Sales Management with AI: Why Hyperautomation is becoming Inevitable in Sales.
By 2025, 75% of B2B organizations will use AI-powered sales solutions for hyperautomation, according to Gartner. Are you on board too?
There is keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning specifically for sales management in the B2B market. Gartner's "2021 CSO Priorities Pulse Survey" shows that investment in AI analytics and technologies is rising.
. It is well known that increasing competitive pressures, lower margins, and volumes of data not being appropriately used are critical drivers for sales management with AI. But other factors are making hyper-automation in sales inevitable.
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Where AI already Supports Sales Today
Learn seven practical use cases where artificial intelligence is already supporting sales today.
More and more companies are using AI to streamline processes in sales and hand over unpleasant tasks to algorithms. AI is therefore assistance for sales without making employees obsolete.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is radically changing the way sales works. This primarily refers to sales processes under the influence of AI tools that make the work of sales employees easier, optimize operations and take away tasks that are perhaps not so readily done.
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B2B Digital Transformation in Sales: Facts & Trends
Facts and trends about the B2B digital transformation.
If you are leading a Business-to-Business manufacturer or distributor, you know it already: sales is currently experiencing a massive transformation across the globe.
Advancement in artificial intelligence technologies of the last five years is providing manufacturing businesses and distributors with new exciting potential.
According to McKinsey, companies now have at their disposal a set of powerful technological tools that are, when properly implemented, able to guarantee future growth:
Predictive Analytics to Understand Customer Behavior in the B2B Sector
For some B2B companies, predicting customer behavior is like guesswork. Managers sit together and try to make predictions about upcoming sales, future pricing or appropriate customer loyalty measures.
Often these forecasts are based on sales reports, sales representative’s own gut feeling and, Excel analyses created with a lot of frustration. Don't get us wrong, the gut feeling of an experienced sales team can very often be right, especially when it comes to customers they have had a lot of contact with. But what about all the other customers?
Continuity versus Change - The "Rope Effect" in B2B Sales
Many talk about a change or even a transformation of business-to-business sales, but some things will remain the same in the future.
In this article, I would like to look at both sides and find an answer to the question: What remains better as it is and what was not better in the past?
I, too, got my information for this post from articles with names like "The Turbo Transformation" or "The Next Level: B2B Sales 4.0" because, of course, it is more exciting to write about what is radically changing than about what is staying the way it was decades ago. But especially in times of such substantial change, we should also think about what will probably remain as it is right now in ten or even 50 years.
The food for thought on this topic came from the successful German podcast "Gemischtes Hack". In one of the more recent episodes, the two hosts, Felix Lobrecht and Tommi Schmitt, talk about what they call the "rope effect." This paraphrase refers to objects, methods or practices, such as the rope, which has been used for thousands of years and is unlikely to find a dangerous substitute for decades to come.
In the following chapters, we will look at which sales areas are undergoing radical change and what these enduring ropes of sales will be.
Predictive Sales Analytics in Excel? Yes, you could!
How to do predictive analysis in Excel: One Useful Example of Predictive Sales Analytics & Predictive Modeling in Excel
One of the critical tasks of a sales manager is to timely identify which opportunities have better chances of closing and what makes a “good” sales opportunity. Getting this job right is the essence of successful sales planning.
Key Account Managers in B2B typically serve hundreds of customers and oversee dozens of new and existing sales opportunities. They have limited time and represent one of the most valuable resources any company can have.
Forecasting Individual Customer Lifetime Value: Why You Should Not Use External Data
There are two types of historical data to use for predictive analytics and sales forecasting: internal and external data. How to know which one to choose?
Making a forecast always requires planning under conditions of uncertainty. Successful sales executives plan and execute an accurate sales forecast using data. For an aggregated, precise sales plan, it is necessary to consider forecasting the individual customer lifetime of the client base.
There are different data sources that executives can use to forecast sales. Some of them count for internal factors while others count for external factors.
Predictive Sales Forecasting: Answers to 5 Questions of Salespeople
Why should we use predictive sales forecasts in sales? This article is aimed at anyone thinking of using AI for more efficient sales planning and sales management.
Every Saturday morning, Mr. Meier visits the magazine store around the corner to buy the weekend edition of his favourite newspaper. This has been going on for half a year now. The saleswoman knows Mr. Meier by now, and because he stops by every Saturday, she always addresses him with the same question as soon as he enters her store: "Good afternoon, Mr. Meier! The weekend edition, as usual?"
For Mr. Meier, buying his newspaper on the weekend has become a ritual. It's a pattern that repeats itself every week. The saleswoman has recognized this pattern and addresses Mr. Meier about it, almost automatically.
Artificial intelligence in Retail - What can Wholesale Learn from Retail?
How is artificial intelligence (AI) being used in retail and what can wholesalers take away from it?
In this post, I will describe a real-world example of a case in the realm of artificial intelligence in B2C retail. You will learn about the opportunities and challenges that were encountered when using AI systems.
Of course, it is particularly interesting to see which factors can be transferred to B2B wholesale.
Better Customer Retention in B2B Wholesale Through Algorithms
Learn three ways to increase customer loyalty with algorithms and Predictive Sales Analytics in B2B wholesale.
Should computer programs be able to increase customer loyalty in wholesale? Yes. And no. We'll discuss what is exactly meant by this in this post.
According to a survey by Roland Berger, customer loyalty was already a top priority for wholesale companies in 2016. However, 1 in 5 wholesale companies also believed that their efforts in the area of digitalization were not yet sufficient to survive the digital competition.