In today’s fast paced sales environment, AI has emerged as a powerful force, promising enhanced productivity and improved sales performance. But, as Ray Makela, Managing Director, Talent Development at SBI, and Dr. Howard Dover, a Clinical Professor of Management from the University of Texas, explore in their recent podcast conversation, the journey to harnessing AI’s full potential presents many challenges. Their conversation dives into the paradox of innovation, striking a balance between efficiency and effectiveness and ensuring human skills remain at the center of implementation.
The Paradox of Innovation
Innovation in sales often comes with a catch. The promise of better results is often undermined by poor adoption and implementation. While AI tools have the potential to revolutionize the sales process, achieving the desired ROI often requires organizations to zoom out and address fundamental gaps in sales processes and change management. As Dr. Dover emphasizes, “It’s not enough to simply deploy the technology.” Success depends on ensuring the right people are in the right roles and taking the right actions.
Dr. Dover explained that companies tend to rush into the “manic phase of investment,” adopting new technologies at a rapid pace without first considering the impact on their unaligned processes. Dr. Dover said that these companies must ask a critical question: “Do we have the processes to scale effectively?” Technology layered into ineffective processes results in frustration at all levels of the organization—perceived wasted time and effort by sellers, FLSMs with useless data, and executives questioning the investment, Dr. Dover emphasized.
The goal of introducing AI into the sales process should be to drive efficiency and effectiveness. Dr. Dover argues that the best-case scenario begins with focusing on effectiveness by ensuring the sales process is optimized. Then, organizations can begin making these processes more efficient by integrating technology.
AI can deliver precision, augmentation, and efficiency, but it requires a deliberate and strategic approach to implementation. Automating mundane tasks like performance analysis or top-of-funnel activities can free up sales teams to focus more on the high-value activities. The implementation team needs to be brutally honest with themselves about their processes. Are they automating the right things? Dr. Dover cautioned that, like a CRM implementation, sales enablement professionals may have grand visions of the data they want to see at the start and over-engineer their rollout of AI. It’s important to be realistic about what AI can and should do.
AI’s ability to streamline tasks allows sales teams to engage in more meaningful interactions by taking over repetitive activities. Dr. Dover noted that when used as a performance analysis tool, AI can potentially improve the quality of sales conversations by identifying areas for improvement and building call plans.
One notable challenge with AI’s precision is that it tends to outpace the capabilities of humans, Dr. Dover stated. For example, automated emails generated by AI might be highly insightful, leading to booked meetings. However, if the sales rep handling those meetings lacks the skills to deliver on the promise of the initial outreach, a disconnect is created. To bridge this gap, organizations must prioritize equipping their teams with the tools and training to properly leverage AI’s capabilities.
Makela and Dr. Dover explained that despite its many advantages, AI cannot replace the human element in sales. AI is most effectively used when it augments human capabilities rather than replace them. This augmentation allows sales teams to focus on connecting with customers and driving value.
AI presents many opportunities and challenges as the sales industry continues to evolve. Makela and Dr. Dover’s conversation highlights that while AI could enhance the sales process, when improperly integrated it can yield undesirable results. By striking the right balance, sales leaders can navigate the complexities of innovation and position their teams for success.
Listen to their conversation on Spotify.