How to Leverage AI in Your Sales Process

Artificial intelligence (AI) has gone mainstream. Anytime you search for something on Google, AI is there to provide an overview and synopsis. ChatGPT is answering inquiries and generating content in just a few seconds. In the business world, AI is simplifying processes and making employees’ day-to-day lives more efficient. 

For sales teams, the benefits of using AI are practically endless. By assisting in daily tasks and managing data, AI can reshape how sellers conduct their business for the better. Sellers can focus on strategic tasks to close business rather than spending countless hours with cold outreach and evaluating consumer information. With this in mind, here are a few ways to leverage AI in your sales process. 

1. Personalize Sales Pitches and Outreach  

Another use for AI in the sales process is to create personalized pitches and outreaches. Consumers want to feel like their unique needs are being met. A blanket SMS text message will only go so far in capturing their attention. Instead, a highly personalized memo detailing why a new product launch will meet their needs can move the needle and get your brand back to the forefront of their minds.  

But who has time to create such personalized messages for each customer or client? Well, AI does. This technology will look at its collected (and organized) data and know what product or service benefits will most appeal to different audience demographics. From there, it can create newsletters, SMS messages, and other communications to best reach each customer and entice buyers to take another look. 

This level of personalization can work across industries, from beauty to consumer product goods to auto dealerships. AI for car dealerships, for instance, can respond to messages 24/7, ensuring that any potential lead’s needs are met no matter the time of day. It can suggest which cars to evaluate based on conversations and browsing behaviors. It can even set up a time for a customer to come in and take a test drive without needing to check the schedule of your sales department. 

2. Automate Data Entry 

No matter what industry you’re in, data is key in sales. Knowing specific customer information, purchase history, and website metrics can help find new leads and nurture current ones. With so much data available today, sifting through and organizing this information can be time consuming for a sales team. Thankfully, AI can help automate prior data entries and create a sophisticated system to sort and keep track of new entries. 

How does it do it? It uses natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and optical character recognition (OCR) to break down different types of data. Demographics (such as age, location, and gender), buying patterns, and any contact details can be put in order and classified appropriately. If you’ve conducted user surveys, AI can even organize this information and create an overview synopsis.

Organizing this data now will only help for future use. That’s because the amount of data available will only increase. Digital technologies and advancements are changing the types of and kinds of data points available to brands. Getting AI to help your sales team automate data entry will lessen their burden and allow them to go out and attract leads and close more deals. 

Knowing which leads are worth pursuing can be a challenging game for sellers. Just because a customer seems very interested doesn’t mean they are considering buying in the immediate future. For any large purchases, such as cars or electronic goods, sellers can easily waste time on clients who are just “browsing.” AI can assist in lead scoring to help sort through leads and identify which ones are actually worth nurturing. 

Lead scoring is a strategy that assigns every potential customer a numerical value. This number is based on how likely they will be a paying customer. The score is based on different factors such as website visits, email engagement, demographics, and engagement rates. As you can imagine, assigning this score to each customer can take time away from actually following up on leads. 

AI can analyze real-time behavior and historical data to assign a number. To streamline processes, data modeling can be used to identify patterns that result in conversions. It will weigh different information and assign points to different interactions based on past conversion history. For instance, opening an email may be deemed fewer points than filling out an interest form on-site. 

AI can change the game for sellers. It is increasing productivity and unlocking new ways to conduct business altogether. Instead of spending countless hours logging sales calls or following up on pitches, sellers can hit the ground running and allow AI to conduct these tasks for them. 

For businesses, integrating AI into their sales process now will only help in the future. 

Evaluating and organizing customer data information will create the best outcome for AI analysis and insights. With these insights at their disposal, your sales team can feel more empowered when making outreaches, knowing what tactics work best for specific individuals. And, of course, when a pitch resonates with a consumer, then the likelihood of conversion will only increase.