In\ntoday’s world, artificial intelligence (AI) is getting more powerful and more\nprominent in the sales process. What does that mean for professional\nsalespeople? There used to be an occupation called \u201cswitchboard operator\u201d \u2013 now\nthere isn\u2019t. Fifty years from now, will there no longer be an occupation called\n\u201cprofessional salesperson\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\nsay no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AI\nis defined as \u201cthe simulation of human intelligence in machines that are\nprogrammed to think like humans and mimic their actions.\u201d And it seems to be\neverywhere today. If you\u2019ve ever gotten a recommendation from Amazon, and then\npurchased a product based on that recommendation, you have experienced an\nAI-supported sales process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will\nAI have an impact on transactional low-ticket sales, like that book you bought\non Amazon? Sure, because a purchase like that carries very little potential\ndownside and doesn’t require a lot of interaction. But most professional\nsalespeople face far more complex situations than that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\ndealing with a buyer, or a group of buyers, who are getting ready to make a\nsignificant investment of time, resources, and attention, we find they go\nthrough a series of phases. There\u2019s the curiosity phase, the investigation\nphase, and then the engagement phase. AI certainly helps buyers who are in the\ncuriosity phase, because it allows them to learn a lot about the selling\norganization at any point in time, 24\/7, without the so-called \u201cpressure”\nof a conversation with a salesperson. (A true professional will create a\nconversation that does not <\/em>pressure\nthe buyer during the curiosity phase, but let\u2019s leave that aside for a moment.)\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\ncertain amount of the investigation phase \u2013 though not all of it \u2013 can be\nconducted with the aid of AI. But as you go into the engagement mode, the\nsalesperson is still essential, and human interaction is the key factor for\nboth sides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once\nyou move out of transactional mode, you will find that people still buy from\npeople, and AI or no AI, they’re going to buy from people they like and trust.\nThat will never change. Consider the following things that you as a\nprofessional salesperson can do, but a machine cannot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read between the lines.<\/strong> A machine interprets only what\na person types, clicks, or speaks into a microphone. Sometimes the people\ntyping and clicking and speaking will say one thing, while perhaps thinking\nsomething very different. We’ve all been in situations where a buyer said something,\nbut we knew \u2013 based on tonality, body language, and our own experience in\ndealing with people who had similar issues \u2013 that what we were hearing was\nincongruent with what was really going on in that person\u2019s world. So we knew\nhow, when, and why to ask a tough question, and then wait for the answer. Only\na professional salesperson sitting in front of a buyer knows how to do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Support the multi-person sale.<\/strong> You and a colleague are\nsitting in front of multiple buyers. You\u2019re answering questions coming at you\nfrom different directions, each with a separate agenda and a separate set of\nexpectations. At times, you\u2019re going to ask your colleague to take the lead. At\ntimes, you\u2019re going to take the lead. Or maybe you\u2019re going to reverse a\nquestion \u2013 meaning respond with a question of your own \u2013 and say something\nlike, \u201cHey, that\u2019s a great question \u2013 you must have asked that right now for a\nreason. Do you mind if I ask what that reason is?\u201d And at some point you\u2019re probably going to\nask someone in the group for his or her opinion on a specific issue and start a\nspecial kind of dialogue \u2013 one that builds consensus, commitment, and action.\nThis is coalition-building. It\u2019s leadership. And saying that a machine will\never be able to take over this part of the professional salesperson\u2019s job is\nlike saying a machine is going to take over the task of managing a professional\nsports team. I\u2019ll believe it when I see it! Selling to and within a team is a\nuniquely human domain, and it will remain so for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connect the dots. <\/strong>Think about the times you\nhave moved the sales process forward by highlighting key takeaways from past\nconversations with busy stakeholders who had forgotten them. Think about the\ntimes you brought up something you had learned about a part of the buyer\u2019s\nbusiness that he or she didn\u2019t even know about. Think about the times you\nraised an issue or shared a story that redirected the conversation, captured\nthe buyer\u2019s attention, and uncovered emotions that changed the whole dynamic of\nthe relationship. Think about the times you were talking to a buyer who made a\nremark that sparked a thought about something you did with a previous client, and\nas a result of that you shared a third-party story that pointed you, and the\nbuyer, toward the solution to an important problem. When you did all those\nthings, you were helping the buyer to connect the dots. That\u2019s something that does\nnot happen in a transactional sale, and it will never happen in a\n\u201cconversation\u201d with a machine. Only good salespeople can do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes,\nAI will continue to affect the way buyers purchase low-ticket items, and it\nwill continue to affect their buying experience before they reach the\nengagement phase of more complex sales. But once buyers are engaged about a\npurchase that really matters to them, professional salespeople will be just as\nimportant as ever. That\u2019s not going to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n