For business owners · Launch League blog
How should your staff answer when an AI calls your business?
By Nick Gonzalez, founder, U.S. Air Force veteranPublished
The short answer
Answer it like a polite customer who is in a hurry. Say the business name, confirm whether you offer the service, give a price range and what changes it, and give your next realistic opening. Never give payment details, passwords or card numbers to any caller you didn't call. The whole call should take under a minute.
The thirty-second answer
If whoever answers your phone cannot say what you do, roughly what it costs and when you can do it in thirty seconds, the problem is not the AI. It is that the answer only lives in the owner's head. Write it down once and every caller, human or not, gets it.
What will an AI caller ask?
The questions a comparison shopper would ask. Google says its calls are about pricing and availability, and the shopping version asks whether an item is in stock and at what price. Expect: do you offer this, what does it usually cost, and when could you do it.
Why do staff hang up on these calls?
Because most robot calls are spam, and hanging up has been the right instinct for years. The fix is not to tell staff to trust robots. It is to give them one easy test: a real assistant says who it is calling for and asks about your services. A scam asks you for something.
The script, in four lines
Print it and tape it by the phone.
- "Thanks for calling [business], this is [name]."
- "Yes, we do [service]." Or: "We don't, but [who does] might."
- "Most [service] runs between [low] and [high], depending on [the one thing that changes it]."
- "Our next opening is [day]. They can book at [phone or website]."
What should nobody ever give a caller?
Payment details, card numbers, passwords, account codes or verification codes. Google states that it will never ask for payment, card information or account passwords, and its fraud page adds that you won't be asked to sign up for anything or pay. That rule protects you from every scam caller, AI or human.
What if nobody can answer?
Then the call goes unanswered, and the customer reads about someone else. That is what an AI phone receptionist is for: a voice that answers in your business's name, knows your services, hours and next opening, and texts you a summary of every call. Even without one, a missed-call text-back keeps a person in the conversation.
Questions
Quick answers
- Should I tell staff to say a price on the phone?
- A range and what changes it, yes. Customers and AI assistants both move on when the only answer is "you'd have to come in".
- Will the AI book an appointment?
- Google describes these calls as checking pricing and availability and sending the customer the answers. The customer then contacts the business they choose, so make booking easy.
- How do I know it is really Google?
- It says it is calling from Google and why. If any caller asks for money, card numbers or passwords, it is not Google. Hang up.
Next step
What does your business sound like to an AI?
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Sources: Google Search Help: check pricing for local businesses with AI · Google: how Let Google Call checks store stock and prices · Google Business Profile Help: spot legitimate calls from Google · Google Business Profile Help: Google will never ask for payment or passwords. Coaching is not therapy, medical, legal or financial advice.