In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, closing a deal often requires tremendous manual work. From cold calling and lead qualification to endlessly chasing unresponsive leads, the hurdles are numerous.
Even when you successfully reach customers, persuading them to make a buying decision is becoming more challenging in the global marketplace, crowded with countless businesses and buying options.
However, more effective ways exist to guide customers through the funnel and accelerate your sales process. And the top method to streamline sales is through AI and automation.
In this article, we’ll explore five top sales automation use cases that involve generative AI, and how you can implement them in your business for instant results.
The new era of sales is on instant messaging channels
Recent research reveals a paradigm shift in consumer behavior, highlighting a growing preference for purchasing through messaging platforms as opposed to traditional in-store methods. 33%-38% of US consumers under the age of 60 (Gen X, Gen Z, and Millennials) prefer to shop digitally, therefore having a critical impact on any bottom line.
Consumers, especially the tech-savvy Gen Z, are increasingly seeking instant, personalized, and convenient shopping experiences. Messaging channels fit perfectly with these demands by offering real-time interactions, personalized recommendations, and seamless transaction processes.
Due to the growing popularity of social channels and instant messaging, selling through these platforms has become critical to any business’s bottom line. The criticality is further emphasized by prevailing market trends, which indicate a surge in businesses integrating chatbots, AI-driven customer support, and instant messaging sales.
In this digital landscape, businesses that fail to adapt to messaging channel sales risk being left behind in an ever-evolving commercial ecosystem.
Generative AI for sales automation – the answer to inefficiencies
With billions of shoppers around the world, the only way to handle transactions 24/7 is to automate sales at scale across the platform customers live in.
Automating sales holds substantial benefits, from rapid time-to-value, enhanced sales funnel efficiency, improved customer lifetime value, and reduced operational costs. These contributions collectively lead to improvements in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), churn rate, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and other key performance indicators (KPIs).
Generative AI, the new player in automated sales
Generative AI bots have recently emerged in the sales world, revolutionizing how businesses engage and sell to consumers. By offering more conversational, personalized and instant experiences 24\7, GenAI bots hold infinite power to boost sales, while cutting 30% of costs. A McKinsey research states that investing in AI leads to up to 15% revenue uplift, and a sales ROI uplift of 10%-20%.
Sales chatbots, instant value
The primary and most recommended method to automate sales is by having your unique brand sales chatbot. According to research, sales chatbots drive 67% more sales on average. You can use sales chatbots to offer upgrades or renewals and of course sell to new customers.
Five sales automation use cases to implement now for instant revenue
Automation helps you accelerate business processes, by streamlining your sales efforts throughout the funnel, from awareness to acquisition. Finally, it creates seamless and fruitful customer experiences. Here are 5 sales automation use cases to implement now:
1. Automated campaigns on messaging
Time to say goodbye to time-consuming cold calls. Research shows that 55% of contacts will not answer unknown calls, 17% of contacts’ information will be incorrect, and only 28% will answer the call. And, It typically takes about six attempts to achieve cold calling success. Why bother cold calling when you have a solution that automates thousands of engagements?
With automated campaigns, it only takes a single click to reach thousands of potential buyers across multiple channels. For example, you can reach up to 98% of consumers by launching a campaign via WhatsApp, increasing conversion by 40%. And the best thing is, you can automatically personalize every message, improving the customer experience. Once engaged, you can deliver tailored assistance with GenAI bots.
CommBox’s customer engagement platform offers a campaign solution, allowing you to easily set up outbound campaigns, send proactive messages and personalized offers and notifications to greatly increase conversation.
2. Automated lead generation & qualification
Lead generation chatbots have emerged as a highly efficient and effective tool for automating the lead generation and qualification process. These intelligent chatbots engage with potential customers in real-time, initiating conversations, answering queries, and gathering crucial information.
By providing a seamless and interactive experience, they capture valuable lead data and qualify prospects based on predefined criteria. This automation not only saves time and resources but also ensures consistent and accurate data collection, reducing the chances of human error.
With CommBox, we saw a remarkable 70% increase in sales and a 170% growth in our customer base, plus a 25% improvement in customer satisfaction. CommBox’s integration into our CRM is an added bonus that makes the platform an invaluable tool for our business.
CIO at Serviandina
CommBox enables you to use generative AI for sales by leveraging AI bots. So these AI bots work tirelessly, 24/7, engaging prospects, and directing qualified leads to the appropriate sales channels. With their ability to engage in personalized conversations and gather relevant insights, these chatbots make the process more streamlined and conversion-focused than ever before.
3. Automated renewals
Automating renewals is a great way to drive revenue from your existing customer base – the success rate of selling to a customer you already have is 60-70%, while the success rate of selling to a new customer is 5-20%. Plus, acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer. So focusing on renewals can prove itself as an effective sales strategy. Once you have a qualified lead, your human sales agent can jump in and assist the customer until closing the deal.
Automated renewals also streamline administrative tasks, reduce the risk of missed renewals, and enable companies to allocate resources more strategically. With the ability to customize renewal preferences and tailor communication to individual clients, businesses can efficiently maintain ongoing relationships while focusing on other critical aspects of their operations.
4. Automated product upgrades
By offering product upgrades, companies provide existing customers with enhanced versions of their products, catering to changing needs and technological advancements. For example, companies can offer to upgrade a customer’s phone, TV or vacuum cleaner, or even upgrade to a new and more technologically advanced car.
This process of upgrading not only ensures the longevity of products but also fosters an ongoing relationship between businesses and their customers, as users anticipate and appreciate the continued enhancement of their chosen products or services.
5. Automated payments on messaging channels
Automated payments enable a seamless transfer of funds without the need for manual intervention, streamlining processes such as bill payments, subscription renewals, and regular transactions.
Through automated payments, companies can safely collect payment from customers, while reducing risk. And with the growing popularity of messaging channels, it also possible to automate payments with a sales chatbot connected to your payment systems.
However, when looking to implement all these use cases, there are many variables to consider.
3 key considerations for implementing sales automation in mid-sized companies and enterprises
1. Integration and compatibility with existing systems
When looking for a sales automation solution, it’s crucial to ensure that the solution can seamlessly integrate with your existing platforms. This integration ensures data consistency, minimizes disruption during the transition phase, and offers an enhanced return on investment by leveraging current technology assets.
2. Scalability and customization
To automate sales at scale, you need to have a solution built for scale. The solution should also offer customization options to cater to specific business processes, industry nuances, or unique sales strategies. A sales automation tool should not only address immediate requirements but should also adapt to future demands. This flexibility ensures the platform remains relevant and valuable as the company expands or pivots.
3. Robust security and compliance
Larger businesses often deal with vast amounts of sensitive customer and corporate data. It’s essential that the sales automation solution adheres to the highest security standards, offers data encryption, and complies with industry-specific regulations, such as ISO, GDPR or HIPAA. Data security protects the company from potential breaches and instills trust among clients and stakeholders.
By considering these comprehensive factors, businesses can ensure they are investing in a platform that will drive growth, efficiency, and sustained competitive advantage.
How to automate sales on messaging with CommBox All-In-One Solution
CommBox includes a set of sales automation solutions:
- Unified workspace, enabling sales agents to optimize lead management across digital channels from one interface.
- Sales chatbots for automated lead qualification, product upgrades and online sales
- Proactive campaigns solution to send out promotional campaigns and renewal offerings
- Generative AI for sales bots, enabling a conversational and personalized buying experience
- Automated conversation summaries generated by GenAI, summarizing human conversions to improve efficiency, ensure data integrity and optimize the sales process.
CommBox is built for large companies and enterprises, integrating seamlessly with industry-leading CRMs such as Salesforce, SAP, and Microsoft Dynamics. CommBox is compliant with ISO, GDPR, and HIPPA regulations, ensuring data security and compliance.
Ready to automate sales at scale? Get a free CommBox demo today
