Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly growing and impacting many different industries. The sales industry is no exception. In fact, a Harvard Business Review study found that companies using AI for sales were able to “increase their leads by more than 50%, reduce call time by 60-70%, and realize cost reductions of 40-60%.” From automating communication efforts to improving the customer experience, there are several key ways AI will change sales processes for the better.

It’s no secret that businesses who have jumped on this technology trend are seeing incredible benefits — including improved productivity, increased revenue, enhanced data analysis, smarter business decisions, and much more. In this blog post, we’ll explore the top ways AI will impact sales in the New Year and beyond. Continue reading to see how your team can prepare.

Improved Sales Processes

Utilizing AI technology can improve your team’s sales processes. Everything from lead scoring and forecasting to outreach and task management can be optimized with the help of AI. The Harvard Business Review discusses the following example of using AI for sales forecasting: “Using an AI algorithm, managers are now able to predict with a high degree of accuracy next quarter’s revenue, which in turn would help a company, from an operations standpoint, to better manage inventory and resources.” With the right AI technology integrated into your daily operations, your business will gain a competitive edge, your team’s productivity will improve, and your business processes will become more efficient.

Personalized Customer Experiences

In today’s digital world, customers want (and expect) a personalized experience, and AI can help your business achieve that with ease. AI allows you to gain deep insight into customer’s information — everything from their buyer preferences to their communication preferences. AI can also “help you identify and segment your customers based on their behavior and psychological profiles. You can gain a better understanding of the needs and interests that drive them to purchase and then create targeted messaging that’s more likely to persuade and motivate them,” as noted by CleverTap. With a more personalized customer experience in place, your business growth will soar.

Optimized Data Collection and Reporting

Clean data is one of the most important aspects of a successful sales process, but manual data clean-up can be very time-consuming. That’s where AI can simplify data collection, clean-up, and reporting so you can stay focused on other important tasks. This applies to prospect and lead data, as well as sales activity data. Sales activity is arguably a much more challenging process to report on, but it can provide valuable insight and guidance to your sales team.

Fergal Glynn, VP of Marketing at 6 River Systems discusses the following example: “90% of sales activities happen outside of CRM: meetings, presentations, emails, attachments, phone calls, follow-ups, [and] more meetings. And all these live in different places: email, laptops, drives, portals, CMS, learning systems, departments… all silos. All this activity data needs to be fed into [an] AI solution in order to provide accurate recommendations and guidance to reps.”

Plumly’s AI-Powered Automation

Here at Plumly, we’re excited to see AI improving the sales industry. Our sales operations platform uses AI technology to accelerate growth and engage customers. From shortening ramp times and automating daily activities to setting goals and monitoring performance, Plumly’s AI-powered platform can achieve better results in less time. Learn more about our features or request a demo with us today. We look forward to helping your business succeed with the power of AI.