Nine out of 10 small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) use part of their telecommunications budgets on productivity tools such as CRM and those aimed at business, financial apps, and reporting apps, according to results of a survey conducted by vcita, a company that provides an all-in-one business management app.
The survey, which included the owners of 250 SMBs in the United States, asked which categories of tools this group expects from their telecommunications service provider. The top three are reporting and analytics tools (cited by 49% of respondents); business tools including CRM, scheduling, and project management (46%); and financial apps including payments, invoicing and accounting (38%).
The survey also found that 59% of SMB telecommunications customers seeking more services from their provider are likely to choose those powered by artificial intelligence.
In all, the survey found that 64% of SMBs are likely to buy business/productivity tools from their telecommunications service provider.
vcita suggests that the results validate the idea that SMB telecommunications service providers must offer more than internet connectivity and cell services to be competitive.
The SMB segment is, by definition, segmented and diffuse. But, collectively, it represents huge opportunities for telecommunications providers who meet their needs. In May, a survey of SMB telecommunications needs — conducted by Windstream in its footprint — found that SMBs prioritized speed and reliability almost equally (36% and 35%, respectively). Cybersecurity was next at 25%.
The Windstream survey, which included the views of 251 respondents across 11 industries, seemed to focus on bread-and-butter connectivity issues, not what types of complementary services are desired.
vcita’s finding that SMB telecommunications customers are a good target market for AI was validated by a report released in June by Bain & Company. The firm said that telecommunications providers tend to address SMBs as a monolith. The SMBs don’t like this one-size-fits-all approach, and generative AI can enable providers to create more unique relationships with this group.
