Add a Personal Touch to B2B Sales with Artificial Intelligence

Competition is fierce in the B2B sales space, making it difficult for teams to connect and engage with potential buyers. However, by curating and delivering personalized content to target audiences, sales teams can, in fact, cut through the digital noise and gain the attention of in-market consumers. With the added benefit of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, sales teams can bolster the delivery of personalized content, thereby enhancing nurturing efforts, accelerating conversion, and driving value to the bottom line.

Introduction

Who doesn’t love a little personal attention? It makes us feel special, like we actually matter. And it certainly influences the way we make purchasing decisions for the home and office. Take it from Forrester, whose research found 77% of consumers have either chosen, recommended, or paid more for a brand that’s offered a personalized customer experience.

Personalization is equally important to B2B sellers. Studies show that 88% of consumers will only make purchases from salespeople they consider trustworthy. And the best way to gain this trust among target prospects is by building rapport through personalized engagements at the start of every customer journey.

Three Ways AI Boosts Personalized Selling

How exactly does AI streamline the B2B sales cycle? Here are three ways AI drives efficiency for sales teams looking to get personal with potential buyers:

Profiling & Prioritization of Prospects

To successfully craft a personalized customer journey, B2B sellers must have a deep understanding of their target consumer: what they do, what makes them tick, and what they need to get a job well done. AI-assisted technology supports this by enabling swift analysis of customer data, including location, demographics, engagement behavior, and past purchase history.

These tools also go a step further, aggregating data from a variety of sources to identify prospects with an expressed interest in your specific content. These intent signals allow B2B sales teams to accurately identify and prioritize in-market prospects with the highest propensity to buy.

Delivering Personalized Content

A personalized approach to selling requires sales teams to pinpoint the who, what, and when of their strategy: who they should target, what they should target them with, and when they should make initial contact. Fortunately, AI can do all this in a snap, which makes for a streamlined approach to content personalization.

In just a few minutes, AI tools can analyze several sources of intent data, including social media, online SaaS review platforms, digital forums, and content consumption trends across the internet to help sales teams identify relevant content or product offers per individual prospect. This makes potential buyers feel heard and understood, while it creates a much easier path for sales teams to personally connect with leads.

Increasing Conversion & Customer Loyalty

AI saves time, period. So, when sales teams leverage AI to speed the sales cycle, they can use all that extra time to do what they do best—sell!

More importantly, AI-powered sales processes allow reps to expand the customer relationship beyond the point of conversion. By consistently nurturing customers with relevant, personalized content, sales teams can drive brand loyalty and increase opportunities for future deals. Artificial intelligence has the power to personalize business applications for marketers as well. Digital marketing agencies can use AI across every channel and with customer data, delivering personalized experiences that will make your company stand out among competitors in this fast-paced industry!

Summary

Through AI-assisted technology, personalized selling becomes more intelligent, and therefore more effective, for B2B sales teams. By analyzing an array of customer data, sales reps can pinpoint the most relevant offers per individual prospect, build rapport, and facilitate swift conversion.

For a more in-depth look at AI and its supercharging effects on B2B sales, make sure to download a copy of our benchmark report “The AI Impact on B2B Sales.”

¹ Callahan, Sean. “These Seven Stats Shed Light on the Future of Sales.” LinkedIn, 22 Sep 2020.