Why an AI Virtual Sales Assistant is Critical During a Global Economic Downturn

Businesses are scrambling to contend with an impending global recession, record-level inflation, and major supply chain disruptions. Here’s how an AI-powered virtual sales assistant can give companies a leg up on the competition and safeguard businesses during tough economic times.

2020 saw the largest disruption to the global economy since WWII, and the market still hasn’t bounced back. The current global economic situation is turbulent, with the war in Ukraine, global supply chain issues, inflation, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic all contributing to an unpredictable market.

There’s no relief in sight, but there is an opportunity ahead. 

The good news is that despite market chaos and uncertainties, businesses can still hit revenue targets and discover more opportunities using Conversational AI assistants. AI Virtual Sales assistants can help businesses find sales-ready leads, engage with and qualify leads at scale, and even achieve up to a turbo-charged pipeline, with lead conversions at 3x their previous levels, al at a fraction of the cost of employee-driven engagement alone. Conversation Automation powered by AI can also ensure that businesses are able to deliver a superior buyer’s journey, which is critical for preventing churn and fostering customer loyalty.

The impact of an imminent downturn

More than 80% of Americans now believe that the U.S. will fall into a recession before the end of this year. That means that they’re cutting back on their spending, and winning over their business will be more challenging than ever before. Businesses need to ramp up their sales and marketing efforts, leaving no stone unturned when it comes to potential leads and warming their ties with existing and past clients.

The problem is that better customer experience and success strategies, as well as ramped-up sales and marketing efforts, require time and resources. You’ll need more people to answer emails and conduct time-consuming, manual follow-ups. That’s not to mention the team needed for lightning-fast responses to customer inquiries, complaints, and feedback – and that speed in engaging with client feedback is necessary in order to step up your game.

Your business’ agility and speed in engaging and responding to customers and leads can serve as a crucial differentiator in a hyper-competitive, economically depressed market. A personalized, swift answer that goes above a canned response (or radio silence) is essential for maintaining a competitive edge and instilling customer loyalty while fostering a positive sentiment around your brand. 

If now isn’t the right time to invest in recruiting, onboarding and training, Conversation Automation can start and continue the conversation with prospects, strengthen outreach, and provide personalized interactions without increasing headcount. 

How conversational AI can be your business’ saving grace

Sales, marketing, and customer success teams are only human. While their touch will always be needed, they’re not infallible. They get discouraged, they don’t want to follow up with an unresponsive lead for the umpteenth time, and they also can’t be available for round-the-clock support. 

Reps will make the judgment call to prioritize hot leads over random inquiries, a natural move when considering issues like manpower hours and the potential payoff for the amount of time invested in dealing with one conversation.

Fortunately, Conversational AI can streamline sales and marketing teams by providing 24/7/365 high-touch support and interaction with leads, prospects, and customers by proactively identifying opportunities without the need for human action.​

AI-powered sequences and playbooks take the burden off sales and marketing teams by qualifying leads, scheduling meetings, and nurturing low intent leads. They ensure that leads that seem less likely to convert, which may have been shifted to the bottom of the priority list by reps, can get the attention and follow-up that they deserve.

Exceed.AI’s Conversational AI  Sales and Marketing Assistant provides customers with an immediate authentic interaction. Advanced, smart sequences understand how and when to respond to customers and leads, bringing natural two-way engagement to marketing automation solutions like Marketo, Pardot, and Eloqua, and you can easily customize the solution to fit your business’s unique needs. Companies that have adopted AI-powered sales assistants within their overall marketing strategy have realized a 35% increase in productivity, an 80% increase in qualified leads per rep, and more. 

ResellerRatings, a boutique company focusing on improving the customer journey and connecting consumer feedback with brands, was looking to expand its client base. Their small sales and marketing teams were already overburdened, and they needed a solution that could ramp up their outreach and lead nurturing efforts, but wouldn’t require them to increase headcount.

Almost immediately after implementing Exceed.ai, ResellerRatings was able to schedule a staggering 45 qualified meetings in one month, when they’d been previously averaging just one or two per month.

If you’d like to learn more about how Conversation Automation can give you a critical leg up on your competition, schedule a demo with Exceed.ai, we’d love to show you how our smart AI-powered virtual assistant can help boost your sales, marketing, and customer service teams, without needing to increase headcount or resources.