Premium Service Brands (PSB) stays on the cutting edge by implementing artificial intelligence technology to provide franchisees with the training and tools they need to run a successful business in their local communities.
AI 101
Artificial intelligence, or AI, refers to the ability of computer systems or machines to perform tasks that would typically require human intelligence. It enables them to learn from experience, adapt to new information, and carry out complex tasks.
British computer pioneer Alan Turing’s theories on computer intelligence from the early part of the 20th century eventually led to researchers at Dartmouth University coining the term “artificial intelligence” in 1956. But it wasn’t until 1997 that AI really started making strides when IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to beat a chess champion at his own game.
AI technology recently made headlines when OpenAi’s newly released GPT-4 aced the bar exam, a two-day test required to be an attorney. At least 45% of executive leaders said ChatGPT’s recent publicity prompted them to increase their investment in AI, according to a survey of 2,500 executive leaders by Gartner.
PSB is ahead of the curve. We’ve been working diligently for over two years to incorporate AI technology into our business. While AI does lack human creativity, it can get some jobs done quickly and error-free. We’ve made strides in developing ways to use AI to help improve franchisee training, employee onboarding, and even customer service. AI is helping us cut costs and improve our franchise services. Our digital team relies on service providers, such as Synthesia and Verdi, as resources for honing our AI implementation.
Innovative Training Tool
PSB offers a comprehensive training program to ensure our franchise owners provide reliable customer service and build a positive reputation in their community. We already franchise nine home services brands, including 360° Painting, House Doctors, The Grout Medic, and Window Gang. And we’re diligently searching for other complementary businesses to enable our franchisees to leverage their customer base by offering multiple services. Developing a solid training program as we onboard new brands streamlines the startup process for our corporate team.
Having a national brand with a solid reputation helps our franchisees generate leads, but learning sales skills to secure new business takes practice. Role-playing is an important sales learning strategy we typically practice when new franchisees attend training at our corporate headquarters. We developed artificial humans to allow our franchisees to role-play sales calls on demand. Our franchisees can don a VR headset and participate in a virtual sales call.
AI is also helping us develop virtual training courses across our brands. Rather than take time out of their day to schedule a training course, we make all our AI training tools available to franchisees so they can use them to train staff at their convenience for free. As part of the virtual training course, participants immerse themselves in a 360-degree training session. The direction of the course changes depending on the choices a participant makes in the virtual world.
Franchisees and their employees with ProLift Garage Doors, a professional garage door repair and application company, use VR headsets to learn how to properly diagnose problems inside a garage and interact with virtual customers. The Kitchen Wise & Closet Wise and 360° Painting team use the headsets to inspect a virtual customer’s cabinets, painted walls, and closets. During this role-playing scenario, virtual customers can ask common questions, which helps employees learn quickly in the early stages of their training.
To measure the success of incorporating AI into our training program, we surveyed participants about their confidence level attending a sales call. After only two sessions of virtual role-playing, sales call confidence levels jumped between 35% to 50%.
Leveling the Playing Field
AI is also helping our franchisees improve employee retention. In a tight labor market, finding reliable employees can be challenging. Having the ability to onboard new employees easily saves our franchisees time and money. We use AI to help level the playing field and enable owners to recruit and retain employees from all walks of life. AI allows us to take content from our subject matter experts and translate it into another language. Having the ability to take a training course in a dominant language gives an employee a head start.
Our Maid Right brand offers an AI training course in cleaning basics in both English and Spanish. Having virtual humans who can provide guidance in Spanish makes it easier for our employees to follow our procedures and exceed the expectations of customers.
Before implementing AI, translating courses to Spanish was cumbersome and time-consuming. Now we can get it done with a few clicks using Synthesia. The tool also improves the scripting of all our courses.
Finding effective ways to incorporate AI to improve business is possible, but it takes commitment and resources. At PSB, we’re leading the charge to provide the latest tools and resources for our franchise community.
About Deb Jewell:
Deb Jewell is President of Performance at Premium Service Brands, the franchisor of nine home services brands. She specializes in identifying process improvements and new technologies to streamline operations, create revenue, and reduce operating expenses.