Since ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, there’s been a seismic shift in expectations for sales professionals to keep up with heavier workloads while having the time to maintain personal connections with clients and prospects. Artificial intelligence (AI) has generated concerns and fears about job security, but I firmly believe that AI serves as a beneficial tool rather than a threat.
In this article, I’ll outline five reasons why embracing AI will significantly benefit sales professionals, enhancing productivity while maintaining a personal connection with clients and prospects.
Reason 1: Reduce Time Spent on Prospect Research
Prospect research is a cornerstone of sales, but it’s a time-consuming and tedious part of the job. Not anymore! Using ChatGPT, it can be prompted to scan a prospect’s LinkedIn profile for their latest activity. With that crucial information, sales reps can quickly craft a personalized message that incorporates their recent activity as an entry point to start a conversation.
Personally, I ignore all DMs from sales reps that are part of an outreach campaign, which clearly doesn’t show an effort has been made to connect with my work or personal interests.
Reason 2: Improve Personalized Outreach
Effective sales outreach means having a deep understanding of prospects’ interests and activities. AI is a benefit since it amplifies sales reps’ personalized outreach. Following through on researching a prospect with AI, sales reps can then use ChatGPT to craft a personalized message in minutes. By prompting, or as I call it, instructing, ChatGPT to use the prospect’s work and interests to quickly craft an outreach email. That draft can be edited to suit the sales rep’s personal style and then sent out to connect. By using AI, that process takes a few minutes, allowing for personalized outreach that actually resonates instead of being ignored.
By using AI like ChatGPT to do the heavy lifting on drafting emails and messages, it gives sales reps more time to focus on relationship-building and closing deals.
Reason 3: Reduce Task Management
One of the most time-consuming aspects of a sales professional’s job is managing tasks and updating their customer relationship management (CRM) systems. However, AI is a benefit here, not a problem, by automating routine tasks. For example, you can use the AI bot in your CRM to seamlessly integrate with external task management programs, automatically updating prospect or client information. This eliminates the need for manual data entry, allowing sales professionals to focus on what matters most: building relationships and closing deals.
I’m not the only one who knows this. McKinsey agrees, saying, “Our analysis suggests that implementing generative AI could increase sales productivity by approximately 3 to 5 percent of current global sales expenditures.”
Reason 4: Minimize Administrative Time
Sales professionals often find themselves inundated with administrative tasks that take time away from connecting with clients and prospects. AI can help minimize this administrative burden by automating various processes. By automating the AI in a CRM, sales’ reps reduce the time needed for manual data entry. With that extra time, BDRs can focus on connecting or reconnecting with clients. This ensures clients feel a personal touch since an AI is handling the admin tasks that normally take time away from clients.
By delegating administrative tasks to AI, sales professionals can focus on personal connections, which ultimately drive revenue.
Reason 5: Accelerate Sales Cycle with AI-Powered Insights
A final reason to embrace AI in sales is its ability to accelerate the sales cycle. AI-powered insights within a CRM provide valuable data analytics that are used to identify data points within customer behavior, such as areas of interest. Then those data points can be utilized by prioritizing leads and personalizing outreach efforts. By leveraging these insights, sales professionals can make data-driven decisions without having to spend countless hours sifting through data points, allowing them to focus on connecting with customers and closing deals.
It’s obvious that embracing AI as a sales tool is crucial for staying competitive in today’s shifting online world. Contrary to the concerns of job displacement, AI serves as a powerful tool, enhancing productivity and streamlining our work. By leveraging AI programs like ChatGPT, Jasper, and the AI in your CRM, sales professionals can strengthen client relationships while making connecting with prospects far more effective.
To assist professionals in harnessing the power of AI, I have created an AI Training course. This course introduces the OAPRA framework, a simple five-step process that guides individuals in effectively using various AI programs and prompting them. By enrolling in this course, you will increase your productivity, reduce stress, and unlock the true potential of AI as a benefit to your work.
It’s time to embrace AI as a sales professional’s ally rather than as a competitor. As your AI Consultant, I’m here to help you get ahead of the competition. Contact me today for a free 15 minute consultation, and let’s start using AI to get more leads.
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