This article originally appeared as part of the industry’s ONLY full CES show coverage in the February 2024 issue of Security Business magazine. Don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter if you share it.
Like most aspects of business, CES 2024 saw multiple companies bring Artificial Intelligence technology to bear on my specialty, sales.
One example was DialogueTrainer, a virtual sales practice tool that enables sales teams to engage with sales dialogue online with virtual actors, simulating a sales call or a related conversation. “Your conversation partner responds to every choice you make in the conversation with speech, intonation, emotion, facial expressions, and body language,” the company says, adding that it provides instant feedback on a user’s choices. “As a manager, trainer, or teacher, you have insight into development and learning needs via scores.”
Like most new things, AI has sparked curiosity and fear, but it can still be impactful on sales in the security industry. This technology is not the latest fad that your neighbor is raving about and will forget in two months – enabling machines to learn is a capability that will change the way we do everything, including sales.
Four Ways to Leverage AI for Sales
For business-to-business salespeople who must find customers and guide them through complex problems and complicated solutions, AI has created an opportunity – if those salespeople are committed to adapting and changing. While these more consultative salespeople won’t lose their jobs to AI, they might lose their jobs to other people who know how to use AI to their advantage.
Here are four ways for salespeople to leverage AI to make them better at their job:
1. Use it to help you be a subject matter expert. Customers demand their salespeople understand the marketplace, their competition, and trends, and most importantly, they want a salesperson to know their business better than they know security. Salespeople can use AI tools to know the “biggest trends in airport security” or to provide “a one-page overview of the top hospitals in Louisiana.”
2. Use AI tools to develop messaging. Whether an email, LinkedIn post, or a script for a cold call, AI can be used to develop the messaging. The final deliverable will need to be finalized and personalized by you, but AI can save 80% of the time it currently takes to create an email.
3. Prepare for sales calls and meetings with AI tools. Much like the above example from the CES show floor, you can use AI tools for everything from researching the company to preparing for objections or probing questions. For example, you can simply ask AI: “What are the top five objections that IT people have of cloud services?” or “What questions should I ask a security manager at a hospital about their access control system?” You’ll need to craft the final versions, but AI can get the momentum moving.
4. Leverage others’ poor use of AI. As machine learning increases its production of sales communications, the desire to have a dialogue with a thoughtful human being will grow among your customers. When other salespeople use AI poorly or in a too-generalist way, it presents an opportunity to position yourself as a subject matter expert by communicating about things specific to your customer and point of contact.
Chris Peterson is the founder and president of Vector Firm, a sales consulting and training company built specifically for the security industry. Use “Security Business” as a coupon code to receive a 10% lifetime discount at the Vector Firm Academy. www.vectorfirmacademy.com • (321) 439-3025
