How to Choose AI Tools That Actually Fit Your Business
There are more Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) web-based tools than any small business owner has time to evaluate. That is a trap where the market wants you to start with feature comparisons. However, I would submit that rather than focusing on feature sets, business owners should instead start with the jobs that need getting done.
Before looking at ChatGPT, HubSpot, Zapier, Grammarly, Fireflies, Canva, Notion, or any other product, write one plain sentence: 'I need to make this task faster, more consistent, more efficient or easier to hand off to one of my team members.'
That task might be following up with leads, summarizing customer calls, drafting customer emails, responding to reviews, scheduling appointments, answering the phone after business hours, creating product descriptions, or organizing quote requests.
Once the workflow is named, the tool decision gets much easier. Some tasks do not need a specialized subscription. Drafting an email, summarizing notes, brainstorming content, or improving a message can often be handled with a general AI assistant and a good prompt.
A SaaS tool becomes worth paying for when it connects to the place where the work already happens: your inbox, CRM, calendar, website, phone system, accounting tool, or social platform.
A useful experiment you can run is to test for integration, control, and adoption. Does the tool fit into your current business workflows? Can a human review or override it? Will the team actually use it? Does it save money (or generate revenue) more than it costs?
If the answer to any of those is no, the tool is probably not ready for your business yet.
The safest way to try a tool is a pilot. Most Saas apps offer free trial periods (or monthly subscriptions if you want to go a full first month). Pick one workflow, one tool, and one measurable result to see if you end up with reduced missed follow-ups, drafts of first responses that happen faster, summarization of your business calls that is more consistent or whatever business goal you are seeking to achieve. Review output after every completed job to track progress.
If you try this, don’t roll out five tools at once. A small pilot tells you more than a long demo call and it gives you the ability to more easily troubleshoot when you inevitably run into issues.
Every AI-enabled SaaS subscription should have a job. If you cannot explain what time it saves, what revenue it protects, or what customer experience it improves, cancel it, or never start it in the first place.
The point here is not to avoid SaaS and certainly not to avoid AI. The point is to make each tool earn its place in your business. It’s not difficult to do, but it does take time and focus.
If you are a small business owner looking to sort out the useful automation tools from the noisy ones and fitting them into the way your business actually works, Eagle Point Publishing can help you make that call quickly. Reach out for an initial discovery conversation.