Traditional organizations are tapping into data, algorithms and digital networks to compete with their rivals. Artificial intelligence has a deep impact on sales, operations and strategy.
There are three critical elements of business growth – save time, save money, and of course, increase sales. The majority of small businesses, irrespective of size or industry, invariably focus on the last element, i.e., boosting sales rapidly.
In response, their sales teams end up resorting to unsystematic tactics that not only waste time and resources but doesn’t lead to any long-term customer acquisition wins. That happens mainly because of their increased focus on urgent but ad-hoc tasks.
The good news is that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has immense potential to take the sales function of any small business to greater heights. Gartner predicts that by this 2020, 30% of businesses will deploy AI to augment their primary sales processes.
Adding to that thought, let us take a look at six ways in which traditional businesses can benefit immensely from AI technologies when it comes to sales:
1. AI can provide valuable assistance to sales teams.
Machine learning algorithms can be used to analyze large volumes of historical and real-time data, identify buying patterns, and glean actionable insights from that analysis. The sales team can then design and draft customized campaigns for upselling and cross-selling their offerings to a specific target audience.
The technology can take into consideration different types of factors – including demographics, technographic, and firmographic data points, which helps uncover unexplored areas of the business and make necessary changes.
For example, Datoin, an automated machine learning plug and play platform that any business can use, to gain insights from their data. You can use Datoin to gather data about:
- The customer churn rate for the month
- The customers likely to churn
- Predict the demand for merchandise
- Price predictions on the items that could fetch higher transactions
- Forecasting daily and monthly sales
Click here to sign-up for using AI and Ml for free, with Datoin – https://app.datoin.com/signup.
2. AI facilitates lead qualifying.
While traditional lead acquisition methods are still in use today, artificial intelligence has made it possible for businesses to connect with potential customers on a more personal level through social media, emails, mobile apps, online forums, and other digital channels.
AI tools are capable of analyzing big data and identifying prospective leads for a business. Platforms such as Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and Google Cloud Prediction API are effective in enabling this.
Besides, AI-powered analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, are useful when there is a need to understand and strategize the lead qualifying and converting strategies.
A Quick Guide to Forecasting Sales Using Artificial Intelligence
3. AI can process a lot of data without human intervention.
Although sales are an intuitive profession that would require the sales team to understand and evaluate their target customers, the function cannot be left entirely to guesswork. Tools and platforms help in analyzing customer data and gauge buying patterns to make predictions of whether or not a customer will purchase a product or avail a service.
The salespeople have limited knowledge that is more or less based only on their expertise, traditional sales strategies, and their experience in the field. Because businesses today generate vast quantities of data sets, manually processing them is next to impossible.
With AI, they can not only process big data in a short period but also use that data to extract actionable insights from it.
4. AI can improve sales without adding increasing the headcount.
For any business owner, increasing the bottom line is the primary goal. And revenue and profit generation is directly related to sales. One way to boost sales is by hiring more talent.
That increases the overhead expenses of the business. Onboarding new employees, arranging a workstation and laptop for them, training them – everything costs money to the business – which at times won’t be viable.
The more effective solution to boost the sales function without hiring more personnel is by employing AI tools. The technology can help automate specific tasks such as forecasting, conducting follow-ups, lead scoring, and more, thereby freeing up the time of the sales teams to focus on core operations.
Businesses with accurate sales forecasts are 10% more likely to generate revenue! Why not make the most of it using artificial intelligence?
How to Predict Customer Churn Rate using AI in eCommerce
5. Using predictive analytics to improve sales pitches.
Predictive analytics, a subset of AI, has gained massive popularity across many areas in business. The primary goal of the PA systems is to predict specific outcomes of a situation in a given context and make related suggestions to the business.
33% of businesses lack in tracking customer journeys accurately. Because an AI system can track consumer behavior and analyze past buying data, it can predict with a certain level of accuracy whether or not a customer is likely to purchase the product.
This data set can also be used by salespeople to draft a customized pitch that is more engaging to a target customer base, thereby improving the rate of conversion and consequently increasing profits of the business.
6. AI can help explore all areas of opportunity.
The primary goal of any small business is to drive revenues with a minimum investment of resources. Perhaps one of the most significant advantages of using AI is its capability to process and analyze big data. AI systems are designed to process data to identify patterns and correlations.
These patterns may not be easily recognizable to humans. Artificial intelligence can identify them and accordingly provide suggestions as to how we can use them in business. For example, an AI system can suggest that sending weekly emails to subscribers will help improve open rates. Or it may indicate that the business customizes a product for a specific target audience.
Although these suggestions seem like minor nuances, they are beneficial to create better opportunities and enhance the growth of the business.
5 Ways Artificial Intelligence can Boost your Small Business
Summing it up
Everything matters when running a small business – time, resources, budget. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the workload of ad-hoc tasks and instead focus on reaching maximum potential customers, converting them, and winning their loyalty for life.
Thankfully, Datoin, an automated AI-powered platform, helps improve the sales performance of small businesses. You can leverage AI for free, using Datoin. Sign up for a trial here – https://app.datoin.com/signup.
You can read about our services here.