Considerations for sales operations leaders to prepare data-fuelled success in an AI-driven world
Welcome to a period perhaps more significant than any other in business history – the onset of the AI revolution. The implications are enormous, the pace is swift, and though the full impact remains to be fully grasped, one thing is undeniably certain – be prepared or be left behind!
Sales teams are among those who have the most to gain, and the most to change. And whilst not all generative AI capabilities on the Salesforce roadmap are currently GA, there is a window of opportunity now to prepare with a solid data foundation.
This is a briefing for sales operations leaders who want to be able to leverage everything Salesforce has to offer tomorrow, by building a robust Generative AI strategy today.
Data as the fuel for AI-driven sales
If Generative AI is the new hyper-powerful engine of the sales organization, then your data is the fuel. And as everyone has access to the same engine, the data will be the differentiator.
In short data is about to be the greatest asset when it comes to sales competitive advantage. This advantage manifests in two main ways:-
1. Greater Efficiency: Streamline your sales processes
Generative AI is now your ultra-effective sales assistant, who knows everything about your sales history, your current prospect pipeline, past deals, ongoing deals etc. What’s more this assistant knows what excellent looks like, understands the next best action in your sales process, and assists you in delivering.
2. Greater Personalization: A fully tailored sales process is the new norm
Generative AI means decreasing time and cost when it comes to customization. This will impact on a myriad of sales activities that would benefit from personalization e.g.
- Messaging and outreach
- Solutions and services
- Customer experiences
- Pricing and packaging
Again, it is data that will drive the engine of this personalization.
Your Generative AI Data Strategy:
When it comes to organizing your data in preparation for Generative AI driven sales, consider:-
- Consolidation
- Collection
- Action
In this next section we look at each area in turn, the steps you will need to take to securely collect and prepare your data today, while remaining informed and open to the possibilities, tomorrow.
Actionable Steps
1. Consolidation: One secure and effective repository for your data
Determine your secure central repository for your data. Salesforce is the first choice as your once source of truth. However, if you have some data that does not have a home in Salesforce (for example, full stock inventory plus purchase history), then make sure that this data can be easily integrated with Salesforce.
Pro tip: Try to minimise the number of systems used to store data, in order to simplify the process of combining data from all repositories.
An additional consideration is the eradication of data silos. Sales teams have always benefitted from a comprehensive view across the full organization, but now AI’s analytical capabilities has magnified this benefit.
Salesforce Data Cloud is the first choice for many sales-driven organizations, providing centrally aggregated real-time data from multiple systems, all accessible via Einstein GPT
2. Collection: Everything is now valuable
As we mentioned in the intro, AI is now your ultra-effective sales assistant. The data you collect is the knowledge and training your assistant needs to be even more effective. What’s more, this assistant is not scared to get right into the detail!
Data that was previously too work-intensive to collect, now becomes useful e.g.
- Discovery calls
- Email history
- Market data
- Communications on all forums and channels e.g. Reddit, Salesforce Trailblazer Community, StackExchange etc
- Interaction or usage data on your apps or services
While there may not be an immediately obvious applications for all of this data, as time goes on use cases will surface. In the meantime, keep adding to your vast pool of raw data!
3. Action: Transform data into informed sales activity
Data collection is foundational, but data processing is where the sales magic happens.
Data that was previously too difficult and costly to process, has suddenly become a valuable source of insight, analyzed and surfaced via AI.
For example, your sales team no longer need to spend time manually reviewing meeting minutes or customer RFPs, they can use AI to review and generate next best action. Nor will they spend hours compiling responses and proposals, synthesizing information from across knowledge bases – again AI is here to do the heavy-lifting.
It’s time to think about what sales activity would look like if time and information were no object e.g.
- 1-2-1 fully personalized sales collateral including diagnostic reports
- Tailored responses to RFPs at the click of a button
- Bespoke products and/ or services to meet your customer specific pain points
Take time with your sales team to fully build out a list of activities and areas to be improved with Generative AI.
Top tip: Take a look at our piece 27 ways to AI can enhance Sales Ops for inspiration
While all these activities may not be easily launched today, you can be sure that they will in the future.
Data strategy checklist
Consolidation
- Determine one secure, central data repository
- Consider where there are data silos currently in your organization and how could they be removed
Collection
- Brainstorm data sources with your sales team.
- What data do you collect now that can be used in a new way?
- What data do we not currently collect but should now start?
- How can we turn on collection of this data?
Action
- Brainstorm what would your sales operations would look like if time and information were no barrier
Book Your Data Discovery Workshop
Ortoo work hand in hand with organizations to create new Generative AI functionality to power sales operations on Salesforce, and as such, are right at the forefront of AI-powered sales.
We are currently offering a data discovery workshop for sales teams who want to build a data foundation, ready to fuel their Generative AI-driven future.
If you would like to book your workshop, please feel free to schedule it here or contact us directly at sales@ortooapps.com
How Ortoo is Leading the AI Charge on the AppExchange
Ortoo, a trailblazer in the Salesforce ecosystem, is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI in sales operations. With a strong commitment to innovation and a deep understanding of AI’s transformative potential, Ortoo is shaping the future of AI-enhanced sales processes.
This commitment is evident in Ortoo’s flagship applications, Email-to-Anything and Q-assign, both of which are 100% native to Salesforce and 5-star rated on the AppExchange. These apps harness the power of AI to streamline and enhance numerous aspects of sales operations, from lead qualification to automated follow-ups, embodying many of the AI-enhancements discussed in this post.
Email-to-Anything uses AI to listen for responses to sent emails and brings them into Salesforce for analysis, while Q-assign employs AI to intelligently assign leads based on various factors like skills, workload, and dynamic models. Both applications reflect Ortoo’s vision of leveraging AI for efficient and optimized sales operations.
Moreover, Ortoo is currently in the process of developing additional AI enhancements, taking a forward-looking approach to future-proofing sales operations. With Ortoo’s applications, sales teams can truly harness the power of AI to supercharge their sales processes.
If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to the Ortoo team at sales@ortooapps.com.
