Artificial intelligence simplifies tedious B2B sales process tasks, leaving reps with more time and resources to focus on more meaningful tasks. 

From identifying potential leads and providing valuable insights to making highly accurate sales forecasts and predictions, AI is accelerating all stages of the B2B sales process. 

This cutting-edge technology is proven to help marketers boost their performance and gain competitive advantages in their field – thus bringing increased profits and productivity to those who adopt it.

Let’s see the contribution of AI to B2B sales.

5 ways AI can enhance B2B sales

1. Generate qualified leads

Lead generation is the first responsibility of marketing and sales personnel in a B2B setup. However, identifying qualified leads can be challenging.

Once the prospects have passed through the sales funnel, businesses can maximize Lead Generation Efforts with AI. This eliminates several time-consuming tasks and lets your team focus on what matters most using these processes:

• Targeting the right audience.
• Segmentation of marketing data.
• Predictive analytics and data.
• Enhancing the decision-making process.
• Automation of email campaigns.
• Interaction with a chatbot.

2. Effective lead scoring

Predictive lead scoring helps evaluate which leads are ready to speak with your sales team. 

Moreover, lead scoring systems are typically tailored to the needs of each target prospect to identify specific characteristics, behaviors, and other signals that can boost or lower a prospect’s priority level or “score.”

If you provide your AI-powered lead generation tool with responses from prospects, it will begin to identify patterns and data correlations, making your lead score more intelligent.

3. Lead nurturing

Lead nurturing is the next step after lead scoring, and artificial intelligence takes it to the next level by doing the following tasks.

• Based on prospect data, AI provides detailed insights. These insights include forecasts or data-driven decisions that the sales and marketing teams use to convert a prospect into a buyer.

• AI-powered chatbots automate buyer communication and nurture them based on the client journey.

• AI-assisted content personalization, natural language processing, and predictive analysis enable B2B marketers to make strategic plans to engage qualified leads. 

• Furthermore, it helps your leads with relevant information that solves problems directly and encourages them to progress along the buyer’s journey.

4. Sales forecasting 

According to Gartner research, one of the top areas where sales operations tasks are least effective includes pipeline management and sales forecasting. (source)

Sales forecasting assists businesses in predicting the future condition of their sales pipeline – will it be healthy or not? 

This area of B2B sales demands accuracy to maximize sales efforts. But unfortunately, a large number of sales reps (57%) forecast their pipeline incorrectly (source).

So, how to make accurate forecasts without manual labor?

For example, using artificial intelligence allows you to reduce the chance of inaccuracies in your forecasting and, hence, in your sales team.

This AI-powered capability can forecast the total number of new deals, renewals, and churn over a specific period.

5. Personalization

Businesses, whether big or small, prioritize personalization to improve prospect or client interactions. Therefore, the personalization approach is one of the most powerful applications of AI in B2B marketing.

• You can generate more personalized buyer personas with AI. Afterward, you can tailor your marketing communication and strategy to produce a higher ROI from your lead generation efforts.

• You can tap into prospect activity data with AI-powered solutions, use these datasets, and leverage them to customize your marketing messages – creating a more meaningful connection with potential buyers.

• Based on their profile, past purchases, and surfing habits, AI helps businesses develop customized offers with the right products at the right price to fulfill the requirements and budget of clients. 

Businesses that have yet to use artificial intelligence risk losing out on the potential to retain new clients through personalized offerings. The advantages of AI in B2B sales are becoming increasingly evident. 

Plus, implementations of AI show that it is helping marketers find new opportunities and be creative to provide a dynamic user experience, leading to increased revenue.