The Future of B2B Sales: Using A.I. for Sales Training

Sales continues to evolve into a digital-first, self-service approach. Prospects educate themselves online and move further down the buying cycle without speaking to a salesperson. As a result, many customer-facing roles are disappearing. This change does not mean that all sales roles are going away. There is one sales stage in many B2B environments where humans will continue to play a crucial role – the last mile. This is where prospects connect with salespeople, become further qualified and convert into customers.

How can salespeople best prepare for this new future of selling?

The future of B2B salespeople will be in the last mile

What happens in the last mile? A lot. This is where sales reps need to build real connections and rapport with prospects while providing insights that add value. Industry knowledge and an ability to truly understand a prospect's needs will be more important than ever. Customer-centric skills that create meaningful interactions will make or break these sales. This is where EQ and IQ come to play.

The challenge today is that sales reps spend less time speaking with prospects and customers. In a digital-first world, communication is, you guessed it, digital. However, in that last mile, human connection is becoming more important. As entry-level sales jobs become automated, where are sales reps going to learn the important skills of communication?

How AI can help sales reps with last mile skills:

Sales teams are in a tough place right now. Only 20-30% of sales reps are meeting their quotas, with many failing to come anywhere close to their targets. At the same time, training budgets are being cut, leaving reps without the necessary skills development. High turnover rates and low job satisfaction are rampant, with exit interviews consistently revealing a lack of management support. This turmoil results in fewer deals, reduced customer satisfaction, and significant costs for companies.

The good news is that there are new tools that can help train sales reps to communicate more effectively.

And yes, those tools are in the form of A.I.

Ironically the technology that is removing humans from the sales equation can also be used to enhance sales rep skills. AI bots can now simulate customer interactions with sales reps, from initial calls and warm inbounds to demos and renewals. These bots provide realistic and customized practice, enhancing sales skills and boosting performance.

Take a look at this example where I call a difficult prospect. My objective here is to see if he is a qualified and to book a follow up meeting.

Business Development Specialists, Sales reps, Customer Success Managers…. anyone speaking with clients can now practice having interactive conversations with these AI bots. We can customize them to behave like your prospects and customers.

Reach out to me if you want to try these out with your team.

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For those of you who do not know me, I build sales pipelines, provide sales training and coaching and develop leadership training programs that help companies increase business across regions and prepare next-gen leaders for tomorrow's global threats and #hybridwork opportunities.

I wrote a book about the lessons learned, good, bad and ugly, when expanding into foreign markets called The Accidental Business Nomad: A Survival Guide for Working Across a Shrinking Planet. It looks at the hyper-globalization era over the last few decades and the lessons learned about working across cultures. It won the Axiom Business Book Award and has been translated into traditional Chinese.