There’s a reason why consultative selling is considered a winning strategy for most B2B sales teams. Nine out of ten buyers say vendors that earn their business do so because they became trusted advisors during the sales journey. Sellers themselves say the consultative approach ultimately makes them more efficient.
But consultative selling isn’t easy. It takes real time and effort to bring sharp, data-driven insights to every customer interaction.
Artificial intelligence is a transformative technology for consultative selling thanks to its ability to deliver unparalleled insights. But AI is just a tool in the consultative selling toolbox, and the best sellers will marry it with a deft human touch.
“You can save a lot of time with AI, but it’s not going to replace empathy and deep understanding of the problem,” Sam Gong explained during his appearance on the Revenue Makers podcast.
Here are some ways AI is going to boost your consultative selling strategy.
The Value of AI in Consultative Selling
Many sellers already use AI in their daily work; 78% say AI helps them do their jobs better by allowing them to focus on critical tasks and the parts of the job they enjoy the most.
AI helps consultative sellers:
- Automate mundane tasks so they can spend more time with people and less time with tech. Intent data analyzed by AI reveals which accounts are in-market, making it easier to prioritize the right prospects.
- Learn more about their buyers. Over two-thirds of the buying journey happens anonymously — sellers need access to insights that happen during that time. AI can reveal patterns in buyer behavior by analyzing their activities and their unique characteristics.
- Improve personalized outreach. 76% of buyers say that personalized outreach influences their decisions. Generative AI tools help marketing and sales personalize emails at scale and respond to inquires faster.
- Determine an account’s place in their buying journey. Through the use of intent data and predictive modeling, AI can reveal where an account is in their buying journey based on their real-time activities.
AI Tools for Consultative Selling
Sales Engagement Platforms
Sales engagement platforms (SEPs) act as a single platform for planning, executing, and tracking interactions between sellers and buyers.
AI features inside SEPs that improve consultative selling include:
- Analyzing call transcripts to reveal pain points, next steps, and desired outcomes.
- Prioritizing outreach based on urgency and impact.
- Finding at-risk deals, indicating where a heavier touch and focus is needed.
Customer Relationship Management Platforms
CRMs are the lifeblood of any seller. It’s where they track their opportunities, log activities, and stay up-to-date on the latest happenings with their buyers.
AI features inside of CRMs that improve consultative selling include:
- Automatic capture and syncing of information from email and calendars.
- Predictive forecasting reveals which opportunities are on-target and which are lagging.
- Condensing topics and trends within an account across all of your teams’ activities, providing a quick bird’s eye view of an opportunity. This makes it easier to understand a buyer’s previous engagements and what they care about.
Revenue Platforms
Revenue platforms like 6sense deliver unparalleled insights about buyers for the entire revenue team. For sellers, this leads to a stronger understanding of what to say, when to say it, and who to engage with.
AI features inside revenue platforms that improve consultative selling include:
- Predictive analytics that reveal where buyers are in their journey and which accounts are most likely to be interested in a conversation.
- Intent data that reveals the topics and keywords buyers are actively researching, allowing sellers to more easily personalize their outreach.
- Contact identification and acquisition, which reduces time spent prospecting and reveals more of the buying team.
Conversational Email
AI email assistants help sellers quickly personalize their emails based on real-time information about their buyers. No more hunting through multiple systems to understand which messaging will resonate best.
AI email automation improves consultative selling through:
- Generative AI email writing leads to quicker personalized email creation.
- Automated lead nurturing to make cold leads warm, allowing for more focus on higher priority prospects.
- AI assistance in booking follow-up meetings; sending specific, targeted content; and looping in human sellers when the time is right.
Learn more: 7 Ways to Use Conversational Email to Drive Revenue
Conclusion
AI provides numerous benefits for a consultative approach, but it will never completely replace the need for human empathy. Instead, the goal is for AI to free up your time and provide you with more context about customers so you can be a more effective ally in their decision-making process.
Consultative selling is about being “a real human. Then people don’t feel like they’re being put through a process. Instead, they feel like they’re having a real conversation with a real human,” says Sam McKenna, Founder and CEO of #samsales.
Interested in seeing how AI can elevate all your sales strategies? See a 6sense demo today!
