Artificial intelligence (AI) is not intended to replace salespeople… but can help them increase their performance. This “augmented salesperson” will then have effective tools at his disposal to target, qualify and interact with his prospects. So how can AI positively impact sales strategies? How can AI support salespeople to become more efficient? Elements of response with Philippe Nieuwbourg, professional expert in the field of data, specialist in information governance and in the acculturation of companies to new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Imagine for a moment that every Monday, an artificial intelligence prepares, in a personalized and qualified manner, the list of your ten prospects most likely to sign a new contract during the week! This is what AI applied to the sales process will enable tomorrow. It's not a miracle, it's prediction.
Anticipate needs through predictive analysis and data collection
A sales strategy begins by collecting data, on social media, your emails, from your partners, etc. Amazon also explains to us that they start delivering a product, even before you have ordered it!
Numbers, dates, but also texts, images, “likes”, comments… This data represents what is commonly called big data. In other words, gigantic volumes of traces that we all leave, through our browsing on the Internet, on our mobile phone or via connected objects.
This data will be automatically grouped into large databases. We talk about data warehouses or data lakes. And that’s where AI comes in.
With AI, automatically identify and qualify prospects
AI sorts, groups, simplifies, synthesizes, connects all this information, and deduces predictable behaviors.
So we would be predictable? Indeed, if you go to a travel site to consult mountain trips, and the same day on a sales site to look for a backpack. At the same time you publish in a Facebook group a question about the climate in Switzerland at the end of the year. The AI will know how to create the link between this information and deduce that you would enjoy your next mountain vacation with the Helvetians.
You are not aware of it, but your actions have been connected. The AI deduces that now is probably the time to present you with offers for holidays in Austria (another European country interesting for mountain holidays), and perhaps for ski equipment.
Now, if you position yourself on the sales side, imagine the targeting: you sell mountain holidays and you are given the list of people who have carried out this type of research. AI becomes your best sales assistant here.
Qualify customer needs using chatbots and automated tools
Once the prospects have been identified, you must contact them. Nothing will replace human contact and the salesmanship. But to allow as much time as possible for this human interaction, it must be prepared. Chatbot and automated email dialogue tools will help you qualify the customer's needs, understand their constraints, and set your sales appointment.
At Walmart, generative AI is used to sell clothing. Integrated into a virtual try-on application, it allows the customer to take a photo of themselves, then try on clothes by recreating the shadows and folds of the fabric. According to the distributor, it would have made it possible to reduce the return rate of ordered items by 30 %.
A conversational agent to split your mind!
A chatbot, a conversational agent in French, is a system that will communicate with your prospect, giving him the impression of being connected to a human being, and not to a machine. The prospect questions him. The conversational agent studies his request, possibly asks him additional targeting questions and provides him with answers... without forgetting to memorize his entire approach, in order to better determine his profile.
The most efficient of these virtual agents will even be able to discreetly hand over to you. You will then resume the conversation, focusing on the most important prospects, and let the AI process the others. They will only see fire!
Example: a financial services company has implemented an intelligent chatbot on its website. This chatbot was able to instantly answer common prospect questions, help fill out online forms, and even schedule appointments with financial advisors. Prospects found this experience more convenient, which increased the conversion of prospects into customers.
ChatGPT to automate administrative tasks
Once your sales work has been completed, there remains a somewhat tedious part, that of contracting. And your internal procedures require the production of a number of commercial and legal documents. Generative artificial intelligence will take charge of drafting a large number of contracts and annexes. You will of course still have to personalize them and adapt them to your client's requirements, but the bulk of the work will have been taken care of by your augmented intelligence.
Example: A logistics company used generative AI to automate the creation of personalized quotes for its customers. By analyzing company data and customer needs, AI generated detailed proposals, saving sales reps valuable time and increasing the number of contracts signed.
Generative AI, as its name suggests, knows how to create documents, presentations, images. To be more exact, she knows how to copy. That is to say, it will learn from all of your existing presentations and contracts, and be inspired by them to create new documents. She will therefore know how to write the proposal for a new client, based on existing contracts, but adapting them to the characteristics of the new client, which she will have collected in her big data.
At Carrefour, Hopla is now serving the customer, powered by generative AI. It analyzes everyone's food preferences, then generates shopping lists, suggests recipes and creates shopping baskets. He knows how to take the client's budget into account and favor seasonal foods.
At Mondial Tissu, generative AI is used to prepare the product catalog. Coupled with a PIM (Product Information Management), ChatGPT is used to create descriptions, adapted to different markets and customer profiles.
AI will therefore have saved you a lot of time. But be careful, it is still better to reread the contract carefully before sending it to the client. Even generative AI can make mistakes!
AI, your best ally
Artificial intelligence is therefore an opportunity to improve your sales strategy and be more efficient.. On the condition of course of seeing it as an ally, and not as a competitor.
Around these three stages, we see the profile of “ increased commercial ". This very human seller will not be replaced. He will be assisted in his work by different forms of AI, based on data collected via multiple sources. This will always be done in compliance with the regulations on the protection of personal data (GDPR).
Easy you tell me? No, because there are many pitfalls. The customer could misinterpret this automatically generated content if he becomes aware of it. And if the data collected was of poor quality, your entire customer portfolio would suffer. So don’t jump on these tools too quickly, without understanding them.
To successfully integrate AI into your sales strategy, training, support and in-depth knowledge of data-related technologies are therefore necessary.
Amazon, emblematic example of the successful integration of AI into its sales strategy
Amazon has used artificial intelligence to improve both customer experience and the efficiency of its operations.
Product Recommendations
One of the most visible examples is Amazon's product recommendation system. AI analyzes customer shopping habits, items viewed, reviews, and other data to recommend relevant products. This personalization of recommendations has led to a significant increase in sales, as customers are more likely to purchase items they are actually interested in.
Demand Forecast
Amazon uses AI to anticipate product demand. Through analysis of historical and real-time data, Amazon can adjust its inventory and logistics operations to meet demand, minimizing stock-outs and maximizing supply chain efficiency.
Customer support
Amazon has also integrated AI into its customer service. Amazon chatbots can answer many common customer questions, providing fast and efficient support. This reduces the workload of customer service staff and enables faster response to customer queries.
In-store experience
Even in its physical stores, such as Amazon Go, AI plays a key role. AI-based sensors and cameras are used to track customers' movements and the items they remove from shelves, enabling automated checkout without a cashier.
These examples show how Amazon has successfully leveraged AI to improve operational efficiency, personalize customer experiences, and increase sales. Amazon has become a global leader in e-commerce thanks to its ability to leverage AI in almost every aspect of its sales operations.
What you need to remember: AI therefore indeed represents a significant asset for salespeople. If it is not intended to replace them, it can help them improve their performance, from identifying prospects to automating administrative tasks. But it is essential to understand its limitations and ensure that the data collected is of high quality.
