One of the things that I like doing most is to read books, but I must admit that in the past few years I’m mostly into e-books. In my Amazon Kindle virtual library, I have downloaded more than four hundred titles, but I would say that nearly half of them were bought through the personal recommendations that the app has made, based on my previous purchases. This is made possible through an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, which based on the result, has done a pretty good job as far as selling is concerned.
AI is certainly not a new concept, as it has been around for several years and in principle is the capability to process huge amounts of data, while automatically updating its’ algorithms according to feedback, without any human involvement. As far as Sales is concerned, since AI has been so successful in selling all these e-books to me, the question that arises is, if it is eventually going to replace salespeople. In my view, AI can become a necessary aid to sales organisations, rather than the replacement of human sales representatives.
This is highly desirable nowadays, as according to global surveys of more than 1000 sales organisations from CSO Insights between 2012 to 2019, the percentage of salespeople reaching their annual quotas has dropped from 63% to 57%. Moreover, when the leaders of these organisations were asked to assess the performance of their teams in sixteen different Sales activities, they claimed that their teams were less effective at fifteen of them, compared to five years ago.
This can be explained by the fact that buyers are better informed than ever before, as they have instant access to online information that can help them evaluate products and services before they meet with a Sales representative, so it seems that they are always one step ahead. On the other hand, salespeople are spending more and more time in doing things that are not directly linked to Sales. According to Sales Mastery 2022 survey, salespeople devote, on average, only 32% of their time selling.
Having the above in mind, organisations must use the processing power of artificial intelligence, primarily to help manage and interpret the enormous amount of data that concerns their clients. If this is done successfully, their salesforce will be able to predict more accurately customer behavior, better identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling and improve the precision of sales forecasts. In this way, both efficiency and effectiveness can be boosted, while at the same time, costs may be reduced.
It should be noted though that implementing the above isn’t something simple like downloading a new software. Despite the power and elaborateness of AI tools, companies do not use them in the most efficient of ways, while some organisations don’t use them at all. Therefore, it is highly necessary for businesses to have a clear strategy regarding AI, the right structure, systems, processes and of course a culture that endorses experimentation and learning, starting at the top of the pyramid.
With technology evolving at such a fast pace, already reshaping the way that buyers buy, and sellers sell, it is about time that artificial intelligence “takes over” Sales, not by making salespeople to become obsolete, but rather as the ally that will help them stay ahead of the game. In the meantime, though, as I don’t have enough e-books, I must conclude this post and see the latest personal recommendations from Kindle!