Smarter Prospecting and Faster Conversions with AI

This week, the FDA announced the ban of red dye No. 3 due to its potential cancer risks, and interestingly, a safe replacement for that cherry-red coloring is beetle juice.?

Beetles getting ready for their big break:

In other news, we’ve got some great tips on integrating AI into your sales processes, survey results on your 2025 goals and how to build more pipeline, and love from our biggest fans!?

Read on.?

Transforming Sales with AI: Tips from GTM Experts

Go-to-market teams that adopt AI-powered sales automation can reap major benefits: research shows they spend more time with customers, drive higher customer satisfaction, and most importantly, boost sales by up to 10%.

But savvy sales leaders know AI isn’t a magic wand that can close deals for you. Instead, using AI effectively is about finding new opportunities and building deeper relationships, which ultimately lead to faster conversions.

Here’s how some of today’s top experts use AI to sidestep common challenges, encourage experimentation, enhance sales training, and create smarter prospecting lists.

The Upsides and Risks of AI

While AI accelerates and optimizes sales efforts, the human element of the sales process remains a crucial, irreplaceable part of the experience.

“AI will point you to the right people to call or show you intent data from companies engaging with your brand, but it’s still up to you to make those calls, engage authentically, and build relationships,” says Will Frattini , an enterprise account executive at ZoomInfo.?

Here’s how AI can help:?

1. Lead Scoring and Intent Analysis: AI ranks leads and identifies intent signals to prioritize the prospects most likely to convert.
2. Automated and Enriched Prospecting Lists: AI builds and updates prospecting lists in real-time, enriching them with accurate, actionable data.
3. Predictive and Personalized Outreach: AI uses data patterns to predict responsiveness and craft hyper-personalized messages for meaningful engagement.
4. Optimized Timing and Follow-Ups: AI determines the best times to contact prospects and automates timely follow-ups based on behavior tracking.
5. Market and Competitor Insights: AI provides insights on market trends and competitor activity to identify strategic opportunities for prospecting.

But relying too heavily on automation without a foundation of GTM intelligence and an expert personal touch can also backfire. Take email prospecting, for instance.

“It’s hit a wall,” warns Jeb Blount , CEO of Sales Gravy and co-author of The AI Edge. “You can’t just let AI send shallow, automated messages. People recognize robotic patterns, and once they do, they stop responding. AI can’t replace the human touch — it can only enhance it.”

The same advice applies in other channels as well.

Relying too heavily on AI-trained chatbots for customer inquiries, for example, can lead to frustration when bots fail to understand complex questions, driving prospects away instead of engaging them. And automated responses on social platforms can come across as impersonal or tone-deaf, damaging brand trust and alienating potential customers.

Find real examples of how GTM experts are using AI to perfect sales processes in this article.

Survey Says…

We asked, you answered.

Our LinkedIn audience represents over 200,000 go-to-market professionals. We regularly survey them to get a pulse on selling strategies, purchasing behaviors, and general thoughts on all things tech.

Recently, we asked you about your goals for 2025. And while closing deals faster, using AI, and expanding into new markets were well-represented, one priority garnered stood above all others: generating more pipeline.

So what’s it take to nail this goal? If you’ve already got a strategy in place — but fear you’ll still be struggling to hit your numbers — watch how Andrew Kier uses ZoomInfo Copilot to rebuild his pipeline and discover brand-new target accounts:?

And if you’re not quite there yet, here’s how you can set up a fresh pipeline-generation strategy up in just 4 steps:??

1. Identify and narrow down your target buyers. You don’t have an operations team to help build a model to focus on your target market? No problem. Choose your 10 best customers, and look at what they have in common. It could be industry, company size, geographic location, funding history, or important company updates like a new CIO or a recent acquisition.

From there, you have the information to start building your pipeline strategy. You’ll tackle the broader target markets down the road, but this will help you build a great group of target prospects based on the customers you’ve already had success with.

2. Build a targeted list of your most viable prospects. Let’s say you’ve identified your first, most viable target segment as Financial Services companies with a new CTO, because three of your first 10 customers had those details in common.

Now it’s time to find potential buyers that look like those companies. This example means that you are gathering two out of the three primary types of prospect data: Fit data, intent data, and opportunity data.

With a list in hand of viable prospects from companies that you KNOW are a great fit for your product, you can then begin structuring your outreach strategy.

3. Develop relevant messaging and content for the prospects in your pipeline. One of the most effective ways to create a message that your targeted buyers will listen to is through brand storytelling. But to go even further, we recommend you allow your target buyers’ peers – your current customers – to tell the story.

So start with a simple case study and testimonial from one of your lookalike customers, highlighting why your product created value for them. Be specific about the characteristics that make them similar to your target buyer.?

Here are a few ideas of what to do with this content:

• Publish a case study on your website
• Create a PDF of the case study for sales collateral
• Shoot a 30-second video with your customer
• Write several blogs that speak directly to your target buyers’ needs
• Create 1-2 whitepapers, research reports, videos, or ebooks that put a unique spin on your story. (More on this in the next section)

One last thing: Make sure your team on the front lines knows how to tell these customer stories. The more you can put your value story front and center — before your product features — the more likely you are to really connect with your prospects.

4. Test a variety of demand generation tactics. We always recommend a mix of both inbound and outbound demand generation tactics, as long as you’re careful not to spread your resources too thin:?

• Make sure your website is optimized for your target buyers’ needs
• Invest in advertising
• Build an outbound sales prospecting sequence of emails, phone calls, direct mail, and social engagement for your target accounts
• Invest in a content syndication service that allows you to push content to your ICPs
• Host private events with key influencers or partners in your industry to expand your reach

And of course, iterate and adopt the strategies that really land with your audience.?

Now go forth and grab those leads!?

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Thanks for reading!

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