Scale you Follow Up Process with AI and Automation

Are your sales reps failing at following up with leads?

Are a large portion of your leads not receiving the proper engagement or nurturing needed to drive them through the funnel and further along in their buyer journey?

If the answer is yes you’re not alone. In fact, after the first email or phone call goes unanswered, 44% of salespeople give up. Furthermore, with an average of just 2% of sales closing after the first touchpoint, sales reps would be missing out on 98% of their opportunities to close a qualified lead, if they chose not to engage in proper follow-up, resulting in an overwhelming loss in missed opportunities.

With such a large number of salespeople initiating ineffective, or no follow-up processes at all, businesses and organizations look towards the adoption of new technologies as a way to overcome this hurdle, specifically those that encompass AI and Automation.

However, what is the right solution to executing effective and continuous follow-up, and how can AI and Automation provide the tools necessary to scale the follow-up process without compromising on personalization?

Why Aren’t Sales & Marketing Teams Following Up?

• Inefficient, unscalable, and time-intensive processes  – With most businesses and organizations receiving leads from multiple sources, it can sometimes be overwhelming for the salespeople to follow up. This process is typically done manually, requires immense time, and is inefficient when examining the full workload that an SDR is responsible for. Furthermore, in many scenarios, organizations don’t have the capacity or technology to handle and scale actual replies from those initial follow-ups.
• A constant flow of new leads – For marketing and sales teams to be successful, they need to work hand in hand, like a well-oiled machine. But what happens when there is a lack of manpower from the Sales team to keep up with the constant influx of new SQLs? The answer of course is a build-up of a qualified pipeline, stuck at the top of the funnel, unable to progress due to lack of time needed to engage with each one. When adding a new headcount isn’t an option, or even a scalable solution to fixing the problem in the long run, the efforts of the Marketing team to bring in new leads end up being wasted – like leaving money out on the table. Furthermore, any experienced SDR needs to understand that not all leads are created equal, and with a never-ending influx of new leads coming in, and each one needing to be qualified, it’s simply impossible to keep up.
• The never-ending follow-up process – With the minimum amount of touchpoints needed to get a response from a lead being eight, on average, it can be a daunting, time-consuming, and disheartening process for an SDR. The monotonous, repetitive follow-up process is unscalable and can lead to frustrated SDRs that spend time and energy following up with dozens, if not hundreds of leads that have been qualified but are still unresponsive – ultimately causing a bottleneck of leads stuck at the top of the funnel.

How Automated AI Tools Offer An All-In-One Solution

With Automation and AI being the driving forces behind the recent digital transformation, it’s more important than ever for businesses and organizations to educate themselves on the availability of new tools that help to address the issues related to scaling their lead follow up processes and that also provide a positive customer experience.

Tools such as an AI Email Assistant, or Automated AI Assistant are allowing sales reps to focus solely on converting SQLs into new clients. The AI assistant understands lead responses and replies with the right contextual message in a timely manner to drive response and determine the best action needed.

With the AI Sales Assistant managing the entire lead qualification, nurturing, and handover process, you will no longer be stuck with leads waiting for interaction and engagement. In fact with an AI Sales Assistant, you are able to scale your entire process, alleviating the bottleneck entirely and creating a steady funnel. without adding an additional headcount.

You might ask yourself, well what about the consistent flow of new leads, how can I ensure that each and every lead is properly handled? Well with an AI Sales Assistant, you can allow it to manage any new incoming or preexisting leads, 24/7, 365 days a year, freeing up time for your sales team to do what they do best, creating human interactions, relationship building, and building trust with leads and prospects.

Furthermore, with the power of an AI Sales Assistant you are collecting a variety of data points on your prospects, which are captured during the engagement process, allowing you to personalize and tailor the conversation to their needs.

On average, organizations and businesses that utilize an AI Sales Assistant from a solution provider like Exceed, have realized:

• 3x more SQLs without adding headcount
• 35% increase in sales rep productivity
• 79% reduction in CAC (customer acquisition cost)

Looking Forward

The future workforce is one that will truly be augmented as a result of the continued proliferation and adoption of AI. With more than 37% of organizations claiming to have deployed AI solutions, it’s important to ensure that with the adoption of these new technologies, that the customer experience and human connection are not lost along the way. Engaging in the consistent lead follow-up and ensuring a certain level of personalization is present, will “never go out of style”. Everyone wants to feel that they are important, and with the help of new technologies encompassing advanced AI and automated capabilities, it’s certain that this process will not fall by the wayside.