Artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting industries across the globe, automating tasks and providing advanced analytics and insights. Enablement is no exception. Leading GTM teams are using AI technology to improve effectiveness, scale processes, and make strategic decisions for their business. But before your organization decides to make the most out of AI in sales enablement  it’s important to understand the risks and benefits, how it can be integrated into the sales process, and how to leverage it effectively.

What is generative AI?

Talk of artificial intelligence is practically inescapable these days. And while it’s been around for nearly seven decades, the topic has exploded with the emergence of generative AI. Generative AI is a type of AI that focuses on creating and generating new content. This includes text, images, sounds, animation, and other types of media that are very similar to human-created content. It also leverages machine and deep learning to spot patterns, understand speech, make choices, and answer questions. 

From smart personal assistants to autonomous vehicles, AI-powered tools and tech are already a part of daily life. However, generative AI has made more significant advancements as more industries and organizations identify ways that it can help people work more efficiently and effectively. 

Understanding AI in sales enablement today

As generative AI continues to evolve, it has the potential to greatly impact the future of enablement and other GTM operations. This potential is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming for leaders since there’s still a lot of uncertainty and speculation as to what the long-term impact will be.

To get a better understanding of how organizations currently leverage AI, we surveyed 1,400 full-time sales, enablement, and customer success managers and leaders—many of whom use enablement technology at work. The State of AI in Enablement: 2023 Report found that 50% of organizations surveyed currently utilize some type of AI-powered tool in their enablement process. Of these users, 82% of them are impressed with the results they’re seeing and plan to double down and implement more AI-powered solutions in the next year. 

This uptick in implementation is validated by other industry studies. In fact, Forrester projects a meteoric rise for AI-powered platforms, estimating the market value will climb to $37 billion by 2025. And as these tools mature, so will the adoption of AI among businesses. In other words, while there is some uncertainty, organizations are already leaning into the possibilities of leveraging AI within their enablement efforts.

Did you know?

63%

of teams that have adopted AI report an uptick in revenue.

How AI benefits GTM teams: Doing more with less

The organizations that make an effort to embrace and leverage AI already have a leg up on their competition and will only continue to extend their lead. Many organizations are already leveraging AI in other areas of their business, including:

  • AI for sales prospecting uses algorithms to analyze historical sales data and prioritize the highest-converting leads. 
  • Conversational AI for sales such as an AI sales assistant or AI sales bot can handle customer inquiries and questions 24/7. 
  • AI forecasting detects trends and patterns and creates more accurate forecasts.
  • Generative AI enables sales email creation, scheduling, and personalization.

The average seller only spends 28% of their time on actual selling. The rest of their time is spent on manual tasks and processes. So, if you’re still wondering how to use AI in sales enablement at your organization, these areas are natural opportunities to leverage AI and take some of that busy work off the table. 

Additionally, many organizations are being asked to hit the same goals (or even more aggressive targets) with fewer resources. In the face of these challenges, leaders are looking for ways to scale their programs, streamline and automate processes, and equip sellers in the best way possible. That’s where AI for sales really shines. Here are the outcomes that respondents said they’d like to achieve with AI.

  • 63% of leaders want to achieve operational optimization. This includes higher enablement efficiency, improved content usage, and tech stack consolidation. 
  • 54% want to enhance the buyer experience. Improved experiences can lead to increased deal sizes, better win/renewal rates, and decreased sales cycle times.
  • 48% of respondents would like to improve agility and speed to market. This includes the time to market, adaptability to change, and team alignment.
  • 40% want to drive GTM efficiency through faster seller ramp times, higher quota attainment, and more time spent on high-value activities. 

When it comes to achieving these outcomes, there are different areas where enablement teams can apply AI. Let’s take a closer look at some of these areas.

The State of AI in Enablement

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The State of AI in Enablement: 2023 Report

Using AI to improve the buying experience

AI isn’t just an efficiency tool. It’s a powerful way to improve the buying experience, earn trust, and set the stage for lasting customer satisfaction. In fact, 88% of respondents who have implemented AI have seen an increase in their customers’ satisfaction. Here are a few ways sellers can use AI-based tools to engage buyers throughout their journey: 

  1. Recommend relevant content: Sellers occasionally struggle to identify the best content to share with buyers. As a result, they may create their own materials on the fly. Integrating AI with a sales content management system can make this a thing of the past, with automatic content suggestions based on your buyer’s profile and sales context.
  2. Personalize customer interactions: More than 70% of today’s consumers expect companies to deliver personalized experiences. AI makes this easier. By integrating your sales content management tool with your CRM, it can pull relevant customer information and use these insights to personalize content for each customer, making your interactions more targeted.
  3. Respond faster: Imagine a buyer having a question about a product feature, but you aren’t sure of the answer. With AI, you don’t have to find a product manager to get the right information. Instead, AI can provide you with the right resource, in a shareable format, so you can follow up swiftly with the correct information.

Delivering sales training and coaching programs powered by AI

Coaching and training programs are known value-drivers. Companies with effective programs experience annual revenue growth of 16.7% and retention increases of more than 20%. AI for sales teams enables more personalized training and coaching programs. Here’s how: 

Training effectiveness

Effective training should include hands-on practice and role-playing. AI in sales training replicates real-life sales scenarios so sellers can practice sales calls and product demos. 

Real-time assessments

During these practice sessions and sales calls, AI can monitor performance, identify skills and knowledge gaps, and provide tailored training to improve development.

Personalized feedback

AI powered sales training and coaching also enables managers to identify where gaps exist among their team and deliver personalized coaching plans at scale to improve performance. 

Leveraging AI for data-driven insights

AI can analyze huge amounts of data in real-time — far more and far better than a human can. This data can reveal trends and patterns that leaders can use to tailor their enablement strategy, optimize sales tactics, and target marketing efforts. This also allows for a more agile way of working. By leveraging AI to track content analytics, leaders can easily identify:

  • The most and least shared content by sellers
  • What content buyers engage with
  • What content is most effective throughout the deal cycle
  • What type of content is missing

As AI sales tools  track this information, GTM teams can piece together a more comprehensive picture of prospect engagement, gather actionable insights, and share key data across the team. 

Tips for implementing AI

From improving meeting efficiency to providing just-in-time enablement, there’s no shortage of new and exciting opportunities that are prime areas for adoption. By leveraging AI in these mission-critical areas, revenue teams will have more time to focus on other high-impact, critical, and strategic areas that will lead to greater efficiency and productivity. But careful consideration is essential. Here are three key factors to keep in mind:

  1. Data quality and integration: Because AI tools heavily rely on data for accuracy, you need to ensure that your organization’s data is high-quality and organized. It’s also best to assess the integration capabilities of the tools your team uses.  
  2. Training and adoption: It’s important to prioritize training to ensure your team is proficient in using AI-powered sales tools. Create training resources and supportive content that addresses challenges and answers common questions.
  3. Transparency and ethical considerations: Prioritize transparency in how AI algorithms work and the data they use. Then, establish clear guidelines for ethical practices within your organization to ensure compliance and safety. 

If you’re still not exactly sure how AI fits—or can fit—into your business, check out Seismic’s Enablement AI Evaluation Checklist which can help you determine if you need AI, what you need it for, and how to get started.

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The leader in AI-powered enablement

AI has been part of Seismic’s platform since 2015 when we introduced AI-guided selling that surfaces content recommendations based on deal context. In the years since, we launched Aura, our AI/ML engine that fuels AI-powered enablement across The Seismic Enablement Cloud.™ Our robust  tool provides GTM teams with intelligent content curation, smart searches, just-in-time enablement, AI-powered coaching, and so much more. Get a demo and see Seismic’s AI features firsthand.