How Can You Use AI in Your Sales Process?

I’ll be honest—I haven’t done much with artificial intelligence (AI) yet. As a writer, it feels a little dirty to have someone (or something) else do the writing for me. That being said, when Grammarly suggests a better option for a sentence I’ve written, I often go with what’s been suggested. So maybe it’s more accurate to say that I haven’t been going out of my way to use AI, but I take advantage of how AI has seeped into my workflow when I wasn’t paying attention.

I asked Chat GPT to write a blog on AI in sales. I told it a bit about me in an attempt to give it my voice. The result? A blog that began with, “Shalom from the mountains….” Three things were immediately clear: 1) My job is safe for now, 2) ChatGPT could benefit from cultural diversity training, and 3) It was on me to write this week’s blog.

You’ll be happy to know that we’ll be exploring not how I can use AI, but rather how you can use AI. How can sales teams and professionals get in on the action of traditional and generative AI?

ARE ROBOTS COMING TO TAKE YOUR JOB?

The good news is that, no, AI is not coming to take your job. (It might be coming for mine, but I’ll worry about that later.) A HubSpot report on the state of AI in sales says that 42 percent of sales professionals are worried about their positions becoming obsolete with ever-improving generative AI platforms, but that does not seem to be the case.

Does that mean that AI is going to make your job easier? Not exactly. In fact, incorporating AI into your sales practice may initially make your job harder, but it will also make you better at your job and take over some of the more mundane tasks that you don’t enjoy. Many of the AI sales tools available sell themselves on this point—let technology handle the boring, monotonous parts of sales so you can do more of what you are in sales to do. Sell!

What AI excels at is processing loads of unstructured data. You probably don’t call it that, but you have a lot of unstructured data. Emails, recorded phone calls, social media posts—that’s all unstructured data. What AI is able to do, which the human brain can’t, is quickly digest all that data and find patterns. For example, what do the discovery calls that ultimately lead to a close have in common? AI tools can tell you that in 80 percent of them, the prospect mentioned a specific application they work with. Your company decides to target prospects who currently use that app, and your sales skyrocket. In contrast, one person can’t possibly analyze every call and every word. That’s what the robots are for.

GETTING MORE PERSONAL WITH ZERO PEOPLE

We know that today’s consumers, whether B2C or B2B, expect things to be ultra-personalized. Many of us regularly take chances on shows suggested by Netflix or songs deejayed by Spotify. We expect this treatment everywhere. When you add generative AI to these mountains of data, you end up with hyper-personalized follow-up emails that can be sent at scale.

This sounds counterintuitive, but removing people from the equation can make interactions more human, in the spirit of accommodating your clients at their convenience. Chatbots allow people to ask questions at any hour of the day and usually deliver the information needed. Customers feel they are being catered to, and the “bot” aspect of the chatbot doesn’t take away from that. McKinsey posits that AI could be automating a fifth of current sales-team functions, which has the potential to majorly impact customer experience, growth, and productivity. AI has the capability of taking much of the guesswork out of sales by processing the data you already have, finding patterns you would never be able to find on your own, and making that information usable to sales leaders for decision-making. But where should you begin? And do you need to begin right now?

WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?

One of my first interactions with AI went rather poorly. My son and I were asking Siri questions.

Son: What’s your favorite color?

Siri: I’ll say Indigo. What’s yours?

Son: Mine is black.

Siri: Good choice. In 2014, scientists created Vantablack, a pigment that absorbs 99.965% of all light.

Son: Can you show me a picture of it?

Siri:

My friend who worked for Microsoft explained to me that one of the hardest things for AI to do is retain context in a conversation. Tell that to my son who is now terrified of clowns. Thanks, Siri.

KEEPING UP WITH THE (AI) JONESES

HubSpot reports that 37 percent of all sales organizations are using AI, but when we look at high-performing sales organizations, that number goes up to 50 percent. So, the answer to whether you need to start using AI right now? Probably, yes. You should at least be exploring its possibilities.

There are so many ways AI can be used in sales, but there are a few things to keep in mind as you decide where to start (or what to try next, for you over-achievers). For it to be beneficial to your organization, AI has to be embedded into your sales process so that you ultimately don’t even notice it. The most common ways that AI is currently being used in sales is for automating manual tasks, providing data-driven insights, and helping to write sales content or outreach messaging (see—my job, not yours).

As you think through your sales process, look for the low-hanging fruit: opportunities where a low-cost option with little inherent risk would have the greatest impact. Begin there and do some testing and experimenting.

If you’re looking to learn about what’s available, MarkTechPost has a list of the “best AI sales tools of 2023,” and SalesHacker has a similar list, but specific to generative AI. Although the world of AI can be overwhelming, we’ll help you focus your attention and concerns in future weeks.

Shalom and onward to a future where sales and AI dance in perfect harmony! That is how ChatGPT told me to end this blog. I swear. Not even kidding a little bit.

There are some things AI can’t do, but we can! Reach out at mastery@maestrogroup.co for more information on training, coaching, assessments, and more.