Optimize Sales Operations With AI
B2B sales has been in a state of evolution in recent years, thanks to technology. On the buying side, clients are spending more time conducting independent research online. On the sales side, reps are having to adjust their approach in response, leaning heavily on operations and technology to help them move buyers through the funnel.
“Sales Engineers are in high demand to support the over whelming advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Complex solutions being offered to enterprise businesses require a successful sales representative to bring the right skill sets together for a smooth and easy evaluation and purchase of a product. We build great sales teams because we understand technology, healthcare and consulting solutions!” says, Abby Prince, Managing Director, ProSearch.
Buyers Are Empowered But Overwhelmed
The wealth of product research and information available with a few taps of a finger has empowered buyers, but it can create a bit of analysis paralysis. It can also confuse buyers who are unsure of how to weigh potential strengths and weaknesses of products and services and how those strengths and weaknesses apply to their business.
Successful B2B sales reps are evolving into consultative guides rather than hard sellers, embracing their role as facilitators who can ease buyers’ frustrations. They are comfortable learning as much as they can about a prospect’s business without any guarantee of a payday, focusing on learning a buyer’s precise needs and effectively addressing potential misinterpretation of research that prospects have gathered on their own.
Embracing AI
To operate in this new reality and facilitate the evolution of their B2B reps, sales leaders should look at ways to automate processes, giving salespeople more time to act in a consultative function. Gartner predicts that by 2020, 30% of all B2B companies will employ some kind of artificial intelligence (AI) to augment at least one of their primary sales processes. Many companies are looking at leveraging AI to help salespeople deliver value throughout the buyer’s journey.
For example, tools can be used to build prospect lists in a matter of moments, identifying targets and building extensive lists of accurate contact information and even providing some high-level insights and research – cutting out some of the most mundane and frustrating manual work of B2B salespeople. Tools can also be used to integrate customer service data into sales information to help salespeople quickly determine which future products or services would be most valuable to existing or past customers.
AI can also automate other mundane processes. For example, post-trade-show marketing. It could take months for a sales team to sort through and follow up with all of the leads brought back from a convention. AI tools can handle the work instantly, sending human-like automated emails to leads and engaging them in a two-way conversation to evaluate interest before passing the qualified prospect back to a salesperson.
Are You Hiring B2B Sales Pros?
If you are looking for impactful B2B sales professionals, the expert sales recruiters CSS are here to help. Whether you need to attract and retain top sales talent, or you are looking for advice on how to manage them for success, contact CSS ProSearch today.