Chad Burmeister is a cofounder of Sales Ex Inc. Their company is rooted in the idea that AI can increase revenue, eliminate repetition, and make selling more efficient and effective.
Growing up, Chad had always been at the cutting edge of technology and was always looking for ways to make people’s lives more efficient.
Chad is officially releasing his book, AI for Sales, this Thanksgiving, November 28th along with Stu Heinecke’s Get the Meeting. If you buy both books on Amazon and send them a screenshot, you’ll get a dozen VIP conference codes for next year to attend events such as Sales 3.0 and AISP. With the codes, you’ll get a20% – 85% discount. Chad is encouraging everyone to read the books and meet the authors at the conferences.
Use AI to increase sales
Chad has seven virtual sellers who are commissioned, salespeople. The team has set up a daily data poll for these virtual sellers with a company called Lead 411. The data is fed into their CRM and the CRM goes through their email bot, a virtual assistant named Marissa Brown. They create preconfigured emails that filter through these virtual assistants so multiple batches of emails can be sent every day. The AIs are preprogrammed to have a “conversation” akin to what you see on a chat feature. When a person responds, the AIs can communicate with the prospects.
The chatbots can also set up meetings and appointments. The AIs chatbots are configured to know when to schedule an appointment. It knows when you’re out of the office or if you have time for a meeting.
One simple questions have about a thousand variations, such as the cost of a service or a product. The AI knows what to listen for and offers a very simple answer. It then replies with the cost, along with a link to your calendar so the prospect can set up a meeting.
As the business owner, you need to teach the AI to respond in a way that gets the highest level of conversion. If you are a BDR (Business Developer Representative)assigned to pulling data from a CRM and pushing the send button, then your job might be in jeopardy. However, most BDRS are doing more than just pulling data. They are also pulling relevant lists, and doing research. Additional tasks include figuring out which people to send emails to, writing a good email, and leaving a voicemail as needed.BDRs are responsible for a complex system of outreach.
Setting appointments via AI
Chad’s tools called BDR.AI executes 50 to 100 connection requests per day through LinkedIn and get over 100 emails a day on the same platform.
By using this software, they get five to fifteen meetings a month. As a result, the organization can work more efficiently. The AI allows the BDR more time to do other tasks. This would include getting on the phone to connect with people personally. This enables them to understand their customer’s needs and show a more personal interest to the prospects. The tools let the bots and humans do what they do best.
Tokyo, for example, pushed a 4-day work week and the results have shown about a 40% increase in productivity. That increase can be attributed to the use of AI in their respective industries.
Salespeople can do more with their day than just sitting in their offices, making appointments and making calls. They can now spend time with their families or take the Friday off to just improve their quality of life.
The downside of AIs
In the virtual world, somebody always gets to play God. While it’s true that salespeople can use AI to increase sales, there are also downsides in using it. Let’s consider the trolley car example and put yourself in the conductor’s shoes. As you’re going down the tracks, there are five people on the right side and one person on the left. You can’t stop the train so you have to pick a side to do an emergency stop. Many people would say to choose the left to minimize the damage.
However, let’s say the five people are wearing an orange jumpsuit and the one on the left is your child. In this scenario, there are many solutions and a million points of data to consider. Mathematician Chris Beal says it would take a very long time before we could put all that information in the system. He further added that the AI can only get to a certain point and then it’s up to us to make the final decision.
We tend to let the bots make the decision for us but think of the trolley dilemma. In hiring, the bot would go to the more qualified candidate. But who really determines the qualification?
In small companies, a decision like this is easy. It’s much more efficient to get a bot who can do a better job at a lesser cost. The same isn’t true for bigger companies where more political decisions are involved.
Chad believes that there will be a need for people to help companies make decisions about the ethical use and deployment of AIs.
AIs assist sellers
AIs are helpful but you need to assess where they can be of help. It’s imperative to know your top three pains to be able to find the right solutions. A lot of companies get their lists wrong the first time because they fail to consider their ideal customer profile.
Always go for your target list to get the right people and give these lists to your reps. This keeps them from wasting their time looking for unqualified prospects.
Joe, the head of product from Inside View, says they can go into companies and take a look at their CRM to analyze all the closed deals Their best customer profiles are revealed after analyzing the transactions that have already happened.
These customers renew, they purchase when upselling is offered, and they pay on time. On the other side of the coin are the clients who don’t pay and don’t renew. Your goal as a sales company is to go after the best customers.
This is the area of AI that helps companies grow. It’s the ability to look at data and change the trajectory of the organization by leading sales reps to the right customers.
Salesdirector.AI is doing a great job of utilizing AI to improve its sales force. Their bots send messages by text and ask a series of questions pertaining to your sales schedules and appointments.
AIs are programmed to be efficient. It can go through huge amounts of data using a fraction of the time. By using AI, you can give your salespeople the tasks that they can focus on such as building trust and rapport as well as building human to human connections.
“How Can I Use AI To Increase Sales?” episode resources
Reach out to Chad at SCALEX.AI. Use AI to increase sales and to always stay ahead of the game.
You can also reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns.
This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.
This podcast is also brought to you in part by Reveal the Revenue Intelligence podcast. It’s about utilizing data to make business decisions instead of just guessing your way through major sales decisions. Visit gong.io for their podcast.
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