December 10, 2024
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Productivity
The preparation phase before a sales call is crucial. Data shows that sales representatives who spend more time on call preparation have a win rate significantly higher—by 20-30%—than those who do not.
While preparing for calls is important, it can also work against winning deals. Statistics show that average sales representatives spend about 10 to 15 hours each week on call preparation, accounting for more than 20% of their work hours(1). Meanwhile, they spend only 28% on actual selling. Over-preparation can eat into the time that could be spent on engaging with more prospects or closing deals, ultimately affecting the sales pipeline and revenue.
Leveraging AI for efficient preparation
When it comes to preparation, sales professionals often need to research industries, target accounts, and key stakeholders, crafting personalized messages and tailored pitches for better engagement. The process is surprisingly manual and time-consuming. AI provides a solution that balances the need for thorough preparation with the efficiency required in today's fast-paced sales environment.
Cutting down research time
AI-powered tools can automate and streamline the research process, providing sales professionals comprehensive insights about prospects in a fraction of the time it would take manually(1). For example, AI can analyze a prospect's LinkedIn profile, social media activity, company news, and industry trends to provide a complete and concise briefing(1). This ensures that sales professionals are well-prepared with relevant information without spending too many hours on research.
Delivering bespoke presentations
AI also predicts the needs and behavior of prospects based on historical data, allowing sales reps to customize their selling strategy more effectively(1). For example, AI can help sales professionals understand the challenges and needs of the prospects, so they can create pitches to address specific pain points and business objectives. It also helps in creating open-ended questions to uncover deeper insights and anticipate potential objections or concerns during the call.
Analyzing past conversations
Generative AI helps with things such as summarizing calls, and extracting information like key requirements, agreed action items, competitor mentions, and more. This allows sales professionals to quickly understand important details from lengthy discussions. The process not only saves time but also ensures that both the sales team and the prospective clients have a clear understanding of the next steps, which speeds up the sales progression and can lead to a higher conversion rate.
Prioritizing prospective clients
Predictive AI is great at sales forecasting, taking human-led bias away from revenue predictions and expected deal outcomes. It uses lots of different signals from buyers, like what they say in conversations, to make much more accurate guesses about how deals will turn out. This helps sales professionals to focus on deals that are more likely to win.
The State of AI in Sales 2023 report highlights that sales teams using AI for prospecting and manual tasks can save up to four hours daily(2). AI significantly improves the sales call preparation process, enabling sales professionals to focus more on solving customer pains and less on routine tasks. By leveraging AI, sales teams can achieve a better balance between preparation and selling, enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness in the competitive B2B landscape.
