“Artificial Intelligence, far from replacing the salesperson, will help them be more effective and sell more”

Interview with Fede Martrat, managing partner of ActitudPro and organizer of the Sales Innovation Forum 2023

The list of applications of Artificial Intelligence in sales has many possibilities. Statistics show that companies that are using Artificial Intelligence in a more or less incipient way in their sales processes have better results than average.

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He has been training commercial teams of large companies in the field of sales for more than 15 years. How has the weight of commercial departments evolved in Spanish companies?

 

In general, companies have reduced the weight of external sellers, due to the high costs they entailed, and have been replacing them with their own sellers who master new technologies. The figure of a traditional seller, unconnected to the Internet, has its days numbered in an omnichannel environment like the present.

 

How has the way the sales professional relates to the customer changed? 

The bases of empathy and the sale of solutions have not changed but we find ourselves in an environment in which it is the client who chooses which channel they want to enter and connect with the company; the so-called omnichannel. Therefore, the seller has to be very present in all possible channels (phone, WhatsApp, email, social networks, face-to-face meetings, etc.) to be close to the client and, at the same time, manage to appear close. The sales professional who knows how to keep all sales channels well-oiled and is attentive to opportunities will achieve results sooner. 

 

What qualities should a commercial professional have?

We are in a very changing landscape where the capacity for continuous learning is very necessary, as well as large doses of humility to be able to accept when something does not work and replace it with another sales strategy. Furthermore, self-motivation, work organization and autonomy are key to being able to carry out a professional career such as sales, in which many moments of solitude are spent. The sales profession still has bright days on the horizon, but it is necessary for the sales professional to adapt and know how to connect with the digital environment. Technology and artificial intelligence applied to sales, far from replacing the salesperson, will help you homogenize and be more effective and efficient in the commercial process.

 

What technological tools have been applied in the commercial departments of Spanish companies? 

In recent years the use of LinkedIn has spread in the field of sales, as well as the application of CRM that, although before they were only in the hands of large companies due to their high price, currently all types of companies use them. 

In general, would you say that the commercial departments of Spanish companies have correct digital health?

La digital health has improved significantly, especially since the pandemic, but we still find various gaps. Thus, digitalization improves in terms of the use of digital media such as, for example, the use of computer programs to hold online meetings or presentations, but, on the other hand, innovation does not appear. The problem of digital health is not in large and medium-sized companies, but in the minds of the leaders of small companies who have to accept that in order to grow they have to digitize at a forced pace.

 

Is Artificial Intelligence an opportunity for the commercial professional? What percentage of companies have incorporated Artificial Intelligence tools in their commercial departments?

The list of applications of Artificial Intelligence in sales has many possibilities. Statistics show that companies that are using Artificial Intelligence in a more or less incipient way in their sales processes have better results than average. The salesperson becomes the driver of a machine that uses different tools to write an email faster, prepare documentation for the client, among other actions, to reach and serve more and better a client who is now omnichannel. But we must look for those tools that provide us with real value and, above all, differentiate us, because it is increasingly difficult to maintain the link with the client.

 

The Digital Health of Companies study carried out by ActitudPro reveals that although 98% of the commercial professionals surveyed feel satisfied with their digital skills, more than half (54%) suspend the digital capabilities of their commercial teams. . What reading do you make of this statement?

This survey is aimed at commercial managers of companies, and the majority have had more educational opportunities than a large portion of sales professionals. This statement also demonstrates that there is still a training gap in digital skills, so companies must invest in training for their work teams, and that sales networks are established in short-termism. 

 

What are the main challenges faced by commercial departments in Spain?

The omnichannel nature of sales forces commercial departments to exhaustively design and implement a network of sales channels, as well as to train teams so that they can get the most out of them and offer a service that lives up to expectations. The expectations. All in all, we find ourselves at a time when there is a lack of professional salespeople, since we are in a country where being a salesperson is not the most prestigious. Dignifying and professionalizing the role of the seller is essential in a society that wants to function.