Sprout Solutions eyes more industries for AI sales assistant

SPROUT SOLUTIONS is looking to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant Inbound to other industries to help accelerate deal closures.

“For anyone in sales, one of the hardest things isn’t really closing the sale; it’s getting enough customers to even talk to you at the very beginning,” Gian Paulo G. dela Rama, chief product and AI officer at Sprout Solutions, said in a video interview on March 4.

“It’s that specific pain point that we’re trying to address, so we want to deliver actionable leads to sales people, and to do that, we built this AI tool that will automate the lead engagement at the very beginning,” he added.

About 50 entities in the real estate and automotive sector use Inbound.

Launched in January, Inbound seeks to increase Philippine companies’ competitiveness by streamlining workflows, providing high-value leads and accelerating deal closures. It initially catered to the real estate and automotive sectors.

“With Inbound, managing and converting leads have never been easier,” Patrick Gentry, chief executive officer at Sprout Solutions, said in an e-mailed statement. “Automating complex workflows frees teams to focus on the most promising buyers and real opportunities, instead of getting bogged down in manual tasks.”

The platform provides businesses with data-driven analytics to track crucial metrics, namely conversion rates, lead engagement and product performance, sales volume and revenue.

It can also be integrated with other business tools, including customer relationship management, listing or inventory platforms and scheduling software like Google Calendar.

Inbound also has a setup guide and a team of experts to help businesses use the platform effectively.

Mr. Dela Rama said companies could train Inbound with its own information through the platform’s “state-of-the-art generative AI.”

Before, companies had to anticipate what questions customers would ask and create answers, he said.

“[Now,] our clients basically just need to upload whatever materials that they have, and our Inbound chatbot will be able to answer questions or generate answers based on the information that it has been trained on.”

The Inbound chatbot can also be customized according to the company’s branding and tone.

Customers can integrate Inbound’s chatbot into their website and Facebook Messenger accounts. Sprout Solutions is looking to integrate the chatbot to corporate e-mail accounts.

More than 240,000 companies in the Philippines and Thailand use Sprout Solutions’ AI-driven human resource and business solutions, Mr. Dela Rama said.

The Philippine economy is expected to gain P2.6 trillion annually if domestic businesses adopt AI solutions, according to the National Economic and Development Authority. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz