March 25, 2025
Here’s a 2025 trend the young tech crowd is all over: Conversational AI.
It’s tech that lets machines talk to your customers like a human, powered by Large Language Models (LLMs)—AI brains trained on billions of conversations to understand language, tone, and intent. AWS explains that LLMs process speech-to-text (turning a customer’s words into text), generate a human-like response (using the LLM to “think” like a person), and convert it back to speech (using text-to-speech to talk), handling interruptions, accents, and slang in 100+ languages. Platforms like Google Cloud’s Dialogflow, Amazon’s AWS Lex, and ElevenLabs let AI agents answer calls, book jobs, or upsell, learning from your data to get sharper with every chat.
Watch the video on Google's Dialoflow
Picture a customer calling your carpentry business at 6 p.m., asking, “How much for a custom bookshelf?” The AI answers in a professional voice, “A custom bookshelf starts at $250 for a 5-foot unit—we have an opening next Friday at 9 a.m. to measure your space. Want to add a matching desk for $150?” It books the appointment and sends a confirmation email while you’re still sanding down a table leg.
Here’s how it works:
You create an AI “agent” (your digital employee). First, you upload a document—like a PDF with your pricing ($250 for a bookshelf, $150 for a desk), services (custom furniture, repairs, installations), and FAQs (“What’s your lead time?” “One week for custom pieces”). The AI takes 15 minutes to process this knowledge base, mapping “intents” (e.g., “price query” to “quote $250”) and responses.
Next, you record sample voice interactions—say, you saying, “How much for a bookshelf?” and “Book it for Friday”—so the AI learns your tone, ensuring it doesn’t sound like it’s reading from a script at a middle school play. Then, you connect it to your calendar via a “fulfillment” webhook—tools like Calendly integrate easily, letting the AI check slots and reserve them.
Finally, you integrate it with your phone line (like Twilio, $20/month) to handle incoming calls. Test it by calling; if it quotes $25 instead of $250, tweak the script. ElevenLabs’ free plan gives you 10 minutes of conversation monthly; their Business plan includes 15,000 minutes at $0.08 per minute (down to $0.015 at scale).
Check out ElevenLabs video here.
Here's the the architecture of the Amazon Lex – AI chat builder solution.
Watch the video and learn more here.
This isn’t just about saving cash—it’s about scaling with what I call Asymmetric Endurance™, a strategy where you build a self-sustaining engine of systems and automation that drives exponential growth without you being the bottleneck for every decision.
For a carpenter, this means more custom projects, more happy clients, and more revenue.
For a plumber using Google Dialogflow, it means more service calls, more fixed pipes, and more referrals.
For an electrician with Amazon AWS Lex or ElevenLabs, it means more wiring jobs, more satisfied homeowners, and more repeat business.
This is your chance to let an AI run the show, freeing you to build a thriving business that grows on its own momentum. Many of these tools, like Amazon Lex, allow you to build your own conversational AI for free, for a year.
So, what’s your plan to scale with Asymmetric Endurance™? How will you automate customer inquiries to reclaim 20 hours a week for strategic growth? Which decisions will you offload to the AI to expand your client base?
Are you ready to let your business soar, or will you keep anchoring it with every missed call?