Gone are the days when sales professionals relied on cold calls and high-pressure tactics to close deals. No more impersonal calls or emails hoping to reach a prospective buyer.
As in numerous other industries from healthcare to automotive and more, professionals in sales are adopting voice-enabled conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to meet their business goals and drive revenue. Not only is it a more personal approach but it also negates many time-intensive manual processes.
More than half of sales professionals report that AI tools are very to somewhat important in their day-to-day role. And, roughly 80 percent of these professionals agree that AI can help them spend more time on the critical aspects of their role.
In this blog, we will highlight some of the most widespread applications of voice-enabled conversational AI and how they benefit sales teams in a variety of businesses.
By combining advanced automation, AI and natural language processing (NLP) to enable comprehension of and response to human language, voice-enabled conversational AI automates more natural, human-like interactions between computers and users. In addition to being equipped to provide a more flexible conversational flow, conversational AI technology learns from information gathered and is built to understand patterns of human behavior.
For sales, voice-enabled conversational aids in more personalized campaigns, automates manual, time-consuming tasks and analyzes call data to identify trends and patterns for improvement. It reduces the administrative burden on sales professionals, allowing them to focus more on leads and customer satisfaction.
No matter the size of the business, sales teams can employ voice-enabled conversational AI to:
By automating note-taking or transcribing team calls and meetings in real-time, sales professionals receive an accurate summary of the discussion with key points, action items and follow-up tasks. They can focus on the content of the discussion instead of hastily taking sometimes illegible notes and participate with the sales team more.
Voice-enabled conversational AI can automate calls and meeting discussions at scale and enable sales team members to more easily find information from past calls. They can locate key points in seconds in call summaries consistent in quality and structure instead of having to look through notes that are not as comprehensive.
Data pulled from sales calls has numerous uses, not the least of which is to gauge performance. Sales team leaders can utilize analysis procured from voice-enabled conversational AI to identify areas that need improvement or glean practices that achieve the best results.
For sales professionals trying to improve upon their skills, the technology offers real-time feedback and allows them to practice using keywords proven to increase sales. Team leaders who use voice-enabled conversational AI for personalized coaching ensure their staff can appropriately refine their sales strategy and address common customer questions or objections.
Data analyzed through voice-enabled conversational AI also offers businesses information through which to develop or revise products or services based on customer feedback. It identifies which sales campaigns perform higher than others and the type of leads most likely to convert.
Sales professionals who close deals more quickly are able to move on to other prospective customers, creating more revenue for their employer. Voice-enabled conversational AI solutions can begin the sales cycle by scheduling sales meetings or product/service demos — without the need for extensive human interaction.
Through improved conversational skills and sales strategies achieved through the technology, employees are empowered to better align with customer needs, resulting in increased prospect satisfaction and higher conversion rates.
Another area in which voice-enabled conversational AI benefits sales professionals is better opportunity scoring. This often converts more leads into deals by predicting which customers are most likely to purchase. Typically, higher conversion rates translate to increased average order values, advancing sales professionals’ performance.
The goal of sales is to close deals. Retaining loyal customers is a bonus.
Applying voice-enabled conversational AI to the sales process produces myriad other perks, though, including:
It typically takes eight call attempts to reach a prospect, and there is only an average 20 percent email open rate. Sales professionals using voice-enabled conversational AI can automate initial contact and lead qualification, allowing them to better identify and score high-potential leads.
By providing 24/7 customer support and engagement, conversational AI improves overall customer satisfaction. It can answer product or service questions in real-time, ensuring sales professionals maintain a consistent level of service, even during periods of high volume. Plus, it enables customers to communicate with prospective businesses at their convenience.
Most consumers do not want to be bothered with information on products and services for which they have no need. Voice-enabled conversational AI lets sales professionals offer personalized and contextual interactions with potential customers and communicate more effectively based on customer preferences and purchase histories. More targeted sales campaigns are more likely to meet sales objectives.
Also, when customer queries are resolved accurately and promptly, satisfaction ensues. That is more likely to create more loyal customers who do not require the whole sales process to purchase future products or services.
Automating repetitive and time-consuming administrative tasks allows sales professionals to focus on value-added activities, boosting their productivity and, in most cases, increasing the number of deals they close. A reduced workload also helps prevent job burnout and promote better customer engagement, which is beneficial for the whole business.
The NLP technology used in voice-enabled conversational AI processes user input to analyze keywords and context. It delivers more human-like responses and is designed to interpret customer intent and sentiment, improving the overall sales process.
In addition to identifying purchasing trends, enabling businesses to manage a higher volume of inquiries from customers and boosting sales team productivity, voice-enabled conversational AI reduces costs by optimizing resource allocation. Those higher sales resulting from fewer necessary manual administrative tasks also streamline operational efficiency, decreasing the cost of revenue acquisition.
Because voice-enabled conversational AI uncovers actionable insight from customer interactions, sales professionals can take a more targeted approach and revise strategies as feedback indicates. The technology identifies areas that most likely would benefit from optimized resources and adapts and scales to business needs, making it a reliable part of any sales team.
At Revmo, we know that keeping your sales team focused on the most productive and highest-quality conversations is paramount to closing deals. Our solution helps filter, qualify and nurture leads and passes them over to your sales team when customers are ready to buy.
Find out how you can leverage the power of the Revmo platform to reduce burnout and turnover of your core sales team while you maximize revenue and your return on investment — contact us today.
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