How to use AI tools to improve your sales outreach

Over 50% of companies have adopted artificial intelligence for sales, but the numbers already show big advantages. For many sales leaders, though, the question is how AI can help with sales outreach.

Today’s AI tools can do many things, from automatic contact cleanup to sales forecasting. This how-to guide looks at all the ways AI can help your team reach out more effectively.

Use AI to speed up sales outreach research

One of the more time-intensive parts of sales outreach is research. Reps need to dig in and discover more about their leads for effective targeting. Personalization supercharges open rates and responses.

Effective personalization only happens when you know the prospect. Research also includes verifying contact information and position in the company.

Research may also mean taking the time to identify your best customers. You can then search for “lookalike” profiles to reach out to.

With AI tools, sales reps can do that labor-intensive work with a few clicks. AI-powered tools scrape social media profiles to create a more comprehensive picture. They can also determine who your “best” customers are and create more accurate profiles for “ideal” buyers.

Tidy up contact databases with AI

Another great application of AI sales tools is tidying up contact lists. Sales databases are often full of duplicate profiles, outdated information, and even mistakes. These tools are often designed to scrape websites without getting blocked, ensuring uninterrupted access to valuable data while maintaining compliance with site policies.

An AI tool can clean that contact list up with a click or two. The result? Your sales reps spend less time sending messages to outdated emails.

Score prospects with AI

Without research, sales reps might contact every single prospect on a lead list. The problem is that many people aren’t going to convert. They’re either not ready to buy or they’re not a good fit for what you’re selling.

So, if reps want to use their time wisely, they need lead qualification and scoring. Now enter AI.

AI tools are more efficient and accurate when it comes to rating prospects. They draw in data from more sources to make better assessments. In turn, segmenting a list into “hot,” “warm,” and “cold” leads is a much simpler task.

In turn, you can get back to selling sooner. With better data in hand, it’s easier to focus your sales efforts where they’re most likely to pay off.

Get data-backed insights into when to reach out

AI tools go beyond telling you who to reach out to. They can also provide insight into when to reach out to a prospect.

These tools draw in behavioral data and analyze it. Has a prospect recently signed up for your newsletter and read a bunch of posts on your blog? Maybe they’re interacting with a lot of similar brands on LinkedIn.

This kind of data tells you the lead is motivated and looking to buy, so it’s a good time to reach out. If activity falls off, AI might recommend outreach messages to restart the conversation. In other cases, AI can tell you when the prospect’s activity is ramping up, so you can strike while the iron is hot.

Use AI tools to craft better sales outreach campaigns

We’ve seen that AI can tell you when to reach out and even what kind of message to send. Some tools go one step beyond and help you craft those sales outreach messages.

You can use generative AI to write messages, often with just a few clicks. If you know how to prompt the tool well, it can create an email or short DM in seconds. These tools can also shift tone and adapt messages to different contexts.

Using AI to personalize messages

Sales outreach best practice in 2023 is to personalize. After all, 70% of people open only personalized messages. At first glance, AI seems like it’s better for generic email blasts.

Today’s AI tools can help you customize any message they generate with ease. You can use them to create templates or scripts, then to personalize them for each prospect.

AI tools can optimize messages

Similarly, AI tools make optimization easy too. Have you agonized over your subject line and preview text? AI can erase any anxiety you have about getting the subject line right.

With these tools, you can create subject lines that convince the prospect to click. AI can also provide feedback on language, with tips to make it stronger, clearer, and more likely to get a response from the recipient.

Analyze interactions (and predict outcomes)

AI works on enormous datasets. The tools take in the data, then analyze it to discover patterns.

As a result, AI is good at analysis and making predictions. Some AI tools let you analyze the interactions you’ve had with a prospect. The tool can then provide suggestions for improvement. It also offers potential next steps, so you can capitalize on what you did right and close the deal.

You can use this ability at scale as well, to draw conclusions about what works and what doesn’t for sales outreach. You can then use these insights to train sales reps on the best techniques—leading to more effective outreach.

Get better sales forecasting

Finally, you can use AI tools at scale to forecast sales. Once again, these tools pull in data from a variety of sources to identify patterns. Those patterns can then predict future patterns.

AI can help you forecast not just sales but where you’re likely to make those sales. It can show what industries or fields are growing, as well as those that are likely to stay stable or even shrink. In turn, your sales team can devise a strategy that focuses efforts on where they’re most likely to find wins.

AI forecasting can also showcase who is most likely to buy. Your team can then easily identify good prospects. You can also track shifts in your customer base and line up with prospects who are better fits for the business.

Finally, forecasting can even show you what sales tactics a prospect is most likely to respond to.

Sales outreach is easier with AI

Outreach has long been one of the hardest tasks in sales, involving a lot of elbow grease and low payoffs. AI tools are changing that narrative. With them, you and your sales team can truly start working smarter.