A New Day in Sales with AI

A New Day in Sales with AI

It’s a new day in sales

Artificial Intelligence tools are transforming processes. By analyzing data and automating processes, AI can significantly enhance your revenue stream.

More efficient sales processes

Here are two examples of how AI is making the sales process more efficient and effective.

  • Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategies. AI helps sales reps make better recommendations. Before visiting an existing client or prospect, AI software can check your enhanced CRM to ensure reps know their client’s history. Also, this allows a representative to engage in a conversation with insight into their client’s buying patterns. They can recommend appropriate products and capitalize on upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
  • Automate your follow up. Most sales reps make follow up calls at the end of the day.  The content in these call reports is often based on the rep’s memory and can lack pertinent information. The more manual your follow up process, the more likely it is that key details slip through the cracks.

With the help of AI, follow-up tasks can be automated. Between sales calls, a sales representative can use an AI assistant to quickly summarize recent account activity. Moreover, they can record a call report and research the goals for their next visit. The AI can also prepare a quote with optimal pricing as an attachment and send a follow-up email to the client, confirming the next appointment.

How to start

If you are not currently engaged in AI, where should you get started?  Brook Hamilton of Hamilton AI Strategy Advisors (“AI News and Gurus: The Show for Intelligent Distributors, “Distribution Strategy Group, suggests distributors should focus on these three areas:

  • Customer conversion closing rates
  • Optimized customer pricing
  • Inventory management

Advance your business

Lastly, let AI help your sales team focus on customer conversions, optimized pricing, and inventory management.  Watch your business grow.

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Strengthening your Core with AI

Strengthening your Core with AI

Focus on your core business

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are particularly effective for your core business. Companies have a lot of information on existing customers, and AI can crunch that data for you. According to a McKinsey report, 80 percent of the value creation achieved by successful growth companies comes from their core business—namely, generating new revenue from existing customers.

Selling to existing customers

Todd Daubenberger, CRO at White Cup, says selling to existing customers costs less than finding new ones. AI-powered platforms help by giving teams smart suggestions based on order history. With the right tools, companies can boost revenue by 10% to 30%. (“Eight Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategies That Drive Sales Growth,” distributionstrategy.com)

How AI strengthens your core

 A sales rep’s job involves juggling multiple tasks. A recent report by the Distribution Strategy Group explained how AI is providing data that helps reps keep all the balls in the air.

The Distribution Strategy Group reported:  “Distributors are catching on. Recent research shows that 78% of survey distributors plan to use data and analytics to guide their decision-making and sales strategies. Many are also leaning into CRMs and AI-powered tools to help their reps work smarter, not harder. In seconds, AI can surface a long-time customer whose orders are slipping, signaling a churn risk. It can also reveal a high-potential prospect that’s gone quiet and needs a follow-up or a growing account with untapped opportunities in new product categories.”

Work smarter

Growing your core business is essential to success. Lastly, make sure you have the AI tools to allow your sales team to work smarter, not harder.

Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.

Improving Traditional Sales Processes

Improving Traditional Sales Processes

Traditional sales techniques can be improved with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to a recent article in Forbes (“Why Sales Reps Spend So Little Time Selling by Ken Krogue, Forbes), conventional reps spend 35% of their time selling and 65% on everything else.

The traditional sales process

The traditional sales process for distributors involves juggling many tasks and coordinating lots of customer information. As a past VP of Sales, I remember my frustration with seeing outside sales reps in their offices until mid-morning. Why were they not out engaging with customers? The representatives shared that they were working to develop the best plan of attack. They were working on whom to call, what to suggest to existing customers, and which accounts needed the most attention. The actual selling time was being lost. Monthly prospecting target results were weak. Also, I received call reports listing a day of six to eight prospective calls, with, maybe at best, two qualified leads. The success with productive calls to existing accounts was not much better.

To improve the situation, I invested significant time training representatives on preparing for customer visits. I instructed them to review old call reports and actively gather data from business intelligence, other departments, and various online sources. I also encouraged them to analyze sales history and examine credit spreadsheets.

AI to the rescue

All this effort and research on the part of reps, while important, is incredibly time-consuming, and results are often incomplete. AI can change this scenario by automating tasks and streamlining the traditional sales process. Machine learning is constantly analyzing the data behind sales transactions. It enables reps to see priorities faster. AI automates repetitive and tedious tasks like sorting through endless data, and allows reps to focus on what they do best — selling.

Improving the process

As you can see, AI doesn’t replace sales reps, it assists them. Finally, it automates numerous tasks in the traditional sales process, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of sales strategies.

Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.

Adopting AI – The Smart Move for Outside Sales

Adopting AI – The Smart Move for Outside Sales

Attention, all sales executives. Digital Transformation (DX) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are here. It took a long time for the collection of technologies and applications referred to as DX (laptops, emails, texting, smartphones, social media technologies, etc.) to move from a conversation to a coordinated business reality. Also, take note­ that the adoption of artificial intelligence and its benefits is moving much faster. The good news is that artificial intelligence applications are affordable, even to smaller companies.

Outside sales is hard work

Outside sales is daunting work. Reps must be focused and able to close business fast to outperform the competition.

 A rep’s job is a juggling act. He needs to chase leads, satisfy existing clients, follow up on backorders, correct pricing errors, handle objections, and keep competitors at bay. Inefficiencies within current systems can cause reps to spend too much time with the wrong prospects. Moreover, the correct information on existing customers’ objectives may also be lacking or hard to come by. This puts pressure on representatives and undermines their confidence in identifying next steps and surpassing the competition.

AI streamlines processes

New AI tools are available to make selling more strategically efficient. AI allows sales representatives to enhance various processes, such as lead generation, pricing, and follow-up, making it an exciting time to be in outside sales. According to McKinsey & Company, AI has “opened up 20% more sales team capacity” (“How Top Performers Outpace Peers in Sales Productivity,” July 6, 2023: mckinsey.com).

Adopting AI

In conclusion, be sure to provide your sales team with the appropriate artificial intelligence technologies to open up your sales capacity. AI tools are critical to beating your competition, especially the larger companies that have lots of AI tech powering their sales force. Lastly, you must adopt AI tools now. They will streamline the selling process and help you grow your business.

Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.

It Aint Over ’til It’s Over

It Aint Over ’til It’s Over

Ensuring a Sale is Truly Complete

One of the most frustrating experiences for a salesperson is closing a deal only to see it unravel due to poor execution by their organization. A colleague once shared, “I worked hard to secure a new client, but our company mishandled the initial delivery, and we lost the business. It’s exhausting to see hard-earned sales slip away because of service mismanagement.”

As a consumer, I’ve experienced this firsthand. When my hot water heater started leaking, I sought a reliable provider. My first call was to a national hardware chain. They quoted me a reasonable price for both the tank and installation. But the next morning, a third-party installer called to add unexpected fees. Feeling misled, I canceled the order, and they didn’t even follow up to understand why.

This story highlights a key lesson: a sale isn’t complete until the customer is fully satisfied. Or, as Yogi Berra famously said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Strategies to Ensure Sales Success

  1. Create a Strategic Plan
    A salesperson’s job doesn’t end with the sale. Develop a clear schedule that outlines steps to ensure first-class delivery and service. Consider hosting a kickoff meeting with your customer and your internal team to set expectations for the first 60 days. Document required actions and anticipate potential challenges to address them proactively.
  2. Enhance Team Collaboration
    Salespeople are the bridge between customers and the organization. Strong communication between customer service, delivery personnel, and sales ensures any surprises are managed effectively.
  3. Prevent Errors
    Understand what your customer expects from the sale, from accurate inventory to seamless delivery and friendly customer service. Identify potential challenges and address them before they arise.
  4. Exceed Expectations
    Building long-term relationships hinges on surpassing customer expectations. Help customers streamline their operations, reduce costs, or improve efficiency with your product or service.
  5. Measure Satisfaction
    After delivery or installation, check in with your customer to gauge their satisfaction. Use a simple scoring system (e.g., 1 to 10) to understand how well you performed. Aim for a score of 9 or higher, and take immediate steps to address any shortcomings.
  6. Foster Referrals
    Strong relationships can lead to valuable referrals. When you consistently meet and exceed expectations, customers are more likely to introduce you to their network, expanding your pipeline.

Final Thoughts

In the end, I purchased my water heater from a personable local distributor who provided a clear, honest quote and managed the installation smoothly. After the project, the salesperson followed up with thoughtful questions to ensure I was satisfied.

This experience underscores the importance of seeing every sale through to the very end. Remember: it truly isn’t over till it’s over.