HoneyBook, the leading AI-powered customer relationship management (CRM) platform for small business owners, released the results of a new study that shows small businesses using AI earn a median annual revenue of $500,000, nearly five times the $90,000 median of their slower-moving peers.
The findings come at a moment when many service-based business owners are second-guessing AI adoption, concerned that customers will perceive their work as less authentic or less personal. However, the study found that customers report walking away from small businesses for unrelated reasons: 36% cite businesses being hard to reach, 32% point to a lack of professionalism, and 30% cite inconsistent quality of service.
“Business owners have spent the past two years worried that using AI would cost them customers, but the research is clear that the opposite is true,” said Oz Alon, Co-Founder and CEO at HoneyBook. “Customers care about getting fast, professional, consistent service. They do not care whether a person or a tool delivered it. The owners pulling ahead are the ones who stopped asking whether to adopt AI and started asking how to use it to deliver a better experience.”
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The study, conducted in collaboration with The Harris Poll, surveyed 503 service-based small business owners and 1,002 of their customers, and revealed that among the top-earning, risk-tolerant operators identified as “Leaders,” 97% use AI tools and automation to run their business, compared with 88% of all other owners.
When asked what makes customers hesitant to return or choose a small business, customers indicated they are far more focused on fundamentals. The top factors influencing their decisions are:
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- Quality of offerings: 60%
- Consistency: 51%
- Responsiveness: 50%
- Ease of communication: 47%
- Availability when needed: 42%
These are categories where AI-powered workflow tools can directly impact business results by enabling businesses to respond faster, deliver services more consistently, and offer reliable availability outside of business hours.
Looking ahead five years, 49% of customers expect small businesses to use AI-powered tools to improve quality, and 46% expect AI to accelerate turnaround times. Customer expectations for AI-enhanced service are rising, and businesses that are slow to adapt or choose not to adopt risk losing business.
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