How AI Can Help Midsize Companies Reduce Manual Work in Sales and Marketing and Drive Growth
Steve Krushelniski Growth Expert, Digitalization Leader
??Husband, Father, Fractional CGO, Leader, Digital, Fractional CGO | Helping Midmarket Companies Unlock Growth Through Strategy, AI, and Expert Execution | Owner, The Extra 20
Harnessing AI to Boost Sales and Marketing Efficiency in Midsize Companies
In today's fast-paced business world, midsize companies face unique challenges as they strive to scale operations without significantly increasing overhead costs. One of the most pressing issues is the considerable time sales and marketing teams spend on manual tasks—researching leads, qualifying prospects, managing customer data, and executing repetitive processes. These time-consuming activities often detract from the strategic, high-value work that directly impacts revenue growth.
At The Extra 20, we specialize in helping companies reach their next level of success. We've observed that leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce manual workload and improve efficiency has become an increasingly viable strategy for many businesses. AI-driven solutions can automate time-consuming processes in sales and marketing, allowing teams to focus on what they do best—building relationships, closing deals, and driving business forward.
The Sales Bottleneck: Too Much Time on Non-Selling Tasks
One of the most significant pain points for midsize companies is the disproportionate amount of time sales teams spend on administrative tasks instead of actual selling. Salespeople often dedicate hours each week to manually researching leads, entering data into CRMs, or sending follow-up emails. While these are critical components of the sales process, they can be efficiently automated using AI, freeing up valuable time for high-impact activities like closing deals and nurturing customer relationships.
AI-Powered Lead Research and Qualification
Sales prospecting and lead qualification are among the most time-consuming activities in the sales cycle. By automating these processes with AI, companies can enable their sales teams to focus on leads that are more likely to convert. AI can:
Case Study: RapidMiner
RapidMiner, a midsize data science and machine learning platform, implemented AI-driven lead scoring to help their sales team prioritize and qualify leads more effectively. Before adopting AI, their lead qualification process relied heavily on manual research, which significantly detracted from strategic sales efforts.
By implementing an AI-powered solution that analyzes customer data, engagement history, and other behavioral signals, RapidMiner was able to score leads based on their likelihood to convert. This automated lead scoring system helped their sales team focus on the highest-quality leads, reducing wasted time on less promising prospects.
The results were impressive:
Marketing's Manual Work: Targeting and Personalization
Marketing teams also face challenges when scaling without AI support. They often invest significant time in manual tasks like segmenting audiences, personalizing content, and tracking campaign performance. These repetitive tasks can limit the ability to execute agile, data-driven campaigns that truly drive growth.
AI-Enhanced Audience Targeting
AI can automate critical parts of the marketing process to drive more relevant, targeted campaigns without the need for time-intensive manual work. It can:
Case Study: GumGum
GumGum, a midsize marketing tech company specializing in AI-driven solutions for advertising and media, integrated AI to automate their lead qualification process. Leveraging their expertise in visual intelligence, GumGum applied AI not just to their product offering but also to optimize internal operations, particularly in sales and lead qualification.
By using AI to analyze large sets of inbound inquiries and website visitor data, GumGum was able to score leads based on historical data, customer engagement patterns, and behaviors. This automated system helped the company quickly identify high-quality leads, allowing their sales team to prioritize prospects who were more likely to convert.
The results were significant:
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Source: GumGum Case Study. "Leveraging AI for Enhanced Lead Qualification and Sales Performance." 2024.
Reducing Administrative Burden in CRM Management
Sales and marketing teams often dedicate an inordinate amount of time to manually entering data into customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Updating contact information, tracking customer interactions, and logging notes after meetings can quickly become overwhelming, eating into time that should be spent on building relationships and closing deals.
AI-Powered CRM Data Entry
AI can automatically capture and update CRM data by integrating with communication tools like email and messaging apps, as well as analyzing customer interactions across various platforms. This drastically reduces the manual effort required to keep CRM data up-to-date and accurate.
Case Study: Lattice Engines
Lattice Engines, a midsize B2B software company specializing in predictive marketing and sales technology, integrated AI to automate the manual entry and analysis of data in their CRM. Prior to using AI, their sales team spent a significant amount of time manually inputting and managing customer data, leading to inefficiencies and limiting the team's ability to focus on nurturing relationships and closing deals.
With AI, Lattice Engines automated the collection and entry of data from emails, call logs, and customer interactions into their CRM. The AI system analyzed these interactions and provided predictive insights that helped the sales team prioritize their outreach efforts based on historical patterns and likelihood of success.
The results were notable:
Source: Gartner. "Case Study: Lattice Engines Transforms Sales Operations with AI-Powered CRM." 2023.
The Extra 20: Empowering Companies to Scale
At The Extra 20, we focus on helping companies unlock growth by reducing the time their sales and marketing teams spend on manual tasks. Our goal is to give companies back their "extra 20%"—the time saved by automating repetitive work that can then be reinvested in strategic initiatives. By leveraging AI-driven solutions, we empower businesses to work smarter, not harder.
Whether it's automating lead qualification, personalizing marketing campaigns, or streamlining CRM management, our AI solutions allow your team to focus on activities that directly drive revenue and growth. The result? Faster decision-making, better customer experiences, and more time for your team to dedicate to the high-impact work that will take your business to the next level.
Conclusion
For companies looking to scale, the key to growth lies in working efficiently while minimizing time spent on manual tasks. AI can dramatically reduce the time sales and marketing teams spend on routine work like lead research, audience targeting, and CRM updates. By automating these processes, AI not only saves time but also drives higher revenue, improves customer satisfaction, and validates ROI.
At The Extra 20, we're committed to helping businesses integrate AI into their sales and marketing workflows, enabling them to achieve greater productivity and growth. Let us show you how AI can give your business the competitive edge it needs to thrive in today's marketplace.
Ready to unlock your extra 20%? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you implement AI solutions tailored to your specific needs.
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