The B2B sales landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation. Economic uncertainty, shifting buyer expectations, and technologies like generative AI are compelling sales leaders to rethink how they operate. This shift is driven by the fact that B2B buyers now expect the same level of personalization, ease, and omnichannel engagement they experience as consumers. As a result, no deal is guaranteed, and static sales processes are no longer sustainable. To succeed, sales teams must embrace agility, innovation, and technology like never before.
Despite the numerous and diverse challenges, smart sales efforts yield significant results. We know that leaders who implement a growth mindset in their actions are likely to achieve success. Those who outperform on growth invest more aggressively in digital-led transformations and AI. It helps them boost sales and marketing productivity. The statistics show us that those that master innovation excellence see an additional four-percentage-points-higher cumulative total shareholder return growth than their peers.
To gain a deeper understanding of how successful B2B sales organizations use technology to improve accuracy and speed, our team spoke with more than 70 commercial leaders around the world to learn how they propel above-market, sustainable growth. We found that growth leaders in B2B sales are using AI to find new pockets of growth both within their core business and beyond. Here are four ways they are achieving this:
1. Use AI to spot white space opportunities
The first step to consistent B2B selling success is to spot the right opportunities. By analyzing vast datasets, AI can help sales teams identify fast-growing niches, engage with customers more effectively through micro-segmentation, and surface valuable opportunities.
For example, with the right information and setup, AI-enabled tools can suggest possible white space markets for existing products, identify new verticals, or brainstorm product development opportunities to use distinctive technologies in adjacent spaces. If the company can identify areas for new investment and swiftly capitalize on them, the routes to success will be rapidly increased.
Likewise, machine learning enables companies to segment customers by analyzing attributes that influence sales, prioritizing key customer groups, and tailoring offers accordingly. These insights inform decisions such as how to personalize value propositions or prioritize leads – all crucial to effective sales. These new opportunities to offer specific products or services in tailored ways to targeted customers, delivered at scale, can have a significant impact. What’s more, with B2B sellers’ growing taste for consumer-like experiences, the ability to segment accurately and to a high degree of granularity will become increasingly key to success.
2. Leverage AI insights for customer targeting and prioritization
AI can also help identify which potential customers are most likely to respond well to an approach, improving the flow of SQLs into the system.
For example, when combined with external data sources, gen AI can create a granular view of a company’s market. This includes a robust map of potential customers, projected spend by product line, current share by customer, and detailed customer data (such as industry, subindustry, purchase trends of similar customers, and location). When integrated with a customer relationship management (CRM) system, this information can be transformed into qualified leads by an inside sales team, which can thenbe turned into sales opportunities. This can significantly expand the new customer pipeline.
However, this technology is still in its infancy. Many B2B sellers are in the early stages of using generative AI. Just 21% of commercial leaders report that their companies have fully enabled enterprise-wide adoption of gen AI in B2B buying and selling, and 22% have only piloted specific use cases. So, there’s work to be done – but the results could be significant.
3. Delight and keep customers with AI-enabled engagement
It’s not enough to just find new customers and opportunities, though – strong sales organizations focus on retention as much as acquisition. Beyond finding new customers, AI is key to helping companies delight and keep their customers. By identifying patterns in customer behavior, sales teams can proactively mitigate churn risks and deliver more value through personalized follow-ups, ensuring long-term relationships.
For example, AI can help address churn by examining several factors such as pricing, service, or product features, helping sales leaders understand the reasons behind customer churn and when it might occur. By deploying analytical methods, including sentiment analysis and behavioral data in customer interactions, companies can better anticipate the key drivers and levels of future churn across different markets, business lines, and individual customers. Equipped with this knowledge, they can identify and implement proactive measures for effective retention.
Retention also flows from positive customer experiences of the brand itself, whether in the marketing materials they receive or the speed with which they can access answers to their questions and challenges. AI-enabled content targeting and chatbot communications, for example, can rapidly help enhance these key customer engagement channels, moving away from broad-brush, one-size-fits-all approaches and unhelpful, nuance-lacking bots.
4. Recognize that AI isn’t just tech, it’s a lever for growth
Despite growing enthusiasm for AI and other digital technologies, only 20% of B2B sales leaders can point to a proven track record of consistently implementing tech to drive outsize growth. Many are still in the early stages, experimenting with AI but not fully unlocking its potential. However, the companies that commit to AI as a strategic enabler—rather than just another tool—are already pulling ahead.
The message is clear: AI isn’t just a competitive advantage; it’s becoming the foundation of modern B2B sales. Those who embrace it now will be the ones to define the next era of growth—identifying untapped markets, acquiring high-value customers, and bui
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