How AI Will Effectively Transform The Sales Industry?

• By Jessica Robinson
• 14-06-2022
• Artificial Intelligence

In the contemporary business world, it is no hidden fact that artificial intelligence is becoming the new electricity. To elaborate, just like 100 years back electricity got invented and the whole face of the world changed. Similarly, AI is also a revolutionary invention that is already changing the face of every industry all around the globe and the sales industry is no exception.

But before heading on how exactly AI will become the new game-changer in the sales industry, let’s have look at some of the statistics validating the benefits of implementing AI in the sales industry.

1. Sales departments that prioritize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for generating revenue achieve 40% more than other industry departments.
2. The utilization of AI enhances sales by 50%.
3. Implementation of AI reduces call times by 60%.
4. In the sales industry, the usage of AI reduces overall cost expenditure by 60%

To continue, these statistics are validating enough to prove that if you will use AI in your sales department, it will only bring benefits along. Those benefits further will assist you in escalating the success of your business. Hence, without any further ado let us dive right into the blog that will highlight how AI will bring the era of revolution in the sales industry worldwide.

5 effective ways AI is revolutionizing the sales industry

1. Forecasts future sales

It is an undeniable fact that efficiency in forecasting sales is the key determinant of any business's long-term success. In fact, as per statistics, companies boasting accurate sales forecasts are 10% more likely to grow their revenue year-over-year and 7% more likely to hit quota.

Hence, it is really important to enhance the efficiency of your sales forecasting in order to aim for the highest and work on enhancing the efficiency accordingly. Although there are many traditional methods to forecast sales, thanks to artificial intelligence, it can complete the task with the utmost efficiency.

AI extracts some actionable information using its core function of predictive analytics. To elaborate, predictive analytics multiple algorithms using the extracted data consisting of internal and external information of the company. This can assist in forecasting the future trends and sales of the company.

Further, this predictive analysis has the below-mentioned advantages benefiting the sales industry.

Budgeting - These predictive analyses can highlight the areas that need improvement for more efficient results. Hence, based on the forecasting you can restructure the budget of your company using various financial ratios for more efficient results.
Broader Picture - Using the insights extracted from forecasting of sales, you can get a clear picture of future investments. This can assist in restocking and enhancing the efficiency of inventory etc.
Cost reduction - As it is getting difficult to retain and engage customers, predictive analysis in sales will assist you in investing effectively in the right products and marketing campaigns. Moreover, major of the AI software are cloud-based, so it also saves the data storage cost for the businesses.

2. Automates lead generation

Every effort of the marketing or sales department in the growth of the business is halfway when they generate a good lead. It completes when they make a sale contributing to the overall revenue growth of the company. But how exactly can you generate healthy leads efficiently without spending most of your time and money?

This is where AI will swiftly slide into the picture and then will get the most of the attention of the sales industry. To elaborate, AI can assist in generating healthy leads in multiple ways mentioned below

1. Generates automated email lists - AI can automatically generate email lists of your target audience. This can assist your salesperson in directly pitching your business to the right target audience. Directly pitching to your target audience will enhance the chances of generating convertible leads.

2. Extracts strong insights - Research concludes that almost 70% of businesses struggle to generate leads. One of the major reasons behind the same is a lack of understanding of the needs and preferences of the target audience.

However, AI can be a one-step solution to this problem in the sales industry. To simplify, AI can generate various essential insights using machine learning while understanding the behavior of the customers. This will assist in understanding the needs of the target audience. Hence, altering the way of pitching to the target audience based on their preferences will assist in enhancing the probability of generating healthy leads.

3. Optimizes training of sales team

When people working in the sales industry know how to handle each and every customer entering the sales funnel, there is no chance that their businesses would not skyrocket their sales.

Just like seasons, the tactics to maintain the sales pipeline also keep rotating. Hence, the need is to constantly upskill the people working in the sales industry. That being the scenario, AI can be a great helping hand in this too. Although AI will not replace the human coach, it can optimize the training of the sales team to foster better results. Below given are some of the effective ways in which AI can assist in optimizing the training process of the sales teams in the industry.

1. Smooth onboarding - The onboarding experience of the new hires is really essential as it is the key determinant of their engagement. AI can optimize the onboarding process of your sales team by providing personalized emails welcoming them or by giving them instant feedback. Along with this, if your team is working remotely then it can assist in optimizing their onboarding experience even more efficiently.

2. On-demand training - AI can provide advanced learning modules in the form of videos or infographics which can assist the sales team in comprehending the training more efficiently. Along with this, the implementation of AI tutors can assist the sales team in availing the benefit of the on-demand training feature. This will allow the team to access the information of training anytime and anywhere. Altogether, this will assist in enhancing the efficiency of the sales team which will further contribute to enhancing the growth of the company.

4. Manages customer relationships

Customer relationships are the lifeblood of every business organization. That being artificial has a major role in fostering customer relationships as well. There are multiple ways in which AI can assist the sales industry in enhancing the efficiency of their business and maintaining good customer relationships. Some of the effective methods are mentioned below

AI chatbots - Humans can not be available 24*7. They get tired and need rest. However, in the sales industry, when a customer comes for a query, he expects an instant response and a solution. That is the reason chatbots are getting popular in the sales industry.

Did you know that as per statistics, AI chatbots can save 30% on costs of customer service and have the ability to solve 80% of client inquiries on their own? This assists in understanding how the sales industry will transform into a better version of itself if the acceptance of AI bots continues.

Personalized recommendation - The major need of today’s customers is that they want everything according to their preferences and needs. This is the reason the trend of personalization is rapidly growing all around the globe.

Similarly, AI can assist the sales industry in personalizing the experience of its target audience based on their online interaction and previous purchase history. It can contribute to enhancing the customer experience with your business.

Automate repetitive tasks - It is no hidden fact that happy employees mean happy customers. The reason is that if your employees are happy they will treat your customers well and it will contribute to their enhanced customer experience.

However, one of the major happiness stealers of people working in the sales industry is the occurrence of repetitive and mundane tasks. It not only contributes to disengaging them but also impacts their productivity negatively.

That being the case, AI can automate these tasks which can be performed without human intelligence and interference. This will assist in saving the time of your salesperson plus will contribute to their productivity positively. This means AI can significantly contribute to the enhanced customer experience by automating the tasks of the sales industry.

5. Keeps a track of performance

In the sales industry, it is really essential to keep improvising and keep a track of your performance. This highlights the last but not the least revolutionary utilization of AI in the sales industry that it can assist in keeping the track of performance.

There are many AI-based software and tools which can track the performance and productivity of your sales team. These tools can track the performance based on the key performance indicators that will assist in highlighting the key areas that point out the strengths and weaknesses of your sales team. Based on the analyses, companies can boost their strengths and eliminate their weaknesses which can assist in boosting the overall efficiency of the sales industry.

To encapsulate, whether we like it or not, AI is the future of technology and every industry will efficiently work on tapping on every benefit AI will bring along. Moreover, the sales department is the lifeblood of every business. Hence, it is really essential to understand how AI will impact the future of AI to effectively adopt and avail the benefits of artificial intelligence in the sales industry.