Marketing, Sales, and Service in the Age of AI

BCG is thrilled to be an Innovator Sponsor and Exclusive Partner of the CIO+ Experience at Dreamforce 2024 . Taking place in San Francisco from September 17 to 19 and hosted by Salesforce, Dreamforce is one of the largest AI events in the world.

BCG and Salesforce collaborate to help companies incorporate AI and data-driven experiences into customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. At Dreamforce, we will share insights about the latest innovations in marketing, sales, and customer service; offer guidance for turning AI magic into business impact; and help organizations envision a path to successful digital transformation in the age of AI.???

Bold AI Bets for B2B Marketing, Sales, and Service?

BCG’s latest research underscores that AI—particularly generative AI—is poised to transform B2B marketing, sales, and service . But many first movers are stumbling.??

According to our survey of 900 marketing, sales, and service executives—across a range of industries, regions, and company sizes—most expect GenAI to enhance key business metrics, with 90% saying they believe it will be crucial to their functions in the next three years. But nearly half lack confidence in their current GenAI strategies. The challenges they face relate to:?

• Data quality and knowledge?

• Alignment on a starting point?

• Security and privacy?

• Scalability and the complexity of integrating AI with existing systems?

Central to the problem is the fact that deploying AI in isolated pockets isn’t enough. To truly unlock the technology’s potential, leaders need to set a bold, unified AI ambition.??

This is where BCG’s AI approach—Deploy, Reshape, Invent—comes in. Here’s how it works:??

• Deploy GenAI in everyday tools. Start by integrating GenAI into everyday tasks. It’s a great way to get the ball rolling and ease teams into using the technology. But don’t stop there.?

• Reshape critical functions. Move from piecemeal deployment to fundamentally reimagining processes and workflows, taking organizations beyond efficiency to creating new ways of doing things.?

• Invent new business models. Organizations can use AI not just to optimize but to innovate. This can include AI-driven marketing campaigns that are customized in real time based on customer interactions. Or it might be virtual sales assistants that handle routine tasks so the team can focus on closing deals.?

Here’s a closer look at what an AI transformation can look like:?

Marketing That’s Customized to Customer Preferences. A chatbot can gather information from a conversation with a customer to automatically generate a personalized offering or loyalty program rewards tailored to that person’s needs or interests. GenAI-based marketing systems can analyze external data instantaneously to suggest, create, and prioritize campaigns, find hidden opportunities, and design new products based on feedback from focus groups.?

AI-Supported Sales Activities.?Virtual sales assistants can take on many sales-office tasks, including pricing deals and managing approvals. AI can also create customer presentations, customer profiles, competitive analyses, service summaries, forecast snapshots, and even update CRM data. This gives sales managers and reps more time for higher-value customer interactions.?

Automated Low-Level Service. An AI-based customer service help desk can detect multiple failed login attempts and automatically text instructions for resetting a password, storing data on the incident. If the problem happens frequently, an alert allows the business to fix a potential user-interface issue. With AI taking over these low-level tasks, human agents can be trained to tackle more complex activities, such as driving additional cross-selling.?

It will take an ambitious, unified plan to reshape operations and processes. To create value, leaders in marketing, sales, and service will need to reimagine their functions’ processes and invent new experiences along the full customer journey.?

If you’re in San Francisco for Dreamforce 2024, join us, speak with one of our experts, and attend one of our sessions in our dedicated space at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.?We will be sharing updates over the next week, and you can follow the conversation at #BCGatDreamforce.

A Must-Attend LinkedIn Live Event?

Register now for a dynamic session with IBM’s Ann Funai, Salesforce’s Ashleigh McCord, and BCG’s Vlad Lukic live from Dreamforce 2024, where they will discuss the key AI strategies that chief information officers must embrace today—including how to close the gap between tech solutions and business value, optimize AI readiness, and pioneer cutting-edge innovation.???