How to Sell Smarter with AI Insights

In the ever-evolving landscape of sales, companies are constantly seeking new ways to gain a competitive edge.

And today, many business leaders are looking at Artificial Intelligence to do just that.

"75% of CEOs believe that organizations using artificial intelligence (AI) will have a competitive advantage, and 50% have said they have already begun integrating the technology, according to a new study by International Business Machines Corp (IBM)."

But how can AI help? This is the one question facing business leaders and salespeople alike. While the answer is simple, it doesn't mean it's easy.

It all comes down to AI-driven insights.

In this article, we will dive into some AI insights (from Gong) such as:

• The type of CTA's that book 200% more meetings
• A cold call opener that can increase your chance to book a meeting by 660%
• The ideal talk-to-listen ratio for a successful cold call
• The perfect length for a sales pitch that wins deals
• And more...

The days of relying solely on intuition and our "gut" to drive sales is gone.

By leveraging AI, businesses can unlock valuable insights hidden within their own sales data. These insights can provide a deeper understanding of customer behavior, market trends, and sales performance to help drive revenue.

While this all sounds great, you're probably trying to figure what this means or how to do this for you or your organization. And to my knowledge, there is no "silver bullet" solution that can apply to any sales organization and deliver consistent results (and I'd recommend running from anyone trying to sell a "one-size-fits-all" AI solution).

What I've learned is that every organization is unique. Which usually means companies benefit the most from a customized AI and Automation Strategy that is based around their company's data, sales process, who their customers are, and what they are trying to accomplish.

And even if this article doesn't have the silver bullet to help your company harness the power of AI, it does have plenty of data and AI insights that can be applied universally throughout the sales process.

AI Insights for Effective Sales Emails - What the Data Says

Before we dive into the data, I need to thank Gong for the resources they've put together and shared. Gong is a leading conversation analytics and training platform that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze sales calls and meetings. It provides insights to sales teams, helping them improve their performance, close more deals, and enhance customer interactions.

I'll be the first to admit, I've spent far too much time staring at an email trying to craft the "perfect" message...just for that email campaign to have a 5% response rate. It's no secret that email inboxes are filled with sales emails that are ultimately deleted or ignored.

So how do you write an effective sales email? Here's a few best practices, thanks to Gong:

They don't care about your ROI!

Trust me, I know your product has a great return on investment...but the data says that your prospect doesn't care.

"we reviewed over 132,000 emails to understand how “ROI language” impacted cold email success rates.

ROI language included words or phrases in the salesperson’s email — literally “ROI” or any stats that are tied to ROI like multipliers (2x, 10x, and so on.) and percentages (7%, 42%, etc.).?

And the data says…using ROI language in cold emails decreases success rates by 15%."

The Longer the Better?

Now let me clarify, this isn't your opportunity to write a memoir or list every single feature and benefit your product has...but the data shows that the longer the email, the more effective it can be!

"Longer emails are significantly (15x) more effective in booking a meeting during cold call outreach."

Ask for Interest, Not Time

"Hey John, would you like to book a 30 minute call so I can tell you about a product you may not need or even be able to afford?" While this probably isn't what you say...this could be what the prospect hears when they get a cold email.

Interest CTA's book twice as many meetings.

1. A specific CTA is, “Can you meet tomorrow at 3 PM PT?”
2. An open-ended CTA is, “Are you available to meet sometime later this week?”
3. An interest CTA is, “Are you interested in learning more about X?”

"You are not asking for the buyer’s time, just their interest. An interest CTA sells the conversation, not the meeting."

Cold Email ≠ Deal Email

We just covered why an interest CTA is best for cold emails, but that's not the case for deal emails.

If you're already engaged in the sales process and trying to book another meeting, "asking for a specific day and time during a deal email more than doubles meetings booked."

You already have there interest, so keep the deal moving!

Share Price via Email...but Save Negotiating for the Phone Call.

You might think this sounds crazy, but the data shows that sharing price via email can drastically improve your win rates! This isn't the full story however, because a combination of emails and phone calls works best to secure the deal.

If you're looking for the best cadence, here it is:

1. Send price via email
2. Negotiate via phone
3. Confirm price via email

Now that we have some AI insights that can help us write better emails, what about cold calls?

AI Insights for Effective Cold Calls - What the Data Says

Once again, data from Gong based on the analysis of THOUSANDS of cold calls...

How to Immediately Decrease Your Chances by 40%

This next one might get me in trouble with the Sandler network...

For the longest time, sales trainers (even Sandler trainers) taught others to start calls by asking, "Did I catch you at a bad time?". Originally, the standard was for a salesperson to ask if it was a "good time" so Sandler tried to take the opposite approach - but other's caught on.

"Opening your cold call with “Did I catch you at a bad time” makes you 40% less likely to book a meeting."

What should you say instead?

This one surprised me...but the data doesn't lie.

How have you been?

I've never spoken to them before. They don't even know who I am. Isn't this just weird?

Yes, yes, and potentially.

But based on Gong's data, it's the most successful opening line for a cold call.

Everyone knows a critical component of a cold call is the first 5 - 10 seconds. In Sandler, this is where we insert a "pattern-interrupt" (like above) so we can engage in a dialogue rather than diving straight into a sales pitch.

The Longer the Better Holds True for Cold Calls

Now that we've gotten past our opening statement, the longer we can be engaged in a conversation, the better chance we have of booking a meeting.

But before you get into a full conversation, the prospect is going to want to know who you are and what you want!

Stating your reason for your call boosts success rate by 2.1x

Okay so how does all of this sound? It could sound like this:

"Hi John, this is Jordan Ledwein calling from Sandler. How’ve you been?

The reason for my call is to share how we've successfully helped companies, similar to yours, implement AI and Automation tools and strategies throughout their sales process to save them time while also increasing revenue. Can I have 30 seconds to share a bit more about why I called you specifically, and then you can tell me if it makes sense to talk further, later, or maybe not at all?"

That's some free consulting, so don't tell anyone. And if you want to learn the rest of the No-Pressure Prospecting Call and the entire Sandler methodology, we have a Sandler Foundations Boot Camp coming up in late July :)

Talking More is Better

You will never here the above words come out of my mouth again so savor it while you can.

Salespeople get a bad (but accurate) reputation of being overly talkative and poor listeners. And when a salesperson can learn to shut their mouth and open their ears, beautiful things can happen.

A cold call is the exception. On a cold call, the seller has the burden of "owning" the conversation to share why it would be in the prospect's best interest to schedule a meeting. This doesn't mean cut them off or make sure you're filling the open air with pointless words. The sweet spot is 55% to 45%, talk to listen.

When to Make the Calls

This is going to vary based on who you're calling, what their schedule looks like, and potentially your industry. There are also many opinions on this that can vary, but most agree that Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to cold call.

Now when it comes to timing, this is where it gets more specific. In general, the data shows you have the best chance of connecting with someone right before lunch or right before the end of the day (between 4 - 5 PM).

If you're calling on business leaders who often stay past 5, sometimes the best time to connect will be between 5 - 6 PM. And if you're calling on the manufacturing industry where your prospect gets to the plant at 5:30 AM, you may find the best time is from 6:30 - 7:30 AM.

Other AI Insights to Help Sharpen Your Sales Skills

Writing great cold emails and making killer cold calls can be critical to a salesperson's success. But once we get the first meeting scheduled, that's where some of the real selling begins. And AI insights can help coach us along the selling process to close more deals more often.

The "Perfect" Pitch

You've got the first meeting, now you have to be able to articulate why this prospect should be interested in your product, your company, or you. You've spent the last week and you have your 62 slide presentation ready to go to tell them all the reasons they should love you...

Gong recorded the audio and video of over 100,000 web-based sales meetings and analyzed them with Gong’s AI to glean this insight.

"Deals that close use 9.1-minute sales deck presentations, on average, during the introductory sales meeting. Losing deals had 11.4-minute long sales decks, on average."

After 9 minutes, you lost the attention of your prospect and your chance at closing a deal. Data from neuroscientists show our brains have a "built-in" stopwatch that turns off after 9 - 10 minutes so this isn't a surprise.

Ask BETTER Questions, Not MORE Questions

Most salespeople would be better off asking more questions. But more questions isn't the key here - it's about asking better questions. Questions that are able to get the prospect talking about their situation. And the more you know about their situation, the better your chances are to close the deal.

Let them tell you their story, don't cut them off, and make sure you listen! And if you want a list of some of the best questions you can ask, check out the free Sandler Whitepaper: 100 Great Sandler Questions - and when to ask them.

How Many Questions is the Right Amount of Questions

11 - 14 Questions. It's not an interrogation, it's a discovery call. But if you don't ask enough questions, you won't have enough information to create a solution.

Note: The 11-14 recommendation does not hold when selling into the C-Suite. When selling to the C-Suite, win rates start to drop after 8 or so questions.

Listen More Than You Talk

We've already said the exception here is if you're making a cold call. But outside of that, top performing reps listen more than they talk.

Listen more = Close more

You MUST Discuss Next Steps

One of the biggest mistakes I see sales reps make is not discussing clear next steps. And the data proves it.

And when discussing next steps, it's important to make this focused around discussing value rather than features.

Handling Objections with a Pause

If you've been in sales for more than a day, then the chances are you've heard an objection once or twice. Here's what the data says about handling objections.

You may have heard of "the power of the pause"? Well when it comes to handling objections, the top reps pause 5x longer than an average performer...

Unsuccessful reps might interrupt the customer as they are making the objection or try to immediately defend themselves or their product. Professional sales reps listen and understand the objection before deciding how to respond to it. And they even speak slower when they do respond...

How to Build Better Rapport Virtually

Building better rapport with your prospect is critical to establishing trust - which is the first step of the Sandler Selling Methodology. In the age of virtual meetings and Zoom calls, building rapport isn't as easy as it used to be. But the absolute LEAST you can do to help your chance is TURN ON YOUR CAMERA!

What's the Right Number of People?

If you're selling enterprise solutions, it's probably rare you're only dealing with a single buyer at your prospects company. And your ability to meet with the other "behind the scenes buyers" can greatly impact your chances at winning.

As you may notice above, most deals only start with a single point of contact on the buyer's side. But successful deals typically involve 3 or more buyers in the second meeting.

And funny enough, this data holds true when it comes to team selling as well!

Win rates double when you add in a single co-worker and triple when you have 3+ team members on the first call.

Artificial Intelligence can provide insights to help salespeople throughout the entire sales process. And while the general insights like the ones from Gong as seen above can be very helpful. But the more specific it is to your company, your salespeople, and your ideal client - the more useful it will be. There are multiple tools like Gong that can analyze call recordings and provide feedback and actionable insights to salespeople and sales leaders. But to analyze your data, you first need a database to be analyzed!

I made a post last week about how important it is to have a single source of truth where all your sales data lives. For me, that's HubSpot. But any CRM that can track your emails, log your calls, and store your data will do the job. I'd recommend making sure it can easily integrate with other tools if you plan to add AI and Automation products to your tech stack.

Did any of the statistics above surprise you?

Sell Smarter,

The AI Sales Guy

P.S. If you have any questions about HubSpot - I can help!