In today’s competitive business landscape, achieving consistent growth is a primary objective for most companies.
Every day, the focus remains on expanding the user base and driving revenue.
However, what happens to those “promising” leads if they don’t transition into valuable sales opportunities?
Companies rely on their dedicated Sales Development Representative (SDR) teams in these situations to follow up and reach out to leads, qualify them and schedule meetings.
According to research, it takes an average of 8 touch points to get an initial meeting (or other conversion) with a new prospect.
Unfortunately, most SDRs do not have the capabilities or capacity to handle or manage such a huge volume of intercations which causes a bottleneck of leads stuck at the top of the funnel.
The reason is:
- Most reps quit following-up too soon
- 50% of your reps’ time is wasted on pursuing unqualified leads
- Only 25% of leads are qualified and should be passed to sales
- Your sales development process is inefficient and your SDRs are busy with low-value tasks.
In light of these challenges, a viable solution emerges – the integration of AI-powered sales assistant or SDR automation through advanced technology.
Through the adoption of AI-powered SDR automation tools, businesses can surmount these challenges and access an array of benefits.
Keep reading as in this post we’ll explore 10 benefits of using Conversational AI for SDRs to successfully drive growth for your business.
How do Automated SDRs work?
AI-powered SDRs, also known as conversation nurturing, bridge the critical junction between marketing and sales functions.
By harnessing the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI), these systems engage in two-way conversations via email, chat, and SMS with leads, mirroring human communication.
An AI SDR seamlessly executes tasks such as lead follow-ups, lead nurturing, addressing inquiries, assessing qualifications, and scheduling meetings.
Example of automated SDR – Exceed
Unlike marketing automation platforms which primarily facilitate one-way communication and traditional sales automation which relies on manual intervention by your representatives, AI powered SDRs liberate you from the challenges of repetitive, high-volume interactions while elevating your buyers’ journey and experience.
9 Reasons Why Automated Sales Development Accelerates Engagement and Revenue
Automated SDR tools execute all the repetitive routine tasks from the beginning stages of the buyer’s journey like answering questions, qualifying leads, and handling the entire meeting scheduling cycle, allowing sales representatives to focus on high-value activities like building trust and relationships instead.
With automated service agents or SDRs in place, human sales reps will spend less time prospecting and assessing which lead has the highest chance to convert.
By leveraging the power of automated sales development, businesses can speed up their sales cycle and achieve impressive growth.
Here are the top ten ways that automated SDRs impact high-growth companies:
1. You’ll get more responses from leads
One of the key benefits of this approach is the ability to generate more responses from leads.
By automating the outreach process, sales development teams can send personalized emails at scale, increasing the touchpoints with potential customers.
Additionally, automated follow-ups can nurture leads over time, increasing the likelihood of a response.
Three statistics illustrate how crucial follow-up is to converting inbound leads:
- It takes businesses an average of 42 hours to respond to a lead
- 78% of buyers buy from the first responder
- 92% of salespeople give up after four “no’s” while 80% of sales need at least five emails
2. Using sales development automation is a force multiplier
Another significant benefit of sales development automation is its ability to act as a force multiplier.
Rather than relying solely on human effort, automated tools allow sales teams to maximize their productivity and achieve greater results in less time.
It costs about $100K and takes almost a year to fully onboard a sales rep. Shouldn’t you maximize their productivity with that kind of investment?
Empower your sales reps with a personal AI-powered SDR and see how it becomes a force multiplier.
3. Uncover more revenue opportunities
According to AdRoll/RollWorks, sales ignore 50% of marketing leads.
Sales won’t touch the thousands of older CRM leads because they’re focused on newer, hotter leads. Automation can engage these leads and hand over the responsive and qualified leads.
4. You’ll get better results from ABM campaigns
With automated sales development, you can more accurately target the accounts that are most likely to convert, and you can engage with those accounts more efficiently and effectively.
According to John Dering, Sr. Director of ABM and Marketing Technology at DemandBase, “Exceed has revolutionized our pipeline amplification and customer outreach, guaranteeing every lead receives dedicated attention. Thanks to Exceed, we’ve not only met but exceeded our sales goals, achieving an impressive 109%.“
Similarly, Yoav Shetrit, Sales Team Manager at Monday.com, reports, “Exceed has elevated our productivity by an astounding 35%, empowering our team to concentrate on closing deals instead of navigating repetitive tasks and pursuing unqualified leads. It’s an indispensable asset for any sales team.”
With these insights, it’s evident that automated sales development transforms ABM campaigns into dynamic and efficient endeavors, driving substantial improvements across multiple fronts.
5. Turn meeting prep into your competitive advantage
Preparing for a meeting can be a time-consuming task, especially when you have a lot of leads in your pipeline.
However, it is a crucial step to ensure that you make a great first impression and walk away with a sale.
By using automated sales development, you can turn meeting prep into your competitive advantage.
Your reps will have more time to prep for calls once you free them from follow-ups (another four hours of selling time per week!).
6. Re-invest the cost savings into other growth streams
It often takes several SDRs to manage the repetitive work of responding to leads. Automation costs less than those salaries.
Take the cost savings and spend that money on upskilling your team for an improved buyer journey.
7. It creates a collaborative atmosphere
AI-driven Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) serve as a bridge between sales and marketing, harmonizing their efforts. By engaging leads, evaluating their potential, and integrating data into CRM systems, they help foster true alignment.
By relieving the burden of manual data upkeep and CRM hygiene, AI-powered reps enable sales and marketing teams to focus on more strategic activities that foster growth.
8. Completes the modern sales & marketing stack
AI-powered sales assistants used for sales development provide businesses with a more scalable and personalized approach to lead engagement and management.
Combine with marketing automation and sales engagement platforms, chatbots and intent data for highly personalized outreach and maximum sales velocity.
9. It’s perfect for experimentation
Another key benefit of using automated sales development is the ability to experiment without risking a significant investment of time or money.
Run A/B tests on campaigns and emails, analyze which playbook works best, or use the help of Generative AI to create your content. The software allows for quick modifications that can be immediately tested and refined.
Automated SDRs allow you to experiment with:
- Email copy and subject lines
- Cadence
- Audiences
- Timing / Time zones
- Data points from your CRM
To sum up
By leveraging an AI-powered sales platform, organizations can gather key insights on customer behavior, drive operational efficiency, capture more leads, and close deals faster.
AI-powered SDRs can open up new opportunities for engagement with customers while also reducing the amount of manual labor associated with personal outreach.
For those looking to take advantage of the advantages discussed here, Exceed’s AI-powered SDR automation platform provides an easy and intuitive solution for businesses that can benefit immediately.
So what are you waiting for?
Get started today and take your sales performance to the next level with Exceed’s AI-powered SDR automation platform.
