AI for Sales: Benefits, Challenges, and How You Can Use It

• by siteadmin
• July 5, 2023

How To Use AI For Sales To Boost Your Bottom Line

It might make sense to bring in an AI expert who can help launch and analyze the initiative, just to get you off the ground. Don’t expect results in a short time—be realistic about targets while reps are getting to grips with the AI technology. For example, tracking the busiest times in a call center can help you with future staffing. Dialpad’s dashboard gives you a great overview of how things are going. But not only that, Dialpad’s Ai Scorecards can also review sales calls automatically for whether sellers did everything listed on the scorecard criteria.

Whether you decide to deploy a chatbot on a website, social media platform, or messaging app, it will help you offer instant support, answer frequently asked questions, and even qualify leads. Thus, if you’ve got good lead generation processes in place but your team struggles to determine who to focus on first — it might be time to consider turning to AI. It will quickly simplify your agents’ work processes and systematize everything that’s got to do with lead scoring. Thus, if you’re interested in boosting the productivity of your sales team — keep on reading. No matter the industry you come from, insurance or finance, retail or healthcare, the uses we cover today will definitely be relevant for your business.

You can automatically add contacts to the CRM, conduct extensive company research, and transcribe calls, among other things. Using AI tools to write sales content or prospect outreach messages is the third most popular use case. Of sales reps, 31% use generative AI tools like HubSpot’s content assistant, ChatGPT, Wordtune, and many other tools for this very purpose. Of all the salespeople using these tools for generating content, 86% have claimed them to be very effective. Agile Leaders Training Center has been at the forefront of innovation, integrating AI into their sales strategy. It’s a multifaceted approach that enhances the business’s overall performance while providing a unique, tailor-made customer experience.

Hippo Video’s ability to personalize videos at scale makes it suitable for sales teams to develop a targeted approach for their prospects. Apollo is a sales intelligence software with a B2B database of over 275 million leads. It allows you to drill down into specific criteria using 65 data attributes to find the most relevant prospects for your business.

As well as proving the worth of AI to the suits upstairs, it’ll also help motivate your team. Instead of trying to upsell or cross-sell to every client, AI can help you identify who’s most likely to be receptive by looking at previous interactions and profiles for insight. I’ve seen first-hand how AI makes our reps’ lives easier and transforms their customer relationships. That’s the beauty of artificial intelligence—computers don’t get headaches, no matter how tedious the work is. Now that you know what you can do with AI in sales, you might be wondering what solutions out there actually do it.

But this process is still relatively static and requires a fair amount of work, evaluation, and maintenance to ensure leads are being scored properly. AI can then use these signals to prioritize which leads you should be working and when in order to close more business and move leads through your pipeline efficiently. You can use AI for automation, but the terms don’t mean precisely the same thing. While they can be highly beneficial, they don’t learn on their own, reason, or make decisions like AI systems do. While researching tools, watch out for companies using the term AI when automation is really the more fitting term.

Testing your project with a pilot can be extremely helpful before moving forward with larger projects. Have your pilot or test run go for about 2 or 3 months to be sure you have the right data and team to help your AI run smoothly. After the pilot is completed, you should be able to make more informed decisions and improve any datasets or structure issues. And because it can run 24/7, it can run through millions of tasks extremely quickly, learning in a very short amount of time.

AI can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as data entry, lead nurturing, and follow-ups. This frees up sales reps’ time, allowing them to focus on building relationships with prospects, closing deals, and providing personalized service. Marketing and sales are best friends, working in union to drive customer acquisition, engagement, and revenue growth. The synergy between them is powered by shared data, aligned goals, and the strategic deployment of technology.

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Get a birds-eye-view of what’s happening across your team’s sales calls. Uncover trends that are stalling deals so you can know how to your redefine sales programs, competitive plays, and enablement. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Generate a customized action plan personalized to your customer and sales process. Increase conversion rates with step by step guidance and milestones grounded in CRM data. It offers features such as backup and recovery, ransomware detection and response, data leak prevention, and security posture management. Zoho Zia stands out for its ability to analyze data and provide insights and recommendations.

This can ensure that your sales reps are always equipped with the right talking points to guide their conversations with potential customers. AI enables businesses to optimize pricing strategies using real-time data and market trends. This results in more competitive pricing, improved revenue, and the ability to respond swiftly to changing market conditions. The outdated model of top salespeople simply making the most calls is now obsolete. With tech-enabled productivity aids now handling more menial tasks, sales excellence today is defined by the quality of customer interactions and ability to deliver value, not quantity of outreach. No matter which sales AI tools you use, remember that automation is the product of a human brain.

Automation vs. AI

By automating routine tasks, AI can increase sales productivity and efficiency. This level of responsiveness and availability enhances customer satisfaction, as customers no longer have to wait for a human representative to assist them. The best IT technologies for increasing the level of customer experience in your business. Besides predicting which leads are most likely to result in a sale, artificial intelligence can also forecast pretty much any outcome your agents may be interested in. Watch our webinar to uncover how to integrate GenAI for improved productivity and decisions. What’s special about our AI Content Assistant is that you can integrate it with your favorite HubSpot features, making content creation feel like a breeze.

You need to take notes during the call to track your conversation after the meeting, which may cause distractions. Our research found that Sembly AI can help you take notes during client calls while you focus on your meeting. For instance, you can use ChatSpot to search your database based on specific criteria such as revenue, size, or location, allowing you to get a high-level view of your most relevant leads easily. And now, for a couple of words about the principal difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning.

So, what if your sales team was able to use real-time call analytics and conversation intelligence to ensure every call is top-notch? It’s likely some of your sales reps may already be using AI frequently. It’s also likely that some of your sales reps have not tried out any AI platform, which means they won’t know how to use these platforms in the first place. There’s no doubt about how effective AI sales tools like ChatGPT, Gong, and HubSpot’s Content Assistant are.

Due to that, the self-cost of exploiting such software is quite affordable (as opposed to hiring live employees and deploying separate software iterations for every new type of task). Moving on through the discussion of our article’s subject, let’s also consider the ultimate benefits of artificial intelligence. С) if the outcome of it is positive, it passes the data on for further processing. Let’s start with a brief introduction to the artificial intelligence concept as it is. According to Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise, 4th Edition, data fluency is one of the three key Ingredients of an AI-ready culture (trust and agility being the other two). When it comes to sales, AI can be highly impactful if you have access to data and a workable data set.

For example, you can use sales artificial intelligence tools that tell you how often your competitors are coming up on sales calls. For example, our very own Dialpad Ai Sales Center offers live coaching, automatic call logging, and more—all in a unified platform. For example, Hubspot offers a predictive scoring tool that uses AI to identify high-quality leads based on pre-defined criteria. This software also continues to learn over time, increasing its accuracy. A study by The Hinge Research Institute found that high-growth companies are more likely to have mature marketing and sales automation strategies than their peers.

Forbes research shows 86% of companies are already leveraging the benefits of better customer experience with the use of AI. And, as more and more businesses adopt AI, 25% of companies expect to see revenue growth during 2021. Maybe you want to score a few referrals to jumpstart your sales program.

By leveraging natural language processing, Laxis AI Meeting Assistant extracts essential information from conversations, creates meeting summaries, identifies action items, and updates project progress. AdCreative.ai uses AI to help businesses create high-quality, engaging ad creatives at scale. The tool uses AI to analyze vast amounts of advertising data, including successful ad campaigns, market trends, consumer preferences, and more. By learning from this data, AdCreative.ai can generate ad concepts more likely to resonate with target audiences. Hippo’s AI can analyze video content and create enticing, click-worthy titles, increasing video views and engagement.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence Based on Your Sales Needs

AI’s predictive nature is a significant asset for B2B sales, characterized by intricate processes. However, AI and machine learning can be used to automate certain tasks that are typically performed by sales representatives. This can help sales representatives focus on more important tasks and ultimately improve the efficiency of the sales process. Although most sales reps follow best practices and periodically run sales forecasts, recent data has found that the majority of sales reps inaccurately forecast their pipeline. However, leveraging artificial intelligence allows you to significantly reduce the probability of inaccuracies in your sales team. If you’re looking to level up your sales team’s performance, turn to artificial intelligence.

For AI to work as efficiently as possible, you need a solid foundation for your data. Once you have a clear plan, you need to figure out the datasets necessary for the AI systems. These datasets must be structured and organized so you are able to scale effectively when needed.

For instance, one tool we list below actually follows up with leads without human intervention, going so far as to conduct two-way conversations with them. Instead of leads falling through the cracks, as they often do, every lead is contacted, nurtured, and qualified. Once the lead is warm or needs human attention, the machine hands the lead off to a human rep.

AI in the workplace can do everything from predicting which prospects are most likely to close, to sales forecasting, to recommending the next best action to take—which removes a lot of guesswork. It can also help you coach reps at scale (I’ll get into the specific of this one in just a bit), optimize pricing, and everything in between. Machines can now automate things like prospecting, follow-ups, and proposals without human intervention. But it isn’t only about automation—AI analyzes large datasets and extracts insights for making predictions. New data and insights from 600+ sales pros across B2B and B2C teams on how they’re using AI.

Your company can harness the power of AI today with People.ai and start improving your sales team’s effectiveness. Take a deeper dive into how new AI technologies like generative AI can improve your sales team’s effectiveness in the list, Generative AI Use Cases for Sales Organizations. Now, thanks to recent developments in generative AI technology, nearly all of the things Dana predicted are becoming a reality for sales teams.

The topic of artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days and it will forever change how businesses operate. Selling in today’s dynamic landscape is difficult — it requires a wealth of knowledge, skills, agility, and perseverance. But by leveraging AI-guided selling, sellers can build more strategic relationships, effectively engage with buyers, and speed up the entire buying process.

AI can also track user behaviors on websites and digital platforms, discerning their preferences and intentions. This data helps you further deliver personalized ads and relevant lead-gen content. AI in sales uses artificial intelligence to automate sales tasks, simplifying and optimizing sales processes. As a rule, artificial intelligence in sales boils down to utilizing AI-powered software tools. It boasts a comprehensive toolkit encompassing traditional CRM functionalities and the latest AI capabilities, empowering sales teams to work smarter and accelerate deal closures.

Moreover, it excels in crafting comprehensive profiles of your ideal customers and aligning them with where they’re most likely to convert. This valuable insight simplifies the process of targeting similar prospects with tailored marketing efforts, optimizing lead generation strategies. Data collection and integration are pivotal for AI-driven lead generation. Gathering data from multiple sources such as your CRM (customer relationship management platform), websites, social media, and external databases, AI systems can create a comprehensive view of leads. Clean, up-to-date data in a centralized database empowers AI algorithms to make accurate predictions and deliver personalized marketing campaigns, enhancing lead conversion potential.

Consequently, the leads increase since AI helps you reach out to specific and targeted prospects, and stay more prioritized on sales goals with larger data sets. Gartner research predicts that 70% of customer experiences will involve some kind of machine-learning component in the next three years. We are seeing this now with datasets around purchasing history with recommendations based on page/item views, listening history, previous search queries, and overall consumer behavior. And increased data accuracy will allow company leaders to make better, more informed decisions regarding the direction of your organization. For a more granular perspective on your expected revenue trajectory as you scale, consider utilizing our revenue growth calculator. Know exactly what customers are saying about your competitors and products.

According to most sales reps, digital transformation has accelerated over the last 3 years. Specifically, sales technology needs have changed significantly within this period. Artificial intelligence has therefore emerged as necessary to successfully adapt to the changing sales landscape. Use artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the customer experience at every stage of the buyer’s journey. These tools—unlike people—are available 24/7 to keep leads and customers engaged. They also don’t get frustrated or tired from having to interact with needy or pushy contacts.

Chatbots provide instant responses to leads and customers, helping to qualify leads and move them through the sales process. These tools can answer customer questions, gather lead and customer data, and recommend products. When your sales team is able to focus on selling activities that increase revenue instead of tedious administrative tasks, they increase productivity and performance. And with the data you gain from deep learning, you’ll be able to build targeted campaigns that convert higher. Once you have a bunch of leads in the system, it’s time to prioritize them. There are plenty of website identification tools available that manage to put priority levels on leads.

By automating routine tasks, businesses can ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. It is essential to take an action that actually benefits the relationship and helps establish good communication. Otherwise, you may risk alienating the right connection by coming off as too pushy, or on the contrary, taking too long to get in touch that prospects are no longer interested in what you offer. However, it’s important to remember that not all of those conversations pan out in the best way. If you want to reap the above-mentioned rewards, now would be a great time to start thinking about AI software development for your firm.

With artificial intelligence handling the data, these data points are brought to a single source of truth. Since the company began developing AI technology, it (among many others) began to pave the way for digital sales transformation. Once you’ve decided on a tool to move forward with, it’s time to implement it. However, proper training and support are necessary to fully leverage the tool’s capabilities. Yes, it’s new technology, and yes, it might seem intimidating at first.

Did you know that 33% of all SaaS spend goes either underutilized or wasted by companies? Often, this is because teams aren’t sure exactly how to use certain products. It replaces guesswork and spreadsheets with a clear, organized forecasting system.

But many sales activities may occur outside your CRM, which means they wouldn’t show up in your CRM data… AI can even help reps with post-call reporting, which is one of those essential-but-tedious tasks. My team loves the fact that Dialpad automates call notes and highlights key action items for them, meaning they don’t have to manually type everything.

Artificial Intelligence in sales has revolutionized the selling process. Sales is a crucial area where Artificial Intelligence can be pretty beneficial. Today, an AI program may advise you on the appropriate discount rate for a proposal to increase your chances of winning the transaction. If you’d like to learn more, explore our AI-guided selling knowledge hub. Or, if you’re interested in seeing Seismic’s AI capabilities in action, get a demo.

It assesses lead behavior, engagement metrics, and other factors to prioritize and qualify leads, enabling sales teams to focus on prospects with higher conversion potential. AI is ideal for sales enablement as it provides sales teams with extra resources to help them close deals and sell more products. This includes leveraging social proof marketing, where AI can artificial intelligence for sales analyze data to identify and highlight successful case studies, testimonials, and customer reviews. These insights can be strategically used to build trust and credibility with prospects, improving the effectiveness of sales pitches. Salesken AI is a conversational intelligence platform that helps sales teams, improve performance, and reduce acquisition costs.

Sales teams embracing these new platforms and leaning into change are ahead of the game, enabling their reps with entirely new ways of performing tasks and interacting with potential buyers. Artificial Intelligence can now play a very important role in Sales Coaching. It will now be possible for Coaches to identify where Reps are going wrong, and provide personalized feedback to help Sales Persons. Sales Trainers can now know how Top Reps tackle objections, handle tricky customers and situations, and replicate winning strategies across the team. The massive productivity bump your sales team achieves will be more than worth the monthly fee you pay for this kind of AI tool.

Working with specialized data subsets for modest process goals can be a beneficial stepping stone when combined with efforts to enhance data collection and quality. Build your AI program around whatever; the company’s current emphasis is – whether it’s expanding an existing business, raising brand awareness, launching a new line, or generating income. An AI program can generate better predictions about who is more likely to respond to an offer by combining these data sets.

Artificial intelligence can track user behavior on websites and digital platforms to understand their preferences and intentions. In fact, the role of AI in business processes is now hard to underestimate. Exceed AI focuses on harnessing the power of Conversational AI to revolutionize the lead conversion process. Through automation, it empowers organizations to efficiently capture, engage, qualify, and schedule meetings with potential leads on a grand scale.

• Exceed.ai’s sales assistant helps engage your prospects by automatically interacting with leads.
• It replaces guesswork and spreadsheets with a clear, organized forecasting system.
• Sales managers must examine each of their salespeople’s income pipelines every month to nurture opportunities that may stagnate or fall through.
• No wonder a 2018 McKinsey analysis of more than 400 advanced use cases showed that marketing was the domain where AI would contribute the greatest value.

Thus, relieving sales agents from tedious, manual work and letting them focus on high-value tasks. Natural language processing, most commonly used as NLP, is a branch of AI that enables the interaction between computers and humans. In essence, it allows machines to understand, interpret, and even generate human-like language. Despite being still in its nascent stages, it is a technology that already presents a myriad of opportunities for the sales department. In fact, according to HubSpot, 52% of sales professionals say AI plays an essential part in their daily activities.

AI helps marketers measure the success of their campaigns by analyzing data like email open and click-through rates, and then suggesting and implementing tactics for better approaches. AI in marketing is all about recognizing patterns and gaining more engagement by appealing to trends in real-time. Businesses use AI analytics tools for predicting future sales with greater accuracy. Right now, forecasts are often based on gut instinct or incomplete data—both of which pose a pretty hefty risk. But predictive AI for sales uses the power of algorithms to analyze mountains of information about buying signals and historical sales numbers. Then, predictive sales AI uses this information to build models that help you make better informed plans for future investments and supply demands.

How To Use AI For Sales To Boost Your Bottom Line It might make sense to bring in an AI expert who can help launch and analyze the initiative, just to get you off the ground. Don’t expect results in a short time—be realistic about targets while reps are getting to grips with the AI…