Artificial intelligence—or machine learning—has played a very important role in the sales process.
AI has been instrumental in generating and analyzing data crucial for decision-making and strategy development. It has also been especially critical in automating a lot of the processes that take up so much of the sales rep’s precious time. And so AI is a huge factor in sales productivity.
One area in the sales process that could also greatly benefit from AI is sales enablement.
Sales enablement is a system that provides sales teams with strategies, processes, tools, technology, and other resources to help them sell more effectively. As such, it serves a lot of functions and plays many roles—from lead generation and scoring to strategic campaigns and “enabling” sales teams to be more efficient.
AI and machine learning can strengthen your sales enablement strategies and render them more effective.
Reasons to Integrate AI with Sales Enablement
1. Better prospecting
The artificial intelligence in your CRM creates detailed customer profiles based on demographics (age, gender, location, etc.), psychographics (needs, wants, motivations, values, pain points, etc.), and engagement or interaction with the brand. A sample of engagement or interaction is when a prospect visits your website and checks on pricing. This signals a keen interest in your product or service—and makes this prospect score higher in your lead scoring system.
This in-depth customer profile that AI manages to generate gives sales reps an edge. They know which prospects are more likely to convert and can prioritize them over the others. They save time, energy, and resources too in the process.
2. Stronger sales and marketing alignment
Sales and marketing used to work independently, but today’s demanding climate requires that the two work closely together. Studies have revealed that:
- 58% of aligned teams say sales and marketing alignment improves customer retention.
- Companies with sales and marketing alignment are 67% better at closing deals and drive 209% more revenue.
- Decreased sales productivity and wasted marketing efforts due to misalignment costs $1 trillion a year.
With AI, teams can have stronger sales and marketing alignment. They are equipped with tools that allow them to work collaboratively. They can have their custom workflow that will meet their processes, systems, business goals, and business model. Both sales and marketing can have access to the same data, reports, and analytics and synergize their efforts to convert leads. They also have pipeline visibility and can strategize accordingly.
3. Real-time customer service
Artificial intelligence can be maximized in the area of customer service via live chat or chatbot. A chatbot is a piece of software that conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Such programs are often designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner. It provides real-time interaction with your prospects. And because the conversations are more personalized (read: human), customers don’t feel like they’re talking to a machine (although they really are).
This level of personalization and real-time engagement is one of the thrusts of sales enablement, and it can only be made possible with the help of AI.
4. Hyper-personalized content
Speaking of personalization, you can send relevant and engaging content with the help of AI. AI can personalize the content to a customer’s specific need and/or interest based on data and algorithms.
For example: you can customize emails by highlighting products or services that prospect has been browsing on your website. You can also send content based on a potential customer’s behavioral triggers: when he clicks on links you sent in an email; visits your site and then downloads a lead magnet; engages in a post on social media; and so on. You can even manipulate the timing and send your personalized content when the prospect is engaged and/or online… exactly because AI has figured out his browsing patterns and behaviors.
AI can also analyze the effectivity of your content campaigns—check how your content was received or used—and offer insights that you can use for succeeding ones.
5. More streamlined, productive workflowAI’s biggest contribution to sales enablement seems to be automation. AI tools can automate a lot of sales-related tasks—email or SMS sending, dialing, scheduling meetings, and the like. These are the repetitive tasks that take up a lot of a human’s time, and can then be delegated to the machine.
Automation not only gives sales reps more time to sell, it gives them a more streamlined, productive workflow. Of course, a workflow is more efficient if it is customized to your specific business model and goals.
Automation also makes sales enablement tasks more effective and efficient by doing away with human or manual errors.
6. Accelerated sales processAI just makes everything more efficient: communications, data gathering, reporting, analytics, pipeline management, etc.—and all these contribute to a faster sales process.
Time is one of the sales rep’s biggest assets—and AI gives sales reps more time to perform high-value tasks and improve his chances of converting leads and closing sales.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are indispensable in today’s sales, and sales teams must be equipped with tools that truly harness the many wonderful merits and benefits of AI. Lucrativ is one sales tool that believes in the power of AI and machine learning. It is an AI-powered CRM. Lucy, the artificial intelligence behind Lucrativ’s powerful CRM platform, has a voice command feature that allows you to schedule calls, set meetings, communicate with clients, and close deals.
Photos from Unsplash. Main photo by Alex Kotliarskyi
