NEWS19 March 2021
SETsquared Surrey artificial intelligence firm AMO.ai has secured a £65,000 grant from Innovate UK to develop its digital salesperson software, which will enable large firms to increase sales and productivity around bespoke item purchases.
Designed to cut purchase times, qualify sales leads and improve quality, AMO assumes the role of a salesperson on a company’s website to collect requirements, provide quotes and recommend products in real time. Unlike other AI solutions like chatbots that can be limiting for both companies and customers, AMO can lead complex conversations and work with a supply chain that involves multiple manufacturers.
The funding from Innovate UK has enabled AMO.ai to extend its previous software which worked with catalogue items. For one of its customers, AMO has handled over 10,000 enquiries and reported nearly 2,000 new business leads in the past three years. The software enables most queries to be immediately resolved, with the remainder sent through to the right agent for customer service or sales assistance. This solution has been particularly valuable for companies during COVID, offering extra resilience and a consistent experience for customers. The latest version of the software which extends to bespoke products offers market leading functionality.
The inspiration behind AMO came from its founders’ experiences selling office supply items online. Rich Ingram and Rob Shrubsall identified that bespoke items and harder to select products had less competition and so could carry a higher price tag. To sell these requires more time and effort from sales teams to ensure a product is fit for purpose. They developed AMO to respond to customer need and fulfill requirements, offering huge time saving and sales potential for online sellers. AMO also helps qualify prospects that are likely to buy to improve productivity of traditional sales teams.
AMO.ai is one of just 13 companies to secure funding with Innovate UK’s Manufacturing Made Smarter Programme and has been a member of SETsquared Surrey for three years.
“We joined SETsquared Surrey because we were looking for networking opportunities with other tech companies,” explained Rich Ingram. “Being a startup is a roller coaster journey and having fellow founders and mentors around you helps you to stay balanced, motivating you to do your best. The access to resources is great, whether for funding opportunities or expertise at the University of Surrey. It’s brilliant to find out what’s out there and how to get involved.”
AMO.ai is already in discussions with a large European manufacturer interested in its latest software and is beginning testing prior to a hopeful roll out later this year.