AI and Sales Calls
Russell Wilce
Sales Strategy, Process, Coaching & Management. Customer Retention, Engagement & Partnerships.
What is a salespersons most important call?
?Whether in person or on the phone we believe the most important call a salesperson can make is the one after the first delivery of the first sale. If you are a single sale company or person and you don’t want or need repeat business, it may not be, but if you want that repeat business then this is the most important call.
?Will AI do this job as well?
?That’s a good question. If we explore what this call means many readers will come to their own conclusions!
?The reason this call is so important is because as a salesperson you made a promise to your prospect who is now your client when you first contacted them. Many salespeople don’t see it as a promise but just another first contact. When you first initiate contact, and it is irrelevant if they contacted you first or you found them and made first contact, you start out on a process towards a sale.
?The process mentioned involves
?·????? Building a rapport
·????? Qualifying the opportunity
·????? Assessing the need or wants
·????? A proposal
·????? Objections
·????? Closing a sale
·????? The follow up
?These are not in a particular order today, at one time maybe, but the internet has changed that. These are not just salespersons tasks. The salesperson may guide the process, their support team may prepare many presentations, proposals and organise varied meetings. It may take significant time and money. Does it cost more than it costs the buyer attending meetings, presentations, doing evaluating and so on? Another good question and one that depends on many factors including product/service the market etc, etc. The answer is not important. Both parties face costs and one side’s can be more significant to them than the others.
Both Buyer and Seller want the same thing
?The important thing is once the journey begins it’s in both the seller and buyer’s interest for the process to be successful.
In today’s selling environment the prospect is likely to have done some research before contacting you, or before the first discussion if you initiated contact. They may have invested quite a lot of time (and maybe money) before talking to you. They don’t want to have made a poor decision. They potentially want to buy from you. The further along the process they get the more important it becomes to them.
?When they buy, they still aren’t sure if they made the right decision until they see, feel, or touch the product or service. The salesperson can be more relaxed once they get an order but that’s key concern time for the buyer. Some people have lost jobs over the wrong decision, let alone lost investment money.
?Did I deliver?
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?That call by you after the order is delivered is, as a salesperson, to ask the client ‘did I deliver?’ Or in other words ‘have I kept my promises?’ If you delivered you will be told, and also probably also told if you didn’t! This is the beginning or the business relationship. Up until this call you didn’t have a relationship only a buyer and seller communication process. If the process fails in the future the client will probably talk to you to assist in getting it back on track. If you didn’t make that call you have no reference point to refer to in the future, and the client is less likely to talk to you, but more likely to plan another option.
?Where does AI fit into this process. If you have looked at the last six AI articles we have written, listed below, one on each of the bullet point topics that make up the sales process for us, you will see varied appreciation for the current and potential future AI skills. The following story of an actual situation may explain why AI will always struggle to keep pace with humans.
?When visiting a prospect in Sydney one day I was looking at the pictures of a sports team they heavily sponsored hanging in the foyer and down the walls. I asked the person I was meeting for the first time if he personally was a supporter of that particular team. He said he was and happily talked about how great they were and how well they were doing. He reciprocated with a question of did I follow a team? I considered my reply before I answered as to whether I would upset him! I took the gamble and mentioned the team I followed. I did not need to say any more as we both new the previous weekend results. My team beat his well! He appreciated the honesty and we got off to a good start!
?Building Rapport
?Building rapport is a key process step in the sales cycle. It needs to have a personal element but not be personal. Business questions do not tend to build rapport and get the ‘like’ between two people going like ‘rapport’ questions do. The key is in finding those rapport questions quickly. I don’t see AI following a sports team or going to concerts. For humans we build relationships based on mutual likes or understandings, perhaps of certain hobbies for example. If you have ever listened to two people talking about a subject you know nothing about, you will get the idea. They may have only met a few seconds earlier but if there is synergy that can form the basis for a relationship of some kind.
AI Strengths
?Some aspects of the sales process or cycle can definitely be improved by AI capabilities. I have seen salespeople who could learn from AI when it comes to making sure all the steps in the process are completed! ?When it comes to that first contact it is hard to see AI being better than a good salesperson and that is where the buyer seller communication first begins. As to the sales call that turns a sale into relationship similar factors come into play. In between is where AI can be significant. It is often said all salespeople care about is the order. That is not true for good salespeople as they care about the very first contact too!
?Joking aside its not that salespeople don’t care about the in between time. Keeping track of a larger portfolio of opportunities is harder for humans than AI, because well we are human and we make mistakes and we forget things!
?Articles in this series
?This is the last in this year’s series featured on AI. The links to the previous articles:
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