Six Ways Sales Leaders Can Effectively Implement AI

By Chris Peterson, Founder and President, Vector Firm 

Many large and reputable business consulting companies have concluded that sales will be the last department to adopt Artificial Intelligence tools, and for very good reasons. Getting the most out of AI requires a significant amount of clean data, defined processes, and the discipline needed to do things in a standardized way every time. Most sales organizations don’t have these three attributes, hence, the delay.  

Does that mean that you should neglect using AI tools to improve your sales organization? No, you absolutely should be exploring AI, but you should do it in the right way. Below are six possible ways for sales leaders to implement AI in an effective way.  

Leadership must buy in and lead

If leadership does not buy into the plan, the sales organization is likely to use AI tools only sporadically and in an inefficient and wasteful way. Some people will adopt things they hear about online or from their friends, but most will continue struggling along in a non-productive way. If your sales organization is going to maximize AI tools, sales leaders and business leaders must be on the same page and completely buy into the shift. This is true for most departments, but especially true for sales. 

Keep your sales team’s “Why?” at the front of your mind

It’s obvious why leaders want their sales team to adopt artificial intelligence tools: more productivity, more accurate forecasts, lower overhead, etc. However, what about the salespeople? These things may not matter to them. Find out what they want. Ask them – you’ll be shocked. More time with customers, less boring meetings, and more sales and commissions are among the many things they typically want but be sure to ask. Whatever the answers, don’t forget them. 

Start by focusing on one priority

Any type of change is jarring to an organization, so don’t try to shift every aspect of your sales organization to AI. As a team, rank the things you want to improve with AI. Some of the problems to address: Estimates / proposal generation, RFP reviews, pipeline management, outbound marketing campaigns, and presentation generation. Pro tip: Unless it’s destructive to the organization, do whatever your sales team wants. If they embrace this first step and feel success, they’ll continue to work hard on future changes.  

Decide on Enterprise system or best of breed

Like most software categories, AI tools can be implemented with integrated enterprise systems that have a suite of tools included (i.e., a comprehensive ERP system), or as best of breed solutions (i.e., a standalone estimating tool). When you create your plan, decide how you want to start. There are advantages to both paths. 

For our clients, we recommend starting with best of breed, especially since we advise them to focus on one priority for now. After a few solution sets have been implemented, it might make sense to move to an enterprise system and take advantage of the integration benefits. 

Measure

All changes must be measured. There is a very good reason why all health programs start out by measuring metrics like weight, heart rate, and blood pressure. After a few months, it’s often necessary to see the success you’ve had from the metrics because you might not be able to feel it. Change is hard. Measure how long it takes to generate a proposal or how inaccurate your forecasts are now and then keep measuring every month or quarter after implementing AI tools. If you can’t see progress with metrics, you’ll likely give up.  

Stay real

Over the last 20 years, the use of the Internet and the shift to virtual meetings have forged a gap in human interaction. Now, with salespeople using AI tools more commonly, our customers will hardly ever see salespeople in person. No eye-to-eye contact. No handshaking. No three-dimensional infinite awareness and subconscious judgments. Your customers will be starving for personal interaction. 

Differentiate yourself by being authentic and there. While the rest of the professional selling world becomes remote and artificial, stick out from the crowd by personalizing communication and making personal visits. Since your customers are starving for interaction, your personal touch will go much further than it did a few years ago. 

Don’t forget to sell

A friend of mine recently purchased a new fishing boat. He has a lake house in Tennessee and most of the residents on the lake are avid about fresh-water fishing. The first day he towed his new boat to the ramp, he saw one of his neighbors that he admired and couldn’t wait to show him all the technology he had just purchased. When my friend was done demonstrating his new gadgets, his neighbor, who was an excellent fisherman, paused and said: “Well, don’t forget to fish.”  

I love this story and hearing it immediately made me think about all the new gadgets salespeople have had over years, voicemail, cell phones, laptops, CRM systems, the Internet, and now AI. No matter what the new technology is, the great ones were always the killers that woke up every day to sell. Sure, they used these tools, but they used them simply as tools … and then never forgot to sell!