As technology advances, it’s becoming clearer that time is fleeting and expectations are high. Sales reps don’t just need to move fast; they also need to move smart.
It’s no longer a question of whether AI belongs in sales.
In this guide, we’ll analyse with two sales leaders how it can empower reps to focus on what really matters: building relationships and closing deals.
Sales reps are drowning in admin, not selling
Sales is fundamentally about connection. But in modern B2B, most reps spend more time preparing to sell than actually selling.
Too often, valuable hours are lost to manual research, switching between tools, and wrestling with fragmented data, which leaves less time for the conversations that would’ve moved the pipeline forward.
The pressure is particularly acute in high-volume roles like sales development. SDRs are expected to move fast and stay relevant, but the reality of tab-switching, from LinkedIn to Google to company websites, slows them down.
This is more than just a workflow nuisance. When sellers are overwhelmed with low-value tasks, opportunities slip. Calls get postponed. Messaging becomes rushed and templated.
And the chance to build real trust with a prospect? Missed entirely.
The core challenge isn’t motivation, it’s bandwidth. And AI, done right, offers a path forward.
The cost of manual research
Research isn’t optional. It’s the foundation for relevant outreach, especially when you’re trying to break into competitive accounts.
But the time it takes to do it right adds up fast.
SDRs typically spend five to ten minutes per contact just gathering the basics:
- Company background.
- Recent news.
- Tech stack.
- Potential buying signals.
For enterprise reps working tier one accounts, the effort is exponentially higher.
But even with all that effort, there’s a risk that the rep isn’t actually absorbing the insight. They’re just creating a document to tick a box.
Joe’s concern? Research that’s technically complete, but contextually useless.
That shallow prep creates a ripple effect. Outreach becomes generic. Follow-ups lack relevance.
And reps burn through high-value accounts without ever getting a real shot.
Research matters. But the old way of doing it, manual, fragmented, and time-consuming, is costing reps opportunities every day.
AI’s role: Accelerating preparation, not replacing insight
Joe’s clear about where AI fits in B2B sales, and where it shouldn’t.
The point isn’t to eliminate research, but to elevate it.
When AI handles the heavy lifting, surfacing context, highlighting intent signals, and flagging key changes, it gives reps a head start. But that’s all it is: a start.
Good salespeople don’t just read insights, they internalise them. They know how to spot the signal from the noise, connect the dots, and turn context into conversation.
The right AI setup helps them do that faster and more consistently, without dumbing it down.
Used properly, AI doesn’t replace the human touch, it amplifies it.
Consistency, quality, and the level playing field
Not all reps approach research equally, and that inconsistency creates risk. Some over-prepare, others cut corners.
The result is a wide gap in quality, even within the same team.
Joe agreed and cautioned that insight still needs to be understood, not just accessed.
AI can standardise the prep. But relevance still comes from the rep.
Where it all falls down today
Even with experienced reps and a clear process, the research stage is still where momentum often breaks down.
The issue isn’t the value of research, it’s how fragmented and time-consuming it’s become.
Too many platforms, too little clarity. Disconnected tools pull reps in different directions, making it harder to capture context and even harder to act on it in time.
When research lives outside the workflow, it quickly becomes a burden instead of a benefit.
Why embedded AI is the future
The answer isn’t just more data. It’s better access, delivered in the moment, in the rep’s workflow, and tailored to the task.
That’s where embedded AI makes the difference.
When insights live directly inside a sales tool, reps don’t waste time switching tabs or second-guessing accuracy. They just act.
Research by Cortex AI is built with this in mind. Embedded within Cognism’s Sales Companion, it gives reps instant access to company and contact context.
Research gives sellers:
- An overview of their target accounts’ business models.
- Insight into strategic goals and initiatives set by the business.
- Who their main competitors are.
- An ‘ice breaker’ prompt to create easy, natural conversation with the prospective decision maker.
All in one convenient location, at the touch of one button - and with links out to each source for the information provided.
Rather than inputting prompts and asking for insight using a solution similar to ChatGPT, the click of one button generates all relevant context to begin the sales conversation.
It’s not a new tool. It’s a smarter layer on top of the workflow reps already use.
The human advantage, unlocked by AI
AI isn’t here to replace reps, it’s here to remove the friction that gets in their way.
By handling the busywork, surfacing context faster, and embedding insight directly into the workflow, tools like Research by Cortex AI give salespeople what they actually need:
Time to think, time to personalise, time to sell.
Catherine agrees, it’s not just about speed, it’s about credibility.
That’s the impact AI should have: faster prep, sharper messaging, and more meaningful conversations.
Not automation for its own sake, but amplification of what great sellers do best.
What is generative AI for sales?
Generative AI refers to algorithms capable of creating new content, predictions, or strategies based on existing data. In sales, this technology analyses vast datasets to generate insights, draft communications, and recommend actions that enhance the sales process.
It’s a transformative sales tool. Unlike traditional AI, which focuses on pattern recognition, generative AI analyses current and historical data using various algorithms to quickly uncover trends and detect patterns in prospects’ buying behaviours.
Generative AI can help B2B sales teams create emails, scripts, and responses tailored to their sales pipeline in seconds.
A key advantage of generative AI for sales is automation. By automating specific tasks through AI prompts, SDRs can perform and complete activities like writing emails and refining cold-calling scripts much faster.
Advantages of using AI for sales
Integrating AI into sales processes offers numerous benefits:
- Enhanced productivity: AI automates routine tasks such as data entry, scheduling, and follow-ups, allowing sales representatives to focus on building relationships and closing deals.
- Data-driven insights: AI provides actionable insights that inform sales strategies and decision-making by analysing customer interactions and market trends.
- Personalised customer engagement: AI enables the creation of tailored content and recommendations, improving customer satisfaction and increasing conversion rates.
- Improved forecasting: AI models accurately predict future sales trends, aiding resource allocation and goal setting.
Think of AI as an eager assistant ready to perform mundane, repetitive tasks like cleansing and verifying data. Considering that 20% of revenue loss is attributed to poor-quality data, you need verified data to enable your reps to succeed.
As a sales pro, you know nothing is worse than calling a dead number or getting a bounce back on a cold email. AI tools like Cognism verify email addresses and phone numbers, helping you reach your intended audience on the first try.
Another advantage of AI for sales?
Instead of spending hours researching new leads, SDRs using AI tools can qualify and contact several prospects simultaneously.
The less time you spend researching, the more time you can spend building relationships with potential customers, and the more deals you’ll close.
While AI can’t be the human touch needed to make a sale, it can significantly improve the processes that make it easier to connect with prospects.
The top 3 use cases for AI in sales
According to a McKinsey report, 14% of companies utilising AI in their sales and marketing efforts have seen notable enhancements in lead generation and conversion rates.
So, how can you integrate AI into your sales workflows? Here are our top three examples:
AI for sales forecasting
When you’re working with revenue, forecasts are gold. But it can be challenging to nail down accurate revenue projections.
With shifting markets and unpredictable trends, making precise predictions manually can seem almost impossible. This is where AI can be advantageous in sales.
Accurate forecasting is critical for strategic planning. AI analyses historical data, market conditions, and customer behaviour to predict future sales performance. This enables businesses to anticipate demand, manage inventory, and set realistic targets.
AI sales tools like Zoho, Salesforce and Pipedrive have built-in sales forecasting capabilities and analytics, so you can easily monitor real-time data to give your sales team a better understanding of what they can expect each quarter.
AI for prospecting
AI’s most significant advantage is saving your sales team time on some of the more mundane, repetitive tasks on their to-do lists, such as list building, tracking sales triggers, and writing email sequences.
Using AI for sales means that what usually takes a few hours can be drastically reduced to just a few minutes. It’s also a great way to level up your prospecting game. AI can help create a better cold email pitch and alert you to the best time to send it, like after a major funding event.
AI streamlines this process by analysing data to identify potential customers most likely to convert. It can score leads based on engagement, demographics, and past interactions, allowing sales teams to prioritise efforts effectively.
AI-powered sales tools like Sales Companion take this to the next level. An AI assistant for sales, it provides valuable insights and tools to help teams multi-thread efficiently, reduce wasted time, and build accurate, high-quality prospecting lists.
How does it do this?
Every touchpoint is made more strategic and impactful with tailored insights sent in real-time. These include key personas, recommended contacts, signal data, technographics, lead recommendations, and more.
Check it out for yourself 👇
AI for sales efficiency
The last use case is using AI to improve the efficiency of your sales processes.
AI helps prioritise qualified leads based on prospects’ behaviours and interactions within your sales funnels, making lead scoring more accurate.
With a list of highly qualified leads, your sales teams can target leads most likely to make a purchase. Think fewer cold calls and more closed deals.
But making fewer cold calls does not mean you’re reaching out to fewer buyers. Instead, your sales team can personally contact your prospects at scale, making it easier to connect on a deeper level.
Because those prospects are more likely to buy, your team spends its time wisely on prospects already in the market.
In other words, AI removes the guesswork while increasing how many prospects you can reach at once.
Now that you know where AI creates the most significant impact, here’s how to weave those tools into your day-to-day sales workflows.
How to integrate AI into your sales workflows
Integrating AI into sales workflows involves several key areas:
Chatbots
Using an AI chatbot for sales is a fantastic way to generate leads when your sales team is unavailable, such as outside of work hours, on holidays, or on weekends.
With 24/7 engagement, they can handle initial customer inquiries, provide information, and qualify leads. When your customers receive timely responses, they significantly enhance their experience and retention.
You can train chatbots to:
- Capture user behaviour and interactions.
- Schedule meetings with your sales reps.
- Qualify leads.
Along with adding a chatbot on your customer-facing website, adding one to your CRM can help your sales team easily:
- Log prospect data directly into the CRM.
- Summarise meeting notes.
- Assist in quickly creating a cold email or follow-up message.
Sales calls
AI can provide real-time insights, suggest responses, and analyse customer sentiment during sales calls. This support enables sales representatives to adjust their approach dynamically, leading to more effective conversations and higher success rates.
AI for sales calls can:
- Generate personalised cold calling scripts.
- Create sales call transcripts and add imperative notes to the CRM.
- Identify customer sentiment and likely objections.
- Verify phone numbers.
Streamlining these tasks increases the effectiveness of your sales calls, positioning your team to close a deal.
Sales emails
Sales emails are as important as cold calls. They allow your reps to land directly in a prospect’s inbox and bypass the awkward small talk on a phone call.
But, writing an effective email, especially one that screams “Open Me!” can be challenging.
With the right AI tool, your sales reps don’t have to be stumped by writer’s block. Instead, they can generate emails that increase open rates, read rates, and responses.
But that’s not all. AI for sales emails can ensure your outreach always goes out at the optimal time. This way, communications are always relevant and timely, increasing the likelihood of positive responses.
Sales management
Imagine what your sales team can do with reliable data. Instead of waiting weeks for an updated report, AI monitors your sales data in real-time.
With real-time data, sales managers can make better, data-driven decisions, like making appropriate changes to the sales funnel to increase conversion rates.
AI for sales management can also help sales managers monitor rep performance, identifying top performers and those needing assistance.
Sales enablement
Sales enablement is more than just throwing a generic blog post at a prospective customer and hoping for the best.
To make sales enablement work for your team, you need personalised content built for and about the buyer.
AI for B2B sales can help your sales and marketing teams better analyse your prospects’ behaviours throughout the customer journey.
A deeper understanding of their feelings and what they need to know at every stage of the sales funnel can help your team create valuable content that speaks directly to their needs.
Sharing that information with your B2B marketing team will ensure that everyone is on the same page and create consistent messaging.
With consistency rooted in data, you can generate the right content and training materials to deliver the most appropriate message at the right time.
Lead generation
Think of lead generation as sifting through coal to look for diamonds. Any piece of coal can become a gem with the right amount of pressure.
But what if you could easily find diamonds?
AI for sales lead generation can identify patterns and behaviours indicative of potential customers. It can analyse social media activity, website interactions, and other data sources to uncover new opportunities.
It sorts prospective buyers and categorises them based on the likelihood of purchasing your brand.
This helps your sales teams focus on applying the appropriate amount of pressure to qualified leads, showing intent while nurturing other leads who are still at the top of the funnel.
By serving curated content at the right time, your team can turn ‘sort of interested’ into high-value, ready-to-buy leads.
Sales training
With the proper training, any sales professional can be a star seller.
AI for sales training can help evaluate rep conversations and performance. AI-powered training programs adapt to the learning styles and needs of sales representatives and provide interactive scenarios, feedback, and assessments, leading to more effective skill development. If your sales team has a training programme, your AI tool can recommend materials for on-the-spot training.
AI sales agents, like chatbots, are also helpful role-playing tools for training.
With generative AI, your sales teams can hold mock sales chats to learn their lines and get a feel for how to respond to various inquiries a prospective lead may have.
These tools aren’t a replacement for your sales team but a surefire way to help them become unstoppable.
Get the best AI for sales
We hope this article answers how to use AI for sales. Now you know what AI can do for your sales team, why not book a demo to see Cognism's Sales Companion in action?
With its industry-leading Diamond Data®, advanced intent signals, and powerful Sales Companion, Cognism ensures you’re always connecting with key decision-makers.
Embracing generative AI in sales is no longer a futuristic concept but a present-day necessity. Book your demo today 👇
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