AI’s Biggest Impacts on Sales Over the Next Year Aren’t What You Think

There is hardly a business-development or sales professional on Earth who will tell you that AI hasn’t changed their operations. From recording and analyzing calls to providing insights that allow every team to utilize the top-performing playbook and assisting in drafting effective sales sequences, AI helps save time and produce better results. 

The next frontier promises a complete reimagining of B2B sales. Driven by generative AI (Gen AI) and predictive AI (Pred AI), this shift could yield up to 1.8x margin impact through boosted revenue and streamlined operations. With rising competition, changing buyer expectations, and economic uncertainty, companies are increasingly challenged to deliver personalized experiences. To stay competitive, integrating intelligent sales assistants, precise predictive sales models, and (eventually) autonomous agents is a must. 

Here are the next steps on the journey to the sales AI holy grail: widespread use of fully autonomous sales agents.

Buyer Intent Signals

One of the most promising developments is the leap in buyer intent signals. We’ve all seen this tech on a sales call, an email, or across other direct interactions with prospects, but AI will take this capability and supercharge it in the prospecting phase. More specifically, it scans for “signals” across social networks and the Web and identifies patterns that indicate the company is trying to solve a specific issue. 

This capability is growing by leaps and bounds and will continue to do so as more data is analyzed, patterns identified, and outcomes become known and validated – or serve as a lesson – regarding the approach. In parallel, AI is also addressing the age-old challenge of data quality by improving contact lists in real time through sophisticated cross-checking and predictive certainty assessments. Currently, only 50% of sales leaders utilize intent data to prioritize outbound, meaning it’s still a major advantage over competitors’ cold outreach status quo.

Better Data

While data has been discussed to death since what seems like the beginning of time, the fact of the matter is that no fancy automation or “advanced sales capabilities” are optimal when the data isn’t up to par. AI is addressing this issue for better contacts in several ways:

1. It’s able to scour multiple sources across the Web and work hand-in-hand with machine learning to cross-check existing data sources – pulling information that ensures the data is more up to date and expansive.
2. AI allows for a prediction of certainty and confidence when it comes to evaluating the data collected.
3. AI is allowing the uncovering of better data by turning searches from a rigid, filter-based approach to a flexible, intuitive, and more effective way to uncover leads that’s similar to how search is done elsewhere (e.g., Google).
4. AI powers hyper-personalization based on real-time buyer behavior and data analytics, breaking down traditional approaches to marketing, sales, and pricing.

Sharpen Outreach

While general large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT can be useful with the right prompts – like asking to summarize calls or asking whether specific text would be potentially flagged by a spam filter – specialized AI-driven tools are proliferating. Chatsonic and Substrata enhance messaging, enabling sales professionals to handle objections with greater finesse and adjust the tone of their outreach. This will break down traditional silos between sales, marketing, and service teams to create unified buying experiences. Gen AI will automate offer personalization, churn prediction, and routine tasks, while advanced coaching systems based on real-time insights will empower teams to sell to the right customer, at the right time, with the right message. Personalized, sharper outreach will continue to make strides with the meteoric rise of proprietary data-trained systems. 

A New Era of Precision and Persuasion

As we look to the future, AI’s role in B2B sales will extend well beyond the foundational changes we see today – ushering in a transformative era for business development. Advancements in Gen AI and Pred AI technologies will enable sales teams to gain the precision and foresight needed to identify buyer intent; craft persuasive, personalized communications; and streamline routine tasks through autonomous agents. This shift will redefine the B2B sales landscape by breaking down traditional operations and creating a seamless, consumer-like buying experience. 

For those ready to embrace this evolution, AI offers an unprecedented opportunity: not merely to optimize, but to reimagine how sales success is achieved through data-driven insights and collaborative, AI-augmented strategies.

Asaf Shevach is director of Product Marketing for Lusha.