In today’s complex selling environment, Generative AI rapidly changes how sales teams operate. While using GenAI can produce significant efficiency gains for sales teams, it can accelerate a sales organization’s bad processes without regard to accuracy, relevancy, or security. Sales professionals often prioritize efficiency over effectiveness. Our inboxes are full of examples of misguided AI scripts and automated messages every day.
What many salespeople miss is that the hidden value of AI may be in its ability to improve your sales game. What if AI could help you close more business by improving your interactions and relevancy with your customers at every stage of the sales process? This differs from the “fire and forget” mentality often seen with AI-driven outreach. Sales leaders need to encourage sales professionals to leverage AI throughout the entire sales process in a way that increases the understanding of the customer and helps build stronger relationships with buyers.
Below are examples of how Generative AI can be utilized across the different stages of the sales process and how it can help you be more relevant to your customers and close more business. These examples do not require additional AI applications beyond ChatGPT or Copilot. Leveraging Generative AI should be considered an iterative and ongoing process. These prompts are a great starting point for engaging AI in a discussion at each stage of the sales process.
Good selling is not about being a fast talker, despite many stereotypes to the contrary. Many studies suggest that the most productive sellers are the ones who spend more time planning for each sales call and listening to their customers when they engage with them. GenAI can help every seller up their call planning process. Using tools such as ChatGPT or Copilot, sellers can analyze historical data and external sources to understand the company and prospect comprehensively. For example, AI can help understand the customer’s business, industry, and relevant trends to be aware of. This helps sales reps go into each call well-prepared and aligned with the prospect's current business priorities.
A few great questions to ask GenAI might include:
“What does this company do, how do they make money, and who do they compete with?”
“Can you perform a PEST analysis of this company and industry (political, economic, social, and technological)?”
GenAI can significantly enhance relationship-building efforts by personalizing interactions. By analyzing a prospect's profile, communication style, and online presence, GenAI can help sales reps prepare to connect more personally with prospects before and after they meet. GenAI can help find mutual connection points and areas of common interest to encourage building rapport and trust with the prospect. Following a meeting, GenAI can analyze the call transcript and help prepare tailored, personalized email follow-ups for each individual on the call.
Sample prompts include:
“After reviewing this customer’s profile, can you tell me what’s most important to this customer in their current role?” Can you help me identify common connection points and commonalities that I might highlight on our next call?
Uncovering and understanding customer needs is essential to consultative selling and advancing sales opportunities. Generative AI can help sift through vast amounts of information about the company and customer to identify preferences, priorities, and key initiatives. In addition, GenAI can help understand the persona of the individual you’re calling on, what is most important to their role, and what questions you may want to ask them to identify their pain points.
A sample prompt might include:
“Now that you’ve researched the company and prospect, what questions should I ask the CFO to understand their specific business issues that I might be able to solve with my solution?”
When articulating the value proposition, GenAI can ensure that the message is aligned with the priorities you’ve discussed and resonates clearly with the client’s needs. GenAI can generate dynamic presentations and customized scripts that highlight the benefits of a product or service directly aligned with the articulated needs of the customer. It can also simulate various sales scenarios to help sales reps choose the most compelling arguments for their specific audience.
A sample prompt might include:
“Please review my proposal and the customer requirements and give me feedback on how well we meet their needs.”
“What gaps do you see in my proposal, and how can I make my presentation more compelling to this customer?
Managing feedback and objections is essential to advancing deals to the next stage in the sales process and avoiding getting stuck at any stage. GenAI can automatically collect and analyze feedback from various channels to provide real-time insights and generate a list of potential objections. For instance, GenAI can review your presentation, impersonate the persona you’re calling on, and allow you to role-play with the persona to practice responding to common objections.
A sample prompt might include:
“Can you generate a list of concerns and objections that the CFO might have about our solution and the price we presented?”
Securing commitment can be streamlined with AI. Generative AI can assist by analyzing past successful deals to determine the optimal timing and approach for closing and reviewing and evaluating call recordings for “buying signals” and areas of concern. Additionally, AI-driven analytics can recommend specific upselling or cross-selling opportunities based on the customer’s purchase history and engagement level, maximizing the deal’s potential.
A sample prompt might include:
“Can you review my last call transcript from this customer and help me prepare to ask for the sale?”
Conclusion
Generative AI is not just a tool for automation; it is a comprehensive support system that, if used appropriately, can enhance every stage of the sales cycle. By integrating AI into the sales process, sales teams can ensure they are prepared to address their prospects' and customers' priorities and expectations along their buyer’s journey.