Google backed startup Signpost, an automated customer relationship management (CRM) platform, has launched an artificial intelligence business tool that provides a new way to connect with consumers. Being called ‘Mia’, this tool automatically collects customer data such as purchase information, email, and phone to create a customer record database and stays connected with those customers and prospects to drive world-of-mouth, reviews and repeat business.
Stuart Wall, CEO, Signpost, says that Mia is the future of communication between businesses and consumers. “B2C companies have long shied away from CRM systems, because they’re complicated, time consuming, and built for companies with dedicated sales teams. The average CRM forces users to manually upload leads, cross-reference data streams like email, text and purchases; and perhaps most onerous, they require users to curate email marketing campaigns. Mia removes that friction by automatically capturing and optimizing every customer interaction with zero effort from the user.”
How Mia works
The AI business tool uses machine learning to remove the need for a traditional CRM and other forms of manual marketing. It disrupts traditional B2B-grade technology with true automation and makes that available to consumer-facing businesses. This drives actual dollars through new and deeper customer relationships.
Mia creates a ‘perfect contact’ record claims Signpost, as it collects email, phone, and purchase data and tracks customer behavior to updates their engagement in real-time. With an automated CRM businesses can simply set objectives they would like to achieve such as five-star reviews, customer referrals, generating new customers and driving loyalty and Mia would go to work. It learns and changes its behavior with every customer interaction. It follows up and works on ongoing communication through email and SMS which saves users from manually creating or managing email marketing campaigns.
Mia also makes data-driven decisions as it has over 16 million US consumers across more than 6,000 business clients. From this database it learns what types of communication works best and applies that to the communication email or SMS driving targeted communication. Signpost claims that Mia would outperform technologies such as Salesforce, Infusionsoft, ExactTarget, Mailchimp, Constant Contact and Square, just because it is a more comprehensive solution.
Gary Kayal, CEO of Terracare Landscaping and Terraclean Powerwashing, sharing his experience as a testimony to Mia, says, “Before Mia, it took hours to optimize marketing campaigns to drive customers. Since adopting Mia, we’ve seen quantifiable results, from new five-star reviews to customer referrals. Most importantly, Mia works on our behalf saving me valuable time, a resource I have so little of. The fact that Mia does all this with minimal interaction is the definition of ROI.”
How does it stand apart from HunSpot or Salesforce? According to industry reports, it is easier to use, businesses have to take some time out initially to set Mia up and then have minimal interaction as it can automate the SaaS process. What businesses will have to do is, from time-to-time, keep telling Mia the business objectives they need to meet.