AI is NOT Just a Sales Enablement Tool...
Victor Antonio
Keynote Speaker and Author - "Sales Ex Machina”, Relationship Selling" & "Mastering the Upsell | Hall of Fame Sales Speaker |
AI is NOT just a sales enablement tool as much as it will become a 'buyer enablement' tool.
Sure, you can use GenAI to:
- Flag customer/consumer sentiment analysis
- Set up meetings for you
- Help refine our messaging/presentation
- Generate outreach messages
- Flag accounts that may not close
- Identify upsell opportunities
- Review contracts or Requests for Proposal (RFPs)
- Generate contracts, proposals, and marketing collateral
GenAI will help us
But that's only ONE SIDE of the GenAI enablement coin. Now, let's look at what we can expect from the buyer's perspective.
Let's imagine the following scenario. You're looking for a new SaaS product and need to implement it ASAP. You have two options:
Option 1: Search-Define-Refine-Present-Decide
This process can take weeks, if not months, and in the end, no one is happy with the final decision as compromises had to be made along the way.
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Option 2: AI Agent (AIA)
In both cases, the involvement of a salesperson is pushed further out in the buyer cycle, making it that much more difficult for a seller to influence the client's buying priorities.
So while GenAI may be seen as an 'efficiency tool' for sellers, buyers see it as an 'intelligence gathering' tool that will allow them to move further along the buying journey alone.
Two more examples:
Traditional Method: Imagine Sarah, a marketing manager, overwhelmed by a sea of generic software options. Researching and comparing features takes weeks, leading to decision fatigue and potentially settling for a mediocre fit.
GenAI: Sarah outlines her needs in the AIA. The AIA analyzes reviews, feature comparisons, and pricing structures to curate a shortlist of top contenders. Sarah spends less time sifting and more time focusing on the best options.
Traditional Method: John, a procurement officer, relies on static brochures and demos to understand complex enterprise software. This one-dimensional view can miss crucial details.
GenAI: John's AIA delves deeper. It analyzes user forums, industry reports, and even social media sentiment to provide a holistic picture of a product's strengths, weaknesses, and real-world impact. John makes an informed decision based on comprehensive data.
In the future, sales interactions will likely become more consultative, with AI handling the heavy lifting of information gathering and initial comparisons.
GenAI will free the buyer from relying on salespeople to guide their choices.
Victor Antonio | Author | Speaker
#aiinsales #aiagents #buyerenablement
Operations at Bifrost Studios. I talk about building startups and early career hacks.
2 个月Spot on Victor! We've built Pondeo.com to instantly do extensive lead research and shift the sales conversation into a 'consultative' state. Let me know if you would like to test our tool.
MBA | AI | Digital Transformation | BA | Consulting
2 个月With the AI assistant continually supplying updated information, the sales team is empowered to make data-driven decisions. Sales representatives can fine-tune their pitches and product configurations to ensure they meet the newest regulatory standards. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/importance-ai-virtual-assistants-sales-departments-sperczy%25C5%2584ski-pv7nf/
Asesoro a las Empresas en la mejora de Resultados | Transformación Digital Comercial | Venta Híbrida | Business Developer
2 个月This article raises a very interesting point: AI as a "buyer enablement" tool. I think focusing on the buyer is crucial, especially in the B2B context where the buyer has often been overlooked. However, a question arises: how does a company ensure it's on the radar of the AI doing the research? If AI handles all the heavy lifting of information gathering and comparisons, how does a company ensure its product or service is considered in the decision-making process? Gartner has already highlighted the importance of the buyer journey, and this AI model seems to further reinforce the need to understand buyer needs and preferences. How can marketing and sales strategies be adapted so that AI "recommends" the company as a viable option?
Director, Global Partner Network and Go-To-Market Business Development at Siemens Digital Industries Software
2 个月No doubt. But there the customer will have a hard time discerning what was factual vs hallucinations. And then how will the SaaS software fit in their environment? What services are needed to ensure the desired business outcome is realized? How much experience does the customer have implementing such systems on their own? What familiarity do they have with best practices and pitfall avoidance? If the sales rep is not bringing value to the discussion and to the customer- you simply will not survive. Those that do the "show up and throw up" of product feature/functions are despised by customers. The research data proves it out-- nearly 50% of B2B buyers want to have a sales rep free experience. Other studies show less that 25% of executives get any value from a meeting with a sales rep. Focus our how you can drive business value for your customers, and surround them with the support they need to realize it.