The pace of AI development has been remarkable, often surpassing the speed at which the internet evolved. While the internet took several years to reach significant milestones, such as reaching 100 million users, AI technologies have achieved similar feats in much shorter timeframes. For example, large language models like ChatGPT have gained widespread attention and usage in just a matter of months. This rapid progress can be attributed to advancements in computing power, increased availability of data, and the continuous refinement of AI algorithms.
AI has made significant advancements in the sales industry, offering valuable tools and capabilities that enhance sales team performance and drive better outcomes. Through AI algorithms and predictive analytics, organizations can make more accurate sales forecasts and informed decisions for future planning. AI-based lead scoring systems provide insights into lead quality and conversion potential, enabling sales teams to prioritize their efforts and focus on the most promising opportunities.
The sooner marketing and sales teams have access to AI-informed tools, the faster they'll be able to keep pace with the change.
AI's ability to summarize calls and email threads streamlines information extraction, saving time and improving productivity. Additionally, AI automates repetitive tasks like data entry and administrative work, allowing salespeople to dedicate more time to building relationships and closing deals. Overall, AI is bringing greater efficiency and effectiveness to sales processes, empowering teams to achieve success in customer engagements.
As a HubSpot solutions partner, we can share just how fast this has developed within the software that we use and help others put it to work. HubSpot marketing already provides AI support across these areas of marketing:
Here’s where the marketing roadmap will take you in the coming days with HubSpot:
Being locked in DIY or legacy software, salespeople today often spend 40% or more of their time doing work that is mostly administrative. As technology continues to advance, SMBs of all sizes will be able to level up and shift this precious time away from administrative work to building relationships with good customers. But first, they need to get free of software that isn’t up to the task.
Software consolidation and streamlining in 2023 have to take into account these new capabilities if SMBs want to bridge the gap between their small teams and what big Corporations can do.
In the modern landscape, the absence of AI can be seen as a new version of the digital divide that separates companies. Just as the traditional digital divide refers to the gap between those with access to technology and those without, the lack of AI adoption creates a similar divide between companies that leverage its capabilities and those that do not. Companies without AI face numerous challenges in terms of efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness.
Imagine the sales team that continues to do everything using software that is not integrated and continues to be bound to spreadsheets and administrative tasks - it doesn't bode well.
They may struggle to analyze and make sense of vast amounts of data, limiting their ability to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions. Getting reporting data is a real challenge today for sales and marketing teams. But without AI-driven automation, these companies will continue to be burdened by time-consuming manual processes, hindering their agility and hindering their ability to respond swiftly to market demands.
Furthermore, the absence of AI-powered personalization and customer engagement tools puts them at a disadvantage when delivering the tailored experiences and strong connections that their audience wants and needs.
Is there a silver lining to the kind of rapid change we're seeing and the concerns about what AI will do instead of people? Perhaps it is in the opportunity for sales and marketing teams to focus more deeply on building strong connections with customers instead of hopping from one software to the next doing manual data entry and administrative tasks. As experts, they are most valuable when they are connected to, and talking with people.