AI is NOT just a sales enablement tool as much as it will become a 'buyer enablement' tool.

Sure, you can use GenAI to:

- Flag customer/consumer sentiment analysis

- Set up meetings for you

- Help refine our messaging/presentation

- Generate outreach messages

- Flag accounts that may not close

- Identify upsell opportunities

- Review contracts or Requests for Proposal (RFPs)

- Generate contracts, proposals, and marketing collateral

GenAI will help us

1. acquire new clients,
2. retain existing ones, and
3. help us sell them more.

But that's only ONE SIDE of the GenAI enablement coin.  Now, let's look at what we can expect from the buyer's perspective.

Let's imagine the following scenario. You're looking for a new SaaS product and need to implement it ASAP. You have two options:

Option 1: Search-Define-Refine-Present-Decide

• Go online and begin a broad search for companies that fulfill your needs.
• Then narrow your search by redefining your requirements.
• Next, invite the top three potential vendors to send you more information or have them present their wares to you and your team.
• Then, you narrow it down to two choices and eventually settle on one.

This process can take weeks, if not months, and in the end, no one is happy with the final decision as compromises had to be made along the way.

Option 2: AI Agent (AIA)

• A list of requirements is drawn up, and your AI agent (AIA) goes out and finds potential vendors.
• The AIA then constructs a comparison analysis of the top three products on the market by reviewing the product, price, and client reviews.
• Then, a cost-benefit analysis is developed, and a recommendation is made. At that point, a call is made to the top two or three vendors.

In both cases, the involvement of a salesperson is pushed further out in the buyer cycle, making it that much more difficult for a seller to influence the client's buying priorities.

So while GenAI may be seen as an 'efficiency tool' for sellers, buyers see it as an 'intelligence gathering' tool that will allow them to move further along the buying journey alone.

Two more examples:

Traditional Method:  Imagine Sarah, a marketing manager, overwhelmed by a sea of generic software options. Researching and comparing features takes weeks, leading to decision fatigue and potentially settling for a mediocre fit.GenAI:  Sarah outlines her needs in the AIA. The AIA analyzes reviews, feature comparisons, and pricing structures to curate a shortlist of top contenders. Sarah spends less time sifting and more time focusing on the best options.Traditional Method:  John, a procurement officer, relies on static brochures and demos to understand complex enterprise software. This one-dimensional view can miss crucial details.GenAI:  John's AIA delves deeper. It analyzes user forums, industry reports, and even social media sentiment to provide a holistic picture of a product's strengths, weaknesses, and real-world impact. John makes an informed decision based on comprehensive data.

In the future, sales interactions will likely become more consultative, with AI handling the heavy lifting of information gathering and initial comparisons.

GenAI will free the buyer from relying on salespeople to guide their choices.

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