Implications for B2B Selling in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

[This article was originally published as part of the Sales Education Foundation 2018 Annual Magazine, co-authored with Robert M. Peterson, Ph.D., Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Sales, Northern Illinois University Professional Sales Program]

 

“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.”  ~Warren Bennis

Will Artificial Intelligence really displace the human sales force? While much is being written on artificial intelligence (AI), there are many wide-ranging conceptions on the impact on the sales process, the sales force, and the customer as well. Every C-level executive is contemplating what this means to their business approach and ability to serve the customer. For many, questions remain regarding:

• What is AI?
• How does it affect the buying and selling processes?
• How to prepare for this shift?

What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence can have wide ranging definitions, but in essence it is a machine/software working and reacting like a knowledgeable human. It is any device that perceives the environment and acts to reach a goal that generally includes learning, planning, and problem solving.

The power of AI comes from reducing the menial, tedious, and repetitive tasks for the sales representative (and customer). As a consumer, imagine reducing wait time, or accessing more medical solutions, by walking into your doctor’s office and interfacing with AI that can help trouble shoot your medical situation, seamlessly gather your medical history, ascertain the pervasiveness of the flu outbreak from where you just traveled, and hand over the data and a potential solution to your medical care provider. That’s the power of AI.

Buyer – Seller Interface

In a B2B setting, AI will review customer websites, blogs, PR statements, financial reports, social media contributions from potential decision makers, determine price elasticity segmented by the sales representative that is assigned to the opportunity, based on their past discounting habits, and assign a probably of winning an opportunity. When reps conduct meetings, AI will join the meeting as a silent participant to record, transcribe and analyze the sales conversation – how much the rep talked, who brought up price, when a competitor’s name was mentioned, if an unprofessional speaking manner was used, hesitations in speech, how and when commitments were sought, and then provide a full report to the sales rep, sales manager, or VP of Sales. The firm, looking at aggregated data, can see which techniques, content, and processes work best for winning deals depending on a myriad of factors and make predictions for future success (sales AI vendors often refer to this as “game film” analysis or “conversation intelligence”).

Note that sellers are not living in a vacuum – it would be naive to think that only salespeople will be benefiting from the advances in technology. The buyer’s AI will allow more independence from sellers. Corporate buyers will also likely leverage AI in their problem-identification, research, problem-solving, and decision processes. In fact, buyer research portals or AI-powered buyer/seller exchanges could radically impact how both buying and selling are conducted.

For example, a prospect may rely on their AI to:

• Identify problems (technology diagnosed)
• Identify possible vendors
• Reduce the potential vendor list based on various environmental evaluations
• Find what others actually bought and why they purchased a particular solution
• Determine ROI expectations
• Evaluate financial options for large or complex purchases
• Learn the actual purchase price others received
• Assess delivery and implementation processes (potential challenges).

Preparing for Change

While some sales roles – particularly transactional sellers – may be displaced or disrupted by AI and Machine Learning capabilities, salespeople involved in B2B enterprise-wide, complex selling at senior levels should be more concerned about being replaced by another salesperson who leverages AI well to serve buyers better and increase their own efficiency and effectiveness. Progressive salespeople and their managers will be able to leverage AI to gain efficiency and increase sales effectiveness, by automating tasks that they perform manually today.

Equally, if not more important, salespeople who want to avoid displacement by either technology or other better-enabled sales professionals, would be wise to develop deeper interpersonal and cognitive skills.  Whether the salesperson is a recent graduate from college, or been in the profession 20 years, the adept blending of these skills with sales skills and AI skills will enable the following:

Connecting the Dots

More data is here to stay, finding it and analyzing it, won’t be the challenge. The new salesperson will need to find the “magic” that makes the next step plausible. Predictive analysis will help, but just like the “Vegas Odds” constantly change for sporting events, the rep will need to use good judgment, take calculated risks, and make informed decisions at the deal table on their own.

Creativity/Ideation

Could AI have suggested/predicted the creation of the iPad? New ideas, new content, new approaches to customers is likely the domain of human beings. AI cannot yet perform a brainstorming session that mimics humans, so explosions of innovation are still needed from salespeople, and senior management.

Adaptability

The future will change at an accelerated pace; the most effective salespeople will be the ones who walk into a tranquil setting, a field of landmines, or face an aggressive competitor and adjust the plan and course to obtain the best outcome. The more fixated salesperson will not perform well if they can’t turn on a dime, and make decision, which is pushed down to lower levels in the organization.

Improvisation

Atypical decision making and other policy shifts will require a level of spontaneity not seen before as reps attempt to run the gauntlet of customer decision making speed, and the internal workings of their own selling organization. It is vital that sales organizations find agile and extemporaneous talent to match. Even with AI’s help, the level for “of the moment” thinking on the part of the salesperson will continue to grow.

The Merger of AI, Sales Methodology and Human Differentiators

These “human differentiators” (often displayed now by elite B2B sales professionals), include skills such as empathy, listening, critical thinking, problem solving and more. The value of these human differentiators rises further when used in combination with known best-practice sales methodologies.

Lastly, when the salesperson acts in a buyer-centric, consultative manner, adapting their approach based on the buyers’ current situation and thinking, and focuses on producing outcomes that are critical for the decision makers, the chance of success are radically improved.

Here’s one possible example of how these three elements might converge:

[Click image to enlarge. For another view of Human Differentiators, click here.]

Conclusion

The Gutenberg press revolutionized the world as it helped take information housed exclusively in monasteries to public material that others could access. The result was an explosion of knowledge, which lead to the Renaissance, and eventually to the birth of the scientific method. The Artificial Intelligence progression might be looked upon in a similar way. The period of time when nearly all things professional, and personal, are transformed.

Yet, until machines are selling to, and buying from, other machines, the salesperson of the future has the greatest chance of success by leveraging the technology available at the time while elevating their focus on their buyer and “human differentiators.” Prepare now to capitalize on this inevitable future, and your sales force will deliver the best possible results even in uncertain times.

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As usual, this is what I think.  More importantly… What do YOU think?

I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts in the comments and if you’ve enjoyed this post, please feel free to share. It’s always appreciated.

Thanks for reading, be safe out there, and by all means… let’s continue to elevate our sales profession.

Mike

 

 

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