How Sales Reps Are Using AI to Optimize Sales in 2024

Sales is tough, with nearly 60% of sales reps missing their quotas in most years. One reason is that prospects are getting harder to reach. Another is that salespeople spend less than half their time actually selling.

It’s little wonder sales leaders are always looking for ways to improve their sales process. In 2024, artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most promising fields.

So, how are reps adopting AI in 2024? Let’s count the ways.

1. Automating sales
2. Forecasting
3. Lead scoring
4. Training
5. Writing
6. Simplifying
7. Improving your database
8. Staying ahead

AI helps sales reps with automation

“Automation” has been the word on everyone’s tongues over the last few years, and not without reason. Sales reps spend most of their time on administrative tasks, like updating CRMs.

Even small jobs like scheduling an email or booking a client demo can take up a lot of time. That’s where AI comes in.

AI is perfectly positioned to take over these kinds of “busywork” tasks that need to be done. They’re often repetitive (and a little bit boring), so leaving them to a machine makes a lot of sense.

AI tools can do everything from sending messages at the optimal time to tidying up your CRM. They can even track conversations, identify what message to send next, and more.

Best of all, it saves salespeople a lot of time. With AI automation, they can get back to selling.

Improving sales forecasting with AI

AI is also better equipped to handle large datasets than humans are. When it comes to crunching numbers, then, your sales team wants AI tools on their side.

Predictive analytics tools take a large set of data and analyzes it. From there, the tool finds patterns in the data and makes predictions about what will happen next.

Salespeople can do this, but it often takes more time and a lot more effort. AI is usually more accurate as well, although it does depend on the quality and size of the dataset.

An AI-generated sales forecast can show you what’s likely to grow and what markets are likely to say the same. It may even predict which ones will shrink.

Why would you need these insights? Better forecasting makes it easier to use your team’s resources to best effect.

Using AI to score leads

Marketing might generate plenty of leads for you. A rep’s task is to figure out if those leads are any good.

Why? It’s easier to sell to good leads. Unfortunately, a lot of leads just aren’t that good.

That’s where AI tools come in. Instead of having the sales team comb through LinkedIn profiles to interpret prospect behavior, AI does it in seconds. The tool takes all the information you have and uses it to rate the prospect.

From there, you can categorize leads. “Hot” leads are ones you should follow up with now. “Warm” leads might convert soon, and “colder” leads may not ever turn into customers.

With that information in hand, it’s easy to decide where to put your effort. In turn, reps become more efficient—and they can close more deals.

AI trains new sales reps

As we said, sales is a tough field, and very few reps are actually successful. In fact, for most businesses, 80% of sales come from just 20% of your reps.

Training and enablement can change the story. Salespeople who receive more training and coaching usually perform better. They feel more empowered, which can translate into more success.

AI tools are revolutionizing sales training. They can both predict effective sales strategies and help reps master these methods. They can also create dynamic training scenarios, so sales reps learn to react on their feet.

Companies can now even train their own AI model to reflect unique sales processes and internal best practices.

Generative AI makes messaging easy

How much time do you think the average rep spends crafting an email? What about a text message or a message on LinkedIn?

A lot of sales teams use templates, but generative AI tools are making things even easier for sales reps. These AI-powered copywriters can craft optimized emails with just a few clicks.

Better yet, you can use these messages time and again. AI-powered writing tools can automatically adjust tone and personalize messages. With them, sales reps can send messages with a higher likelihood of converting.

Simplifying and improving the sales process

We mentioned AI is good at forecasting sales and scoring leads. Those same capabilities make it the ideal candidate to review your sales process.

AI can track your reps as they move through the process. With enough data, it can then make suggestions for improvement.

These insights can help you see where reps are duplicating work or wasting time. Other AI tools, like those that schedule emails, can then reduce repetitive work.

The result? A more streamlined process that your team will have an easier time following. More than that, you’ll be able to convert more prospects into satisfied customers.

Improve contact databases with AI

One of the best places (and easiest places) to adopt AI tools for sales is in your contact database.

Databases are full of errors, outdated information, and even duplicate contacts. Cleaning a sales database up by hand is an intensive process, which your sales team really doesn’t have time to take on. In fact, that’s usually one of the reasons sales contact databases are so in need of a good tidying up.

Unfortunately, these messy contact lists are costing you time and money. Duplicate contacts could mean the same prospect is being contacted by two reps. Outdated data might mean emails are bouncing, which can negatively affect your domain reputation.

AI tools can tidy up or enrich your contact list in minutes. With them, you can update information, cut duplicate entries, and even correct data. In turn, your sales reps have more accurate information when they start their outreach efforts.

Stay ahead of the curve with AI

Just 54% of companies have adopted AI for sales, despite the clear evidence of what these tools can do. Investing in an AI tool can put you ahead of the curve, which can translate to a bigger payoff on your bottom line.

More than that, AI tools can increase productivity for your sales reps and make their jobs easier. In turn, they’ll be more likely to close more deals than ever.