Steve Katz07.17.23
In today’s fast-paced and highly competitive business landscape, companies across various industries are constantly seeking innovative ways to optimize their operations and stay ahead of the curve. One technology that has gained tremendous traction in recent years is Artificial Intelligence (AI). While AI has made significant impacts in areas like healthcare, finance, and transportation, its potential for revolutionizing label businesses is often overlooked. Let’s explore how label businesses can leverage AI to streamline processes, enhance productivity, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Automated Data Extraction and Processing: One of the most time-consuming tasks for label businesses is manually extracting and processing data from various sources. AI-powered optical character recognition (OCR) systems can automate this process, accurately extracting data from scanned labels, invoices, and other documents. These systems utilize advanced machine learning algorithms to recognize and interpret text, enabling businesses to significantly reduce human error and save valuable time.
Moreover, AI can enhance data processing by analyzing large volumes of data and extracting meaningful insights. By leveraging AI algorithms, label businesses can gain a deeper understanding of customer preferences, market trends, and production patterns. This information can drive informed decision-making, facilitate product customization, and help businesses optimize their inventory management processes.
Intelligent Quality Control: Ensuring consistent quality across label production is crucial for label businesses. AI can play a vital role in streamlining quality control processes and reducing defects. By utilizing computer vision algorithms, AI can analyze labels and detect any inconsistencies, such as misprints, color variations, or alignment issues. This enables businesses to identify and rectify errors early in the production cycle, minimizing waste and improving overall product quality.
Furthermore, AI can enhance quality control by learning from historical data and identifying patterns that may lead to defects. By continuously monitoring production processes and analyzing data in real-time, AI systems can proactively identify potential issues, allowing businesses to implement preventive measures and maintain high-quality standards.
Personalized Customer Experiences: AI empowers label businesses to deliver personalized customer experiences by leveraging data-driven insights. By analyzing customer preferences, purchase history, and market trends, AI algorithms can recommend label designs and product combinations tailored to individual customers.
There is no replacement for human thought, at least for now, but I must say, my recent experimenting with AI technology and ChatGPT has been eye-opening. It’s got me thinking of all the possibilities where AI can not only help companies in a multitude of departments, but how it can even potentially replace individual, human employees (present-company included!).
While surely many benefits to AI in the business environment are emerging and will continue to develop, not everyone is all-in and all-embracing. Economist Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, in a recent presentation at the Xeikon Café in Chicago, pointed to AI as the single biggest thing he actually fears with regard to technology, the economy and the future. That got a lot of people’s attention.
AI technology is truly in its infancy, so there’s no telling just how far advanced it will inevitably become. In my view, AI’s capability is on par with self-driving, flying cars and jetpacks – things we fantasized as kids that would emerge into a future way of life. Heck, the iconic 1960s cartoon The Jetsons pretty much predicted flat screen TVs, smart watches, video calls, drones, digital newspapers and more.
It’s all coming to fruition. While fear is understandable, we should also embrace AI, because it is here to stay. So let’s take a look at how it can help in the B2B space.
Breaking down how AI can transform B2B sales, Adam Smartschan, partner and chief strategy officer for Altitude Marketing, says, “Business-to-business sales professionals are no stranger to innovation. The last decade has seen a shift to Zoom meetings, the rise of hyperscale data vendors, and modern RevOps. The days of smiling and dialing and wining and dining aren’t over, per se, but things are markedly different.
“Enter the next disruptor: artificial intelligence, and ChatGPT in particular. AI tools – particularly OpenAI’s large language model – provide human-like content and ‘thinking’ at scale. While that sounds a bit academic, it represents what could be a seismic shift for B2B business development professionals.”
B2B sales is all about personalization, Smartschan says. “Nothing is more important than addressing the specific needs and pain points of each prospect. ChatGPT helps by providing personalized engagement with sales targets. The model is more than capable of taking a form submission and generating a custom response, or giving you guiderails for your emails. It won’t close the deal for you – a mantra we’ll repeat – but it can help eliminate rote work, freeing up reps to focus on more complex issues.”
Unlike human employees, ChatGPT-based chatbots are on call 24/7, with no human intervention required. “Why force a prospect to schedule a meeting to learn the basics about your company? ChatGPT can help you build bots that engage just like people – without pesky raises or family time,” Smartschan says.
Artificial Intelligence can sort and analyze tremendous amounts of data in seconds and actually reveal valuable insights. Smartschan explains, “AI excels at identifying patterns in massive data sets. The right model can help B2B sales pros identify trends in prospect behavior, or see what’s moving them down the pipeline. Again, this requires attention being paid to inputs. A machine learning model that doesn’t take seasonality into account, for example, won’t ‘know’ why December is a down season for you. But the more inputs you give, the better your reps can prioritize work and focus on high-value opportunities.”
Successful B2B sales professionals are adept at identifying high-value leads – those that are critical to B2B sales success. “Now, if you’re generating three or four MQLs a day, this is no big deal. But if you have hundreds, you need bots capable of predicting and prioritizing,” Smartschan says. “AI can look at known factors like demographics and online activity, then compare a prospect to past deals. This type of ‘clustering’ can result in scoring or grouping, allowing sales reps to prioritize outreach on the leads most likely to convert.”
Customer retention is another area where AI can excel. “On the predictive side, ML models can analyze behavior vs. existing norms, looking for who’s at risk of churning. This information can inform targeted retention strategies that address specific, personalized needs. Meanwhile, ChatGPT can reduce the time and effort involved with client communications. It can help draft emails and tune messaging. That’s a few minutes saved at a time, but those rapidly add up to additional touchpoints. More touchpoints mean a stronger relationship, which only helps with retention. If the goal is efficiency, there’s no reason not to deploy a tool meant to work fast,” Smartschan concludes, adding, “From streamling processes and identifying high-value leads to providing basic content, AI tools can provide human-like work at meta-human scale.”
In closing, I’ll throw it back to ChatGPT, “By harnessing the power of AI, label businesses can streamline processes, increase productivity, reduce errors, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Embracing this technology is no longer an option but a necessity for businesses aiming to thrive in the dynamic and demanding label industry. The future of label businesses lies in integrating AI into their operations, unlocking new possibilities and driving sustainable growth in the years to come.”
Steve Katz is the former editor of Label & Narrow Web and is now a regular contributor. He is focused on helping companies in the label industry share their news and tell their stories. Follow him on twitter @LabelSteve.
Automated Data Extraction and Processing: One of the most time-consuming tasks for label businesses is manually extracting and processing data from various sources. AI-powered optical character recognition (OCR) systems can automate this process, accurately extracting data from scanned labels, invoices, and other documents. These systems utilize advanced machine learning algorithms to recognize and interpret text, enabling businesses to significantly reduce human error and save valuable time.
Moreover, AI can enhance data processing by analyzing large volumes of data and extracting meaningful insights. By leveraging AI algorithms, label businesses can gain a deeper understanding of customer preferences, market trends, and production patterns. This information can drive informed decision-making, facilitate product customization, and help businesses optimize their inventory management processes.
Intelligent Quality Control: Ensuring consistent quality across label production is crucial for label businesses. AI can play a vital role in streamlining quality control processes and reducing defects. By utilizing computer vision algorithms, AI can analyze labels and detect any inconsistencies, such as misprints, color variations, or alignment issues. This enables businesses to identify and rectify errors early in the production cycle, minimizing waste and improving overall product quality.
Furthermore, AI can enhance quality control by learning from historical data and identifying patterns that may lead to defects. By continuously monitoring production processes and analyzing data in real-time, AI systems can proactively identify potential issues, allowing businesses to implement preventive measures and maintain high-quality standards.
Personalized Customer Experiences: AI empowers label businesses to deliver personalized customer experiences by leveraging data-driven insights. By analyzing customer preferences, purchase history, and market trends, AI algorithms can recommend label designs and product combinations tailored to individual customers.
Okay, Stop
Everything you just read was not written by me, but by ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched on November 30, 2022. I asked ChatGPT to write an article on “how label businesses can use AI” and everything above “Okay, Stop,” is what it came up with. Pretty impressive, don’t you think? To eliminate any confusion and ambiguity, the rest of this column will be all me. (Or will it?)There is no replacement for human thought, at least for now, but I must say, my recent experimenting with AI technology and ChatGPT has been eye-opening. It’s got me thinking of all the possibilities where AI can not only help companies in a multitude of departments, but how it can even potentially replace individual, human employees (present-company included!).
While surely many benefits to AI in the business environment are emerging and will continue to develop, not everyone is all-in and all-embracing. Economist Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, in a recent presentation at the Xeikon Café in Chicago, pointed to AI as the single biggest thing he actually fears with regard to technology, the economy and the future. That got a lot of people’s attention.
AI technology is truly in its infancy, so there’s no telling just how far advanced it will inevitably become. In my view, AI’s capability is on par with self-driving, flying cars and jetpacks – things we fantasized as kids that would emerge into a future way of life. Heck, the iconic 1960s cartoon The Jetsons pretty much predicted flat screen TVs, smart watches, video calls, drones, digital newspapers and more.
It’s all coming to fruition. While fear is understandable, we should also embrace AI, because it is here to stay. So let’s take a look at how it can help in the B2B space.
Breaking down how AI can transform B2B sales, Adam Smartschan, partner and chief strategy officer for Altitude Marketing, says, “Business-to-business sales professionals are no stranger to innovation. The last decade has seen a shift to Zoom meetings, the rise of hyperscale data vendors, and modern RevOps. The days of smiling and dialing and wining and dining aren’t over, per se, but things are markedly different.
“Enter the next disruptor: artificial intelligence, and ChatGPT in particular. AI tools – particularly OpenAI’s large language model – provide human-like content and ‘thinking’ at scale. While that sounds a bit academic, it represents what could be a seismic shift for B2B business development professionals.”
B2B sales is all about personalization, Smartschan says. “Nothing is more important than addressing the specific needs and pain points of each prospect. ChatGPT helps by providing personalized engagement with sales targets. The model is more than capable of taking a form submission and generating a custom response, or giving you guiderails for your emails. It won’t close the deal for you – a mantra we’ll repeat – but it can help eliminate rote work, freeing up reps to focus on more complex issues.”
Unlike human employees, ChatGPT-based chatbots are on call 24/7, with no human intervention required. “Why force a prospect to schedule a meeting to learn the basics about your company? ChatGPT can help you build bots that engage just like people – without pesky raises or family time,” Smartschan says.
Artificial Intelligence can sort and analyze tremendous amounts of data in seconds and actually reveal valuable insights. Smartschan explains, “AI excels at identifying patterns in massive data sets. The right model can help B2B sales pros identify trends in prospect behavior, or see what’s moving them down the pipeline. Again, this requires attention being paid to inputs. A machine learning model that doesn’t take seasonality into account, for example, won’t ‘know’ why December is a down season for you. But the more inputs you give, the better your reps can prioritize work and focus on high-value opportunities.”
Successful B2B sales professionals are adept at identifying high-value leads – those that are critical to B2B sales success. “Now, if you’re generating three or four MQLs a day, this is no big deal. But if you have hundreds, you need bots capable of predicting and prioritizing,” Smartschan says. “AI can look at known factors like demographics and online activity, then compare a prospect to past deals. This type of ‘clustering’ can result in scoring or grouping, allowing sales reps to prioritize outreach on the leads most likely to convert.”
Customer retention is another area where AI can excel. “On the predictive side, ML models can analyze behavior vs. existing norms, looking for who’s at risk of churning. This information can inform targeted retention strategies that address specific, personalized needs. Meanwhile, ChatGPT can reduce the time and effort involved with client communications. It can help draft emails and tune messaging. That’s a few minutes saved at a time, but those rapidly add up to additional touchpoints. More touchpoints mean a stronger relationship, which only helps with retention. If the goal is efficiency, there’s no reason not to deploy a tool meant to work fast,” Smartschan concludes, adding, “From streamling processes and identifying high-value leads to providing basic content, AI tools can provide human-like work at meta-human scale.”
In closing, I’ll throw it back to ChatGPT, “By harnessing the power of AI, label businesses can streamline processes, increase productivity, reduce errors, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Embracing this technology is no longer an option but a necessity for businesses aiming to thrive in the dynamic and demanding label industry. The future of label businesses lies in integrating AI into their operations, unlocking new possibilities and driving sustainable growth in the years to come.”
Steve Katz is the former editor of Label & Narrow Web and is now a regular contributor. He is focused on helping companies in the label industry share their news and tell their stories. Follow him on twitter @LabelSteve.