Introduction
The topic of AI in sales is a vast, fragile, and evolving landscape. If you start researching this topic online, the amount of information you’ll find will blow your mind. During our research, we came across two striking facts.
First, the industry's open-armed adoption of AI has been swift, with significant integration occurring just in the past few years.
Second, recent AI advancements are accelerating what some call the 'AI-powered sales revolution.'
While public emotions echo anxious sentiments like “AI is going to take over the world”, “AI is going to take our jobs”, and “AI is dangerous”, industry leaders view this rapid development in a positive light. Rather than competing or criticizing this new technology, businesses are supporting and embracing AI as a teammate. This contrast between public perception and industry adoption makes the exploration of AI in sales fascinating.
What is AI in Sales?
Let’s first start with what is AI. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that is designed to simulate human intelligence. It enables computer systems to perform tasks like problem-solving and decision-making without human intervention.
In the context of sales, AI is the application of these intelligent computer systems to various aspects of the sales process. It's not just about automating repetitive manual tasks. AI can analyze large volumes of data, identify patterns, make predictions, and even engage with customers in a human-like manner. AI in sales enhances human capabilities, provides deeper insights, and enables more strategic decision-making. It contains a range of technologies from tools for optimization to platforms designed to streamline sales activities.
AI in Sales: Industry Insights
We're now moving away from selling single puzzle pieces to delivering entire solutions that drive measurable outcomes for clients. For instance, instead of simply selling CRM software, companies might now offer a full-service package that guarantees improved customer retention rates. Figures released by industry giants paint a picture of rapid AI adoption in outcome-based industries.
Source: Gartner, Benchmarking Generative AI Adoption in Sales, April 30, 2024
In their recurring research report (“Currents”) Digital Ocean draws light on the widespread adoption of AI and ML by small-scale companies. Despite tough market conditions emerging technologies are actively adopted to improve business operations. There is a gold rush going on, whoever transitions first is at the forefront of the winning line.
47% of businesses use AI in software development and coding.
34% using AI in data analysis and insights followed by process automation at 27%.
Marketing, particularly in email writing, stands at 24%, while customer service and engagement have seen a 21% implementation rate.
Hubspot in its State of AI Report, points out a fundamental advantage of implementing AI in sales. Their headline reads “AI can take the guesswork out of sales” which is quite apt. Humans are not going to stop generating data any time soon, with the ever-increasing flow of data it becomes difficult to extract usable from non-usable data in any industry. You and I can’t process trillions of data files but an AI can, even better it can provide us with actionable insights.
Data-driven insights: 73% of sales professionals agree that AI can help them pull insights from data.
Customer insights: 65% of sales professionals say AI will help them understand their customers better.
Personalization: 69% of sales professionals strongly or somewhat agree that AI can help them personalize the customer experience.
According to their State of AI Report, the three most popular use cases for AI in sales are
Automating manual tasks (35%),
Offering data-driven insights (34%), and
Helping write sales content or prospect outreach messages (31%).
Other notable statistics:
Research by Salesforce found that high-performing teams are 4.9 times more likely to be using artificial intelligence for sales than underperforming ones, and that shouldn’t surprise us.
According to McKinsey, sales professionals who have adopted AI have increased leads and appointments by about 50%.
Dialpad published a systematic breakdown in their Why Artificial Intelligence is the Future of Sales article on how sales teams can utilize AI to increase sales.
For sales professionals and organizations, this shift means they now need to learn new skills and use AI to better understand their customers and serve efficiently.
4 ways you can use AI in Sales
Prospecting and Lead Generation
Imagine your BDR contacting more than 200+ leads every day, how many of them respond? Casting a wide net in hopes of finding your net full of leads is a daydream in today's world. AI tools can identify quality leads from the vast amount of data pool. This allows your sales team to focus their energy on prospects most likely to convert, saving time and increasing efficiency.
Bored of repetitive tasks? Automatate.
How many emails does it usually take to follow up with a potential client or agree on a meeting time? On average, it takes nearly 3-4 weeks! That is a whole month! Automatically creating new customer records from inbound emails can simplify record-keeping. Let's face it – following up with leads and scheduling meetings can be time-consuming and repetitive. AI can take these tasks off your plate by:
Automating follow-up email sequences
Scheduling meetings based on your availability
Creating customer records from inbound communications
Process large volumes of data in no time!
AI excels at processing large volumes of data quickly. It can analyze customer interactions, purchase history, and market trends to provide valuable insights. These insights help your team identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities, and predict which leads are most likely to convert. What is better is AI systems can learn from each such interaction, constantly refining their approach. This means your sales processes become more effective over time, adapting to changing market conditions and customer needs.
Personalize customer experience with AI
SDRs can craft a perfectly personalized email for the client, words that resonate with customer needs. However, scaling this process for all the clients is unrealistic without the help of AI tools. A sales automation solution can provide effective, tailored communication and offer customers an experience they remember.Every customer wants to feel valued and understood. AI enables you to deliver personalized experiences across your entire customer base by:
Tailoring product recommendations
Customizing email content based on individual preferences
Suggesting the best times to reach out to specific customers
All this data points to the fact that companies are now focusing on giving their software applications a major upgrade. They are planning to integrate human intelligence with AI superpowers which can be a crucial element in delivering outcome-based solutions. Check out our next article to know the Top 10 AI tools revolutionizing B2B Sales.
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