5 Predictions: The Impact of Generative AI on Sales in 2024
If your business has been around long enough, you likely remember the days of sales in the field, knocking on doors and pounding pavement to drum up leads. Over the years, however, there have been innovations and transformations in how your sales teams cold call, nurture, present to, and close new customers. You’re not pounding pavement anymore. Today, you’re working those CRMs and coaching your sales force on digital engagement. And part of your go-forward sales strategy might include exploring generative AI for sales role play training.
AI continues to force shifts in how businesses act, react, and interact with audiences. Looking ahead, generative AI for sales is expected to change how your business lands new clients and grows your bottom line even more. Adopting generative AI simulator now is only going to empower your sales teams and equip them for the future of sales, too.
What Is Generative AI for Sales?
If you’re not using generative AI to its most impactful capacity, it’s time to familiarize yourself and your sales teams with its revolutionary power to engage. Generative AI is a type of technology rooted in artificial intelligence that has the capability to produce all kinds of content.
From information and images to audio and synthetic data, generative AI is a robust application idea for business models. As the technology continues to advance, it’s taking the online experience to a new level and transforming how brands interact with customers and how sales managers support their sales teams.
Generative AI isn’t a new concept. It was first leveraged by the masses in the form of chatbots. If your customer service strategy or sales teams already tap into chatbots, you’re already using generative AI for sales and growth. But it wasn’t until 2014 that generative AI took an innovative turn.
Generative adversarial networks (GANs) came into play with machine learning algorithms to boost AI’s capability to include the recognition and creation of authentic video, audio, imagery, and real people. And, of course, these creatives come to life in a matter of seconds, making the technology even more attractive to marketers, artists, and businesses.
Here are just a few of the most-used generative AI tools available today:
- ChatGPT: AI chatbot designed to create content using natural language processing.
- Dall-E2: AI image generator platform designed by OpenAI.
- Wordtune: AI writing tool to rephrase, rewrite, and edit content.
- Jasper and Writer: AI writing tools to create and rephrase content.
- Lavender and Regie.ai: Writing and outreach tools for Sales teams.
- GitHub Copilot: AI pair programming tool for auto-completing code.
- Speechify: AI tool for converting docs into audio files.
- VEED: AI tool for screen and webcam recording and video creation.
Cases for Generative AI Today
AI is only as successful as its programming for training. In other words, it has to be taught or subjected to existing content for it to learn and create on its own. Advances in these machine learning algorithms are making generative AI even more impactful in today’s business climate. ChatGPT, for example, is trained across more than one trillion parameters. Other language models, like DeepMind’s Gopher and Google’s PaLM2, are said to be trained over hundreds of billions of parameters.
So, what makes this so revolutionary for small and medium-sized businesses? More specifically, what makes generative AI so results-driven for sales departments? Here are just a few ways companies like yours are tapping into this generative AI for sales and business growth right now.
- Chatbots for technical support, sales support, and customer service
- Translating content into different languages to reach broader audiences and global teams
- Improving product demonstrations and videos
- Crafting email sequences and email marketing campaigns
- Creating original or photorealistic marketing art
- Composing and writing original marketing music
- Designing new products and solutions
As a sales manager, you can explore the many benefits of generative AI in your sales coaching efforts, too. Adopting generative AI in support of your sales initiatives and your teams can provide valuable sales data, create support libraries, and boost individual skills to improve sales engagements and conversions exponentially. You might:
- Enable role playing with sales reps and provide real life experience without the uncomfortable “live” audience
- Create and facilitate mock sales calls to improve overcoming objections
- Automate training customized to the needs of each sales rep
- Provide deeper learning of the sales process and provide objective feedback to help sales reps progress along a defined path to success
Predictions for Generative AI Sales in 2024
Understanding the current definitions and applications for generative AI in sales and business growth today allow you to develop strategies for leveraging its many benefits. As you prepare your efforts to grow, scale, and close new customers in 2024, you can also prepare to see more cases for generative AI in sales. Here are five predictions to consider.
Prediction #1: Expect Bigger and Better
Generative AI is already impressive because of its trained datasets, machine learning algorithms, and large language models (LLMs.) But don’t expect it to stop there. It’s only going to get bigger, better, faster, and more creative over the next 12 months.
Increasing the “learning parameters” and datasets isn’t the only way to improve these technologies. Industry analysts are predicting new generative AI models and platforms to emerge in 2024, making even more cases for company use and sales applications. Be on the lookout for sales training applications and improved metrics capabilities to tighten up those forecasts and funnels.
Prediction #2: Generative AI in Design
There’s a lot of buzz about LLMs, with ChatGPT taking the stage this year and others intended to make light work of text and content creation for business. However, industry analysts are predicting an even bigger push in 2024 for generative AI designs.
Sure, you can adopt the time and money-saving applications for chatbots, email marketing, and text. However, generative AI is expected to be revolutionary in how you design new products and outline new service offerings.
AI design tools will make it possible and effortless to generate prototypes. It’s going to be game-changing in how brands create everything from complex structural blueprints to recipes. Autodesk, an AI design platform, is already incorporating generative AI. Company leaders and marketers should expect even more tools to emerge in 2024.
Prediction #3: AI Becomes More ‘Multi-Modal’
Another prediction for 2024 is the shift of existing and new generative AI going multi-modal. Some applications are currently limited to language, for example. But these solutions are soon going to be equipped with algorithms allowing them to also interact and interpret images, audio, and video.
Expect generative AI to advance into various “modes” to become an all-in-one generative tool. Basic chatbots and text technologies will soon be able to communicate about pictures and other media just as effectively. These multi-model platforms will be game-changers for how you effectively train, support, and improve your team’s sales skills and results.
Prediction #4: Apps Are Going AI
AIM Research says companies can expect enterprise apps to come with conversational AI—as much as 40% of them in the next year. It’s already in the works among giants like Adobe and Microsoft. Social media is transitioning already, too, with Snapchat using generative AI bots to enhance how users get quick answers online.
App developers are going to be adding engagement experiences and chat interfaces, as well. Some sales training and enterprise apps are already using AI for effective sales training via AI-driven role-play and advanced, customized simulations, but expect continued growth as these platforms continue to boost your ability to coach and support your growing teams.
Prediction #5: AI Prompt Engineers in High Demand
The “hottest new job in tech” for 2023 is the “AI whisperer.” Prompt engineers are in high demand as specialists in understanding how to command and wrangle generative AI for optimal results and output. Expect these roles to become even more popular as companies look to hire top talent with the skills needed to leverage every benefit from generative AI for sales and more.
Because the concept of generative AI is viewed as complex and, in some cases, intimidating, sales managers and business leaders are going to be quick to bring on experts who can help their teams and brands squeeze every advantage out of the tech.
How Sales Managers and Leaders Benefit
Generative AI is expected to become more autonomous, streamlining how sales teams engage, learn, and communicate with each other and prospects. It’s revolutionizing how sales leaders and managers can benefit, as well. Generative AI is your key to improved sales training and smarter prospecting. It enables a multitude of capabilities, such as
- Integrations of generative AI into CRMs
- Targeted account strategy planning
- Generative AI for cross-platform lead generation
- Measuring customer touchpoints and transactions
- Enhanced brand storytelling in marketing
- Automated sales processes powered by generative AI
- Better lead tracking and conversion forecasting
- Personalized sales training initiatives
- Improved sales negotiations with AI-driven role-play
- Deciphering buying triggers and personas for improved sales responses
- Providing more customer-centric insights for improved value propositions
- 24/7 sales training and support
The impact of integrating generative AI into sales processes is transformative, redefining the way businesses engage with customers and prospects. By leveraging the power of generative AI, sales teams gain access to a wealth of capabilities that revolutionize their approach.
Prepare for a New Generative AI Normal
As you look ahead to next year and develop your sales and sales training strategies, be prepared to adopt generative AI for sales in bold new ways. Your tools and resources are only going to get AI smarter. And they’re your solutions for improving sales coaching, sales training, and conversions. Learn to embrace generative AI for sales and start tapping into its every advantage for sales processes and bottom-line results. Introduce some of these AI-driven solutions now so your sales force can improve their skills and be ready for the AI advancements that lie ahead.