendar, our suggestion would be scheduled text messages that you set  up when you’re adding the appointments to your calendar.

Here are a few cheap or free tools you can use to do that:

Tellhop - the  ability to write and schedule any type of text message at some point in  the future (date & time) is a feature that you can access in tellhop  on any plan.

Zapier - this is a  really neat tool that lets you connect different types of software (or  set rules for a software program you’re use, like your phone’s  messaging!) and create automation that save you time. Here is their template for scheduling a text.

Free options from a cell phone: 
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TextMagic -  this is a very easy-to-use service that is pay as you go, super great  for when you’re just staring out, but it can get costly quickly so just  keep an eye out!

For those who use Google or Outlook calendar, I cannot recommend Calendly  enough. It’s super easy to use, the plan with text based reminders is  only $12 a month (as I’m writing this article) and you can automate both  scheduling appointments, and the reminders. Here is a quick article  on how to set those up, but this won’t work for everyone so please  check out the product before you buy (like all of our suggestions).

There are also many options out there segmented to fit your  particular type of business, but those tend to be a little more pricey.

4. Post service follow up. In this day and age, when  so many people base their buying choice on publicly available customer  reviews, it’s important to try and corral customer feedback as, on  average, a happy customer tells 9 people, and an unhappy customer tells  16 (Zippia). On top of that, 96% of unhappy customers never actually complain to the company about their bad experience (LXAhub).

So what does that mean for your small business? The simplest tip is  to send a follow up text, email, or call to see how satisfied your  customer was with the job done. If you have a happy customer, great! You  simply reply with gratitude for spending with your business. If they’re  really happy, you can ask them to review you wherever it matters most  for your business. For some, that will be Yelp. For others, it might be  your Google page, or your own website.

For customers who are not satisfied, the most important thing is to  hear them out and, where possible, correct any wrong doings they feel  they suffered. Check out our blog post on customer service cheat sheet for more tips.

5. Texting to get customers coming back. Many  businesses are allergic to the thought of bombarding customers with  unwanted text messages or even emails, but there’s a 60-70% chance an  existing customer will make a second purchase as opposed to a 5 - 20%  change a first-time shopper will, so those follow ups are  important(Zippia).

And why text you might ask? Not only do customers prefer it (as we  learned earlier), but the average open rate is 98% (as opposed to  email’s 20%), response rate is 45% (email is 6%) (Gartner), and on average it takes 90 seconds (Business2community) to get a response.

So the biggest questions are: when and what

The most important aspect of the follow up is to make sure you  understand your customer needs and match the follow up with those needs.  Getting a text from a business asking if you need a haircut a week  after your last haircut makes no sense, and is likely to annoy your  customers. But match the timing to a customer need with the link to book  your service, is absolutely delightful as they don’t have to go digging  to find your contact info.

Using the last example, standard data says that on average, men get  hair cuts every 4 - 6 weeks and women, ever 3 - 4 months. When your last  appointment walks out, or at the end of the day, schedule texts to go  out in the future for everyone you see that day so when that time comes  around, you’re not only helping them remember you exist, but you’re  making scheduling that appointment easy.

If you already have a POS (point of sale software) or a CRM (customer  relationship management software), you can likely look up exactly what  each customer’s ideal timing looks like, though averages are likely  fine.

There are marketing tools that automate a lot of this for you, though  they can be quite expensive, particularly as you ramp up on customers  or message volume. A good goal for 2023 might be to start the process in  a more manual way so you can start to see the impact: is it driving  more business? How do customers find it? Do they like it? What else  would be helpful for them?. In software development, we often try to put  out small changes, then talk to customers to hear how they feel. Your  service business is no different, your customers are your best partners!  Talk to them, many will love to share their thoughts.

Whether you’re a fortune 500 company, or a solo journeyman, providing the services you’re selling and running your business, you must invest in some level of marketing to make sure your business remains profitable, and continues to grow.

Tellhop Blog - 5 marketing tips every small business providing a service should try in 2023

5 marketing tips every small business providing a service should try in 2023

As a small  or medium-sized business owner, you know how important it is to stay  connected with customers and partners. A reliable business phone system  is a crucial tool for managing calls, scheduling appointments, and  handling inquiries. But with so many options on the market, it can be  challenging to find an affordable business phone system that also meets  your needs.

In this short article, we’ll look at the different types of phone  systems available today, and which types of businesses those phone  systems work best for.

As a small or medium-sized business, the four main phone systems  you’re most likely to be choosing between for all your business calls  and texts are:

While there is different technology that we’ll touch on powering  these three systems (and even more variation among the technology in  each bucket), those are the general buckets small and medium sized  businesses will need to consider.

You may recognize these phones from doctors offices, or at work  yourself. These are the most traditional systems, usually supported by  local, regional, or national phone companies. When talking about the  technology, you may see them referred to as public switched telephone  networks (PSTNs), which use what’s called an analog system that runs via  the telephone companies copper wiring.

In order to use PSTNs, you need private branch exchange (PBX)  hardware in order to use the landline service. This hardware (think an  office phone) can create many of the features you’d expect, like  extensions, call transferring, and call directories. Many phone system  providers are phasing out landline systems, which also means hardware  devices are older and newer technology will most likely not be  supported.

Expensive: for the most part, one of the more expensive options

Hardware costs: with most providers moving away from this  technology, it will be difficult and expensive to purchase and repair  hardware

Outdated: modern technology will not work with the old software or hardware leaving you behind your competitors

Stuck to a desk: while some offer mobile forwarding, some do not and  some are very hard to configure leaving many leads dropped on the floor

A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system uses the internet to  make and receive calls, which can be a more cost-effective solution than  a traditional landline. VoIP systems often come with a range of  advanced features, such as virtual numbers, call routing, and  transcribed voicemails, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional phone  system. They also allow computers and tablets to essentially be turned  into phones where you can make and receive business calls and texts,  among other things.

There are two types of VoIP setups, on-premise, something most small  businesses will not be considering that consists of hosting your own  hardware onsite, and cloud-based VoIP systems, where there is no  hardware or maintenance to worry about (other than the phones or  computers you already own). There are very few small and medium sized  businesses that will require on-premise VoIP systems, so for brevity,  we’ll look at cloud-based systems when comparing the pros and cons.

Inexpensive: generally one of the cheaper options

Easy to configure: you can configure many of these systems from your computer or phone

No control: if the internet goes down, so does your service until the provider fixes it

Poor sound quality in low connectivity: you may be in places with  lower connectivity which can impact the sound quality or interrupt the  call all together

Missed opportunities: when you have 0 internet connectivity (either  through wifi or phone data) you may miss out on leads or opportunities

Virtual phone systems connects those who call a main business number  to employees on their mobile or home phones. Some of these systems can  also ring “a landline” along with other mobile phones, making it an  ideal option for teams who are not tethered to a desk. These systems  essentially leverage the phone’s network in order to connect  individuals. They often have features such as automated receptionist,  voicemails, call screening, and more.

Inexpensive: this is generally one of the cheaper options (baring phone bill add ons)

Mobility: allows a business to operate with remote workers or from multiple locations

Professional: many of these systems allow employees to make calls  and send texts from the businesses number, keeping business records with  the business

Added expense: because the system is leveraging your phone’s network, depending on your carrier there may be extra charges

Unusual calling experience: due to how calls are routed, when you go  to make a call say from your personal cell phone using the company  number, there may be odd experiences, like you having to pick up an  incoming call to make a call, or calling from what looks like another  phone number than the business number you want to call from

Combination is not really a different type of phone system, rather it  takes from the best of VoIP and virtual phone system to combine into  one technology for high quality and consistency while still maintaining a  lower price point.

Like VoIP, this technology uses internet connection to make calls.  However, when it detects that the signal is low, it moves the call to  process on your mobile or landline phone’s network allowing for high  call quality and dependability so calls and texts rarely get dropped.  And these systems have all the same bells and whistles VoIP and virtual  phone systems have, like call routing, extensions, transcribed  voicemails, and more.

Inexpensive: this is generally one of the cheapest options out there

Mobility: allows a business to operate with remove workers, or from multiple locations

When shopping for an affordable business phone system, it's also a  good idea to consider the long-term costs. Some systems may have low  upfront costs but charge more for additional features, users, or lines.  Be sure to compare the total cost of ownership for different systems to  ensure you're getting the best value for your money.

Here at Tellhop, we  use combination, which means we can offer affordable plans with high  call quality and consistency. Our system also works great for remote or  mobile teams, as anyone can install the app and make and receive calls  and texts from the business number, from anywhere, helping your business  look more professional, keeping customer communication records with the  company, and helping your employees keep their personal numbers  private. We are also one of the only providers that does not charge per  user, so adding employees doesn’t get more expensive for your small  business.

That being said, there are many great providers out there, and  finding an affordable business phone system doesn't have to be a  challenge. Here are our top picks  for small and medium sized businesses looking to start, grow, or just  upgrade their business phone systems in 2023. With today’s technology,  saving money might actually mean an upgrade in functionality for both  you, and your customers!

As a small or medium-sized business owner, you know how important it is  to stay connected with customers and partners. A reliable business phone  system is a crucial tool for managing calls, scheduling appointments,  and handling inquiries. But with so many options on the market, it can  be challenging to find an affordable business phone system that also  meets your needs.

As a small or medium-sized business owner, you know how important it is to stay connected with customers and partners. A reliable business phone system is a crucial tool for managing calls, scheduling appointments, and handling inquiries. But with so many options on the market, it can be challenging to find an affordable business phone system that also meets your needs.

Tellhop Blog - Choosing a business phone system in 2023

Choosing a business phone system in 2023

Advertising can be expensive. And there are no guarantees. As a small business owner, not only does that alone make it a tiring exercise, but deciding where, what, and how to distribute your marketing dollars can be overwhelming. With so many options available, we wanted to give you a series of short guides on how to get started to maximize a successful outcome.

While it’s usually pretty easy for you to know the goal of advertising is to get more business, it’s actually very helpful to sit down and write that out, along with a short list of other element that will help you determine where it’s best to put your precious marketing dollars. Start out with answering these 5-questions:

Who are you targeting? If your answer to this question is anyone, you may want to put a little more elbow grease into this one. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behavior. This will help you determine which platforms your audience is most likely to be active on, and where you can reach them most effectively.

Consider your budget: Different advertising platforms have different costs associated with them, so it's important to consider your budget when deciding where to advertise. For example, social media advertising can be relatively inexpensive, while traditional media such as TV and radio is usually more costly.

Evaluate your goals: What do you hope to achieve with your advertising? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales? Different advertising platforms can be more effective for different goals, so it's important to align your goals with the platform that can best help you achieve them.

Research the competition: Look at what your competitors are doing and where they are advertising. This can help you determine which platforms are most effective in your industry, and can give you ideas for your own advertising strategy.

Test and measure: You may not get it right the first time around. Don't be afraid to experiment with different advertising platforms and strategies. Test different messaging, ads, and targeting options to see what resonates most with your audience. And be sure to measure your results! If you don’t know what’s driving new customer growth, it’s very likely you’re wasting dollars somewhere.

Though you may already have all of the details in your head, fleshing them out "on paper" will help you spot holes, get new ideas, and even collaborate with others to improve your strategy and execution.

Below is an outline of the guides we'll be publishing over the next few weeks. The next series of guides will build off of this initial work, so it's important to really put some thought into this step!

Guide 2: Where to run your ads given your target & goals

Guide 3: How to build out an ad budget & what to evaluate as you run your ads

Guide 4: Tools to help you build professional ads without a designer

Guide 5: How to track and test online ads

Guide 6: When to keep spending, when to stop

To make sure you see all the upcoming guides, remember to sign up for our blog!

Tips and best practices for small businesses who want to effectively run online ads

Basics for effectively setting up and running online ads

Get Started with Online Ads: Guide 1 - Creating a Strategy

For many small businesses that are looking to grow, their first thought is to spend time and money on social media, paid advertising, or flyers. And while these might be necessarily tactics, especially for brand new businesses, business owners often overlook some of the most basic, low cost ways to secure more business. While there are a range of basic, low-to-no cost tactics, today’s article will focus on the easiest and most overlooked tool: your business phone.

Here are 10 tips for how small businesses can do more business simply through a better phone system or phone answering practices:

Always answer the phone: Did you know that 80% of callers won't leave a voicemail, and 85% of people whose calls aren't answered will not call back? (Source: Salesforce) Make sure to always answer the phone, even if you're busy or your business is closed. Consider using a modern phone system like Tellhop that automates replies to make sure your customers can always reach you, even when you're not available.

Respond quickly to missed calls: If you miss a call, make sure to return it as soon as possible. According to a study by InsideSales, the odds of qualifying a lead decrease by 400% if you wait more than 10 minutes to contact them. With Tellhop’s phone system, your customers will get instant replies, 24/7 so consider a phone upgrade (though Tellhop is likely cheaper than what you’re using today!)

Use a professional greeting: Your phone greeting should be professional, friendly, and include your business name. This will help build trust with your customers and make a great first impression. Check out this article from HubSpot for tips on how to create a great phone greeting.

Train your staff: Your staff should be trained on how to answer the phone professionally and how to handle customer inquiries. Make sure they are knowledgeable about your products and services, and have access to the information they need to answer customer questions. And make sure they’re not responding to customers from their personal cell phones! Over 42% of small businesses lose customer records when employees leave their business.

Use text messaging: Text messaging is becoming increasingly popular for business communication. According to a study by Twilio, 9 out of 10 consumers want to use messaging to communicate with businesses, and 69% would switch their business to another business who did communicate via text. Consider using a modern phone system like Tellhop to allow customers to text you directly from your website or social media profiles.

Use call tracking: Call tracking allows you to track which marketing campaigns are generating the most calls to your business. This can help you make better-informed decisions about where to focus your marketing efforts. With Tellhop, we can help you do this. You can also use tools like CallRail if you have a larger budget.

Use call recording: Call recording allows you to review customer interactions and make improvements to your phone answering processes. This can help you identify areas for improvement and provide better customer service. Any modern phone system will have call recording as one of their features. 

Use an IVR system: An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system allows callers to interact with a menu of options before speaking with a live agent. This can help streamline your call handling processes and provide a better customer experience. 

Use call forwarding: Call forwarding allows you to forward calls to your cell phone or another device when you're not in the office. This can help ensure that you never miss a call from a customer. While many phone system provide this feature today, Tellhop offers the ability to ring multiple phones which means less wait time for your caller.

Use call analytics: Call analytics allows you to track important metrics like call volume, call duration, and call outcome. This can help you identify trends and make data-driven decisions about your phone answering processes. Check out this article from Google Analytics for more information on call analytics.

Small businesses do not always need to resort to expensive and time consuming marketing to grow their customer base. With these 10 tips, businesses can increase revenue through a better phone system and habits.

10 phone tips for low to no cost growth tactics for small businesses

10 Tips to generate more business through better phone practices

We’re going to share a quick story about Warby Parker, the American retailer of prescription glasses and sunglasses founded by a group of business school graduates who realized that the traditional way of buying eyeglasses was expensive, time-consuming, and often frustrating. Using technology, they created a better way to streamline the process and make it more affordable.

They developed a virtual try-on system that allowed customers to upload a photo and see how different frames would look on their face. They also offered a home try-on program, where customers could select five frames to try on at home for free before making a purchase.

Within the first year of launching, Warby Parker had sold over 100,000 pairs of glasses and had a waiting list of over 20,000 customers. Today, Warby Parker is worth over $3 billion and has disrupted the traditional eyeglasses industry.

If you’re a small business owner, you may be wondering why this story is relevant. The founders of Warby Parker were able to disrupt the traditional eyeglasses industry by adopting new technologies to create a better customer experience. Studies have shown that 76% of small businesses believe that adopting new technologies is important for their growth and survival, yet only 30% have implemented any new tools in the past year [Accenture].

As a small business owner, you don’t need to build it, you just need to look for it and take the time to implement it! Why? Because according to a survey by Deloitte, small businesses that invest in technology are two times more likely to be growing than those that don't.

It’s tough enough to succeed as a small business owner with 20% of small businesses failing in their first year, and 50% who never make it past the five-year mark, so if there are ways to increase the odds of success, why not try?

Remember the time before the first iPhone? When phones had buttons, a flip or slide cover, and a cute little antenna on top? In 2007, the first iPhone changed the way we operated, consumed, and communicated with each other, and with businesses. Within 3 years, 35% of the US had a smartphone. In 2021, nearly 81% of Americans owned a smartphone. Last year, 56% of local business searches were done from them, and 67% of consumers said they'd switch to a different business that lets them text with them from those smartphones.

In retrospect, you can see all the changes, and things you might have adopted sooner, or changed more quickly to get a leg up on your competitors. Well, we’re here to tell you, AI is the next transformative shift. Like the iPhone, it is and will continue to drastically change how we do our jobs, how we find things, how we communicate, and other great innovations we can't even imagine yet. 

But what does that all have to do with your small business? And how can it make you more money?

As a small business owner, you probably wear between 2 and 8 proverbial hats on any given day. You are HR, marketing, sales, customer support, you name it, you’ve probably done it. The first time one of our founders used AI, she performed a task that normally took her around 3 hours, in 12 minutes. Mind blown. It was then that she knew this had to be something we could make accessible to every small business owner out there, because as discussed, the odds are against us.

Here are the biggest ways AI can help your small business:

More Productivity: AI-powered tools can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time for business owners and employees to focus on higher-level tasks and decision-making.

Improved Customer Service: With AI chatbots and voice assistants, businesses can provide 24/7 customer support, personalized recommendations, and quick responses to inquiries.

Increased Efficiency: AI can process huge amounts of data much faster and more accurately than humans can, which can save time and reduce errors in various tasks. Think receipts. 

Better Marketing: AI can help businesses better target their marketing efforts by analyzing customer behavior and preferences, enabling more personalized and effective marketing campaigns.

Streamlined Hiring and Recruitment: AI can help small businesses find and hire the best candidates by using predictive analytics to identify top performers and by automating time-consuming tasks like resume screening and interview scheduling.

By leveraging AI-powered tools like chatbots, customer service assistants, automated sales and marketing, small businesses can streamline their operations, reduce costs, and improve their customer experience.

While there is a lot out there, here is a short list of the top 5-AI based technology companies that will start saving your small business time and money (among other things!):

Tellhop is an AI-powered small business phone system that turns missed calls into bookings and sales, even when business owners can't answer. With Tellhop, small business owners can more than double leads, keep staff focused on the customer in front of them, and have peace of mind knowing that every incoming call or text will be handled by an AI assistant that knows their business inside and out. By capturing more leads and booking more appointments, small businesses can increase their revenue and grow their customer base.

Flick is a social media management tool that uses AI to help businesses and individuals create and curate engaging content for their social media channels. With features like content scheduling, image and video editing, and hashtag suggestions, Flick aims to simplify social media marketing and improve engagement and growth for its users.

ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot that can help small businesses streamline their workflows, boost productivity, and increase sales. The most common use cases that are likely helpful for small businesses are asking it for content ideas for things like your social media or blog posts, marketing emails to customers, or text replies. You can also tell it to 'act as a [insert function here]' to perform helpful functions, like "act as a spreadsheet and itemize all of these receipts by category". It's a very popular tool and is one of the fastest growing applications of all time. 

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that can help small business owners improve the quality of their writing. With Grammarly, small business owners can eliminate grammar and spelling errors, improve their sentence structure, and receive suggestions for better word choice. By improving the quality of their writing, small business owners can communicate more effectively with their customers and colleagues, building stronger relationships and increasing their credibility.

Salesforce Einstein is an AI-powered customer relationship management (CRM) tool that can help small businesses manage their customer interactions more efficiently. With Salesforce Einstein, small business owners can automate their sales and marketing processes, personalize their customer interactions, and gain valuable insights into their customers' behaviors and preferences. By using AI to streamline their CRM processes, small businesses can increase their sales and customer satisfaction.

Small businesses that want to thrive in 2023 and beyond must embrace technology and innovation. Whether it's investing in AI assistants like Tellhop or implementing cloud computing solutions, the right technology can help small businesses streamline their operations, improve their customer experience, and drive revenue growth. So, stay curious, keep learning, and don't be afraid to try new things. Your business (and your wallet) will thank you for it.

AI tools that will help every small business owner build their business and save time in 2023

AI tools small business owners should use in 2023

5-AI tools every small business should be using in 2023

Text messaging has become an increasingly popular way for businesses  to communicate with customers, and it's easy to see why. It's fast,  convenient, and allows you to reach customers in real-time. However,  finding a phone service that allows you to text with customers can be a  challenge.

That's why we've put together this list of the top 10 phone services  for small and medium-sized businesses that allow you to text with  customers and give you tools to do that efficiently without the  resources of a large company.

Tellhop: One of the best options for small and medium sized businesses, Tellhop  is a cloud-based phone system that lets you claim a local number (or  transfer an existing phone number) that can make and receive calls and  texts and can be added to existing phones, tablets, or accessed from any  computer via web browser.

All of your customer history–calls, voicemails, and texts–live in one  shared thread that you and your team can manage, so everyone is on the  same page and customers hear back sooner. It is perfect for small  businesses because starting plans are $5 a month and it offers a range  of features such as call routing, transcribed voicemail,  auto-responders, text tree automations that get customers the info they  need faster, and more.

Google Voice:  Google Voice is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service that  allows you to make and receive calls and texts using the internet. It's a  great option for small businesses if they are sure that they will  always have 100% wifi connectivity because it's completely free to use,  and offers features like call forwarding, voicemail, and conference  calling.

To get a Google Voice number, you need to tie it to a non-VoIP phone  number. It’s important to know, because it is a VoIP phone number, you  may not be able to use that number to sign up for other phone based  services that require you to have a pre-existing phone number to  authenticate.

Zendesk Talk:  Zendesk Talk is a cloud-based phone system that allows businesses to  make and receive calls and texts. This software is primarily used for  support teams, and offers phone and email communication. Because of  this, it tends to be a bit on the pricier side, starting at $49 per user  per month when billed annually. The talk only function offers features  such as call forwarding, voicemail, and virtual receptionists, which can  be helpful for answering common questions.

Dialpad:  Dialpad is a cloud-based phone system that allows businesses to make  and receive calls and texts. It has flexible monthly plans starting at  just $15 per user per month if billed annually, or $23 per user per  month if billed monthly.

It has features such as call forwarding, voicemail, conference  calling, and more. Many of the features are geared towards larger sales  teams or call centers, so the higher price points for the plans likely  contain features that the average small and medium sized businesses  might not need or fully take advantage of.

Twilio:  Twilio is a cloud-based communications platform that allows businesses  to make and receive calls and texts using APIs (Application Programming  Interfaces), which makes it perfect for teams with an internal  development staff, but way too complex for the average small to medium  sized business who wants to simply bring text and basic automation to  their customers.

For those businesses that do have high call volume, and a development  team they can leverage to build something in house, plans start at  $0.0079 per text and $.02 per picture message, and offers advanced  features such as SMS automation and keyword-based opt-in.

Avaya:  Avaya Cloud Office is a cloud-based phone system that allows businesses  to make and receive calls and texts. It has a range of plans starting  at $19.95 per user per month when billed annually and offers features  such as call forwarding, voicemail, and virtual receptionists.

This software has internal communication tools as well which is  likely what drives the price up, especially as you add individual from  your team. For many small and medium businesses, this will mean paying  for features they likely do not need.

Grasshopper:  Grasshopper is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service that  allows you to make and receive calls and texts using the internet. Like  Google Voice, it’s a solid option for small businesses who know they  will always be at 100% internet connectivity as that is what is required  to make and receive calls and texts.

Plans for Grasshopper start at $26/month when billed annually and  include one phone number, and three extensions. It has features like  call forwarding, custom greetings, and call transfers.

Ooma:  Ooma, like Google Voice and Grasshopper, is a VoIP (Voice over Internet  Protocol) service that allows you to make and receive calls and texts  using the internet. Like the other two, it’s a solid option for small  businesses who know they will always be at 100% internet connectivity as  that is what is required to make and receive calls and texts.

Boasting over 50 features that can help small and medium sized  businesses, like virtual receptionist, ring groups, and music on hold,  plans start at $19.95 per user, per month. Like Google Voice and Ooma,  we do not recommend this as a viable option for mobile service providers  as connectivity will not always be available.

AirCall:  Aircall is a cloud-based phone system that allows businesses to make  and receive calls and texts. This software is mostly geared towards  sales and support teams, touting itself as “call center software”.

Among other features, like recording and analytics, this software  plugs into various CRM systems for a better trail of customer  communication. It is very easy to use, and reliable, but starts at $30  per user per month billed annually with a minimum of 3-users, so not the  cheapest option out there.

Vonage:  Vonage is a cloud-based phone system that allows businesses to make and  receive business calls and text messages. Their basic plan start at  $19.99 per line per month and include features such as unlimited team  messaging, Vonage app center access, and mobile and desktop apps. Of all  the bunch, this one seems to have the fewest features accessible in  their lowest tiered plan.

No matter what your budget or needs, there are many phone service out  there that allows you to text with customers, a critical requirement  that will only continue to grow in the next decade. Take the time to  research your options, think about your specific business needs given  your staffing or proximity to reliable wifi, and choose the one that  best fits your business. You'll be glad you did as a switch won’t just  mean text messaging with customers, but depending on your choice,  monthly savings and tools that help you do more with less!

Text messaging has become an increasingly popular way for businesses to  communicate with customers, and it's easy to see why. It's fast,  convenient, and allows you to reach customers in real-time. However,  finding a phone service that allows you to text with customers can be a  challenge.

Text messaging has become an increasingly popular way for businesses to communicate with customers, and it`s easy to see why. It`s fast, convenient, and allows you to reach customers in real-time. However, finding a phone service that allows you to text with customers can be a challenge.

Tellhop Blog - 10 Best phone systems for small businesses

10 Best phone systems for small businesses

With so many businesses vying for the attention of customers, it’s  important to invest in marketing your business, which doesn’t  necessarily have to mean spending a ton of money on a sales team, or  online advertising. In fact, just looking at Google search, 53% of  website traffic is driven through organic search, while paid only  accounts for 27% (HigherVisibility),  with roughly 25.8% of internet users using ad blocking software. And in  the marketing world, search is one of the best places to run high  conversion advertising as that person your ad is landing in front of  literally has the problem your small business solves.

So what are the areas that successful small businesses invest in, if  not expensive online advertising? We’re going to share some of the  general practices we’ve seen the most successful small businesses deploy  so you can take them, adjust to your business and customer, and watch  profits grow in 2023.

We’re going to start with some consumer stats, as knowing where your  customers are, how they behave, and what they want is critical:

Communication channels—the case for texting:

81% of the phones in the world are smartphones (PEW)

85% of people keep their phone within arms reach at all times (PRNewsWire)

9 out of 10 people read texts they receive within 3 minutes (VentureBeat)

Texts have a 98% open rate (email is 20%) and a 45% response rate (email is 6%) (Gartner)

9 out of 10 consumers say they prefer businesses communicate with them via text (Avochato)

63% of consumers say they would switch to a company that offered text messaging (PRNewsWire)

58% of consumers said they responded to a company’s missed call with a text message but couldn’t get through (Martech)

69% of people from all generations say they’d prefer a text over a call from an unrecognized caller (Avochato)

Boomers are twice as likely to text as opposed to call when they use their phones (PRNewsWire)

75% of millennials consider phone calls to be “too time consuming” (BGR)

Online habits—the importance of search, social, and online reviews:

76% of consumers look up a business online before going into a store (PRNewsWire)

Google remains the most popular search engine with 84% of people turning to them (Statista)

84% of US adults age 18 - 29 are active social media users with an average daily use of 2 hours and 29 minutes (G2)

63% of customers expect businesses to offer customer service through social media

Instagram has 1.5 billion active users and 90% of Instagram users follow a business profile

81% of Instagram users use it for researching new products and services

Tiktok has over 1 billion monthly active users, 20% of which are US adults (G2)

39% of Gen Z consumers say that their purchase decisions are influenced by what they see on TikTok (G2)

TikTok is now more popular among Gen Z consumer than Instagram (G2)

With so many businesses vying for the attention of customers, it’s important to invest in marketing your business, which doesn’t necessarily have to mean spending a ton of money on a sales team, or online advertising. In fact, just looking at Google search, 53% of website traffic is driven through organic search, while paid only accounts for 27% (HigherVisibility), with roughly 25.8% of internet users using ad blocking software. And in the marketing world, search is one of the best places to run high conversion advertising as that person your ad is landing in front of literally has the problem your small business solves.

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