The problem
Print shops answer the same questions all day: which file format, how much bleed, can you do 350gsm, how quickly, can I collect on Saturday. If 50 of those a month come by email or phone and each takes 4 minutes to answer, that's over 3 hours a month of interruptions, often while someone is running the press.
What the AI does
Tidio is website live chat with an AI agent called Lyro. Tidio's pricing page says Lyro answers from the support content you give it, such as an FAQ or your website, hands chats to a person when needed, and is sold on its own from 50 AI conversations a month. You write an FAQ covering file setup, bleed, stocks, minimum quantities, turnaround and collection hours, and tell Lyro to pass anything about prices for custom jobs or problem orders to a person.
A worked example
A print shop in Chelmsford with 3 staff gets about 50 routine questions a month by email and phone. It adds Tidio with Lyro to its website, trained on a one-page FAQ, and routes price requests to its quote form.
Before
About 50 routine questions a month at 4 minutes each: 200 minutes, about 3.3 hours
After
Most of the 50 answered by Lyro on the website, with only custom pricing and order problems reaching staff
What it's worth
About $133£100€119A$192C$188 a month in time saved, if Lyro handles the 50 routine questions (3.3 hours at an assumed $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour). Lyro on its own is €39 (about $45£34€40A$65C$64) a month, or €32.50 (about $37£28€33A$54C$53) a month billed annually, for 50 AI conversations a month. Prices are shown in euros on Tidio's page.
How to set it up
- Collect the 20 questions you answer most from your inbox and phone notes.
- Write a one-page FAQ with your own answers: file formats, bleed and resolution, stocks, quantities, turnaround and collection hours.
- Add Tidio to your website, give Lyro the FAQ, and set it to hand prices for custom jobs and order complaints to a person.
- Test it with tricky questions, such as a rush job or an unusual size, and fix the FAQ where it answers badly.
- Read the chat log weekly for the first month and update the FAQ when your stocks or hours change.
What goes wrong
- Lyro answers confidently from out-of-date content. If your turnaround changes in December, change the FAQ the same day.
- Don't let it promise delivery dates or prices for custom work; those need a person who can see the job queue.
- The paid plan here covers 50 AI conversations a month; busier sites need a bigger plan, and the free plan's 50 Lyro conversations are a one-off.
- Chats collect names and email addresses. Mention the chat in your privacy notice.