There’s a lot that goes into closing a B2B deal, and every step matters. If a prospect encounters friction at any point in the purchase journey, there’s a good chance they’ll walk away.
No pressure right?
The problem is, most B2B sellers simply don’t have the time to deliver the personalized, seamless experiences today’s B2B buyers expect. Sales reps are bogged down with tedious, time consuming tasks, leaving them with little time to focus on what really matters: building relationships, earning trust, and closing deals.
Today, more and more revenue organizations are turning to AI sales agents to bridge the gap.
AI sales agents handle the time consuming (but necessary) tasks, like qualifying leads, booking meetings, and identifying the next best action to move deals forward. That way, sellers can stay focused on fostering relationships and closing deals.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at what AI sales agents are and why they’ve quickly become an essential tool for organizations looking to boost sales productivity and performance at scale.
What are AI sales agents?
An AI sales agent is a tool that leverages artificial intelligence to perform or assist with selling tasks – often without requiring continuous involvement of a human sales rep. AI sales agents are used to save time, increase productivity, and improve customer experiences across the entire sales cycle.
AI agents can support a wide range of areas, including:
- Qualifying leads
- Scheduling meetings
- Engaging with prospects and answering questions in real-time
- Maintaining accurate records across sales tools
- Analyzing sales conversations to recommend next steps
B2B buyers have high expectations, but sellers are often short on time. AI sales agents streamline or automate different parts of the sales cycle. This frees up sellers to focus on higher value tasks and closing more deals.
How AI sales agents work
AI sales agents leverage data, algorithms, and machine learning to make decisions and perform different actions. Over time, they learn from past interactions and continuously optimize their approach for even better results.
Different types of AI sales agents
There are two types of AI sales agents:
- Autonomous: These AI sales agents act independently and can complete entire tasks without human involvement. For example, an AI sales agent may qualify leads or schedule meetings on its own.
- Assistive: These are often referred to as AI sales assistants. They help sellers complete myriad tasks, but they don’t work independently. For example, an AI sales assistant may draft a prospecting email, but the seller must review the email before sending. Or, an AI sales assistant may suggest the next step a seller should take in the sales cycle, but the seller is ultimately responsible for taking that step.
We’ll take a closer look at the differences between AI sales agents and AI sales assistants later on.
How are AI sales agents shaping the future of sales enablement and sales automation?
The world of sales is evolving at breakneck speed. AI is right at the center of this rapid evolution.
Today’s B2B buyers have high expectations. Of course, they want outstanding products and services. But they also expect personalized communication, real-time responses, and seamless experiences across the entire purchase journey.
Meanwhile, sellers are under pressure to do more with less. Their targets are higher – but they have less time and fewer resources.
Sales enablement strategies and tools that worked in the past may no longer pass muster. That’s where AI sales agents come in.
AI sales agents aren’t just another tool to add to an already-bloated sales tech stack. Instead, they’re an intelligent system that can handle a wide range of sales and enablement tasks so sellers have the time, skills, and resources needed to deliver outstanding buyer experiences.
In the realm of sales enablement, AI agents can help sellers find the right content at the right time, deliver real-time AI coaching based on call and role-play performance, and personalize AI training recommendations – all without a sales manager needing to intervene.
On the sales automation side of things, AI sales agents can handle repetitive tasks like meeting scheduling, lead scoring, and follow-up reminders. That means sellers can spend less time on tedious administrative work and more time on building relationships and guiding deals to the finish line.
The bottom line? AI sales agents can help revenue and enablement leaders scale impact, drive consistency, and keep their teams one step ahead of the competition.
How is an AI sales agent different from an AI sales assistant?
The terms “AI sales agent” and “AI sales assistant” are often used synonymously. While the two terms are related, they aren’t the same thing.
So, what’s the difference?
An AI sales assistant supports sales reps by tackling specific tasks or making recommendations. Some examples include:
- Drafting emails
- Recommending a piece of sales content for a specific scenario
- Suggesting the next best step to take in a deal
While the AI sales assistant provides input, the seller must review and act on the input. For example, an AI sales assistant can make a recommendation on a piece of content, but it’s ultimately up to the seller to share the content with the prospect.
An AI sales assistant is a support tool. It can accelerate and simplify processes, but it doesn’t take full control.
An AI sales agent takes things to the next level.
AI sales agents operate more independently than AI sales assistants. An AI sales agent can perform entire tasks on its own, without human intervention. Some examples include:
- Qualifying leads
- Answering questions
- Scheduling meetings
In fact, an AI sales agent can engage with a prospect across multiple touchpoints and move them further down the funnel before they ever interact with a live sales rep.
Both AI sales assistants and AI sales agents have a role to play. But as technology evolves and customer expectations grow, more and more teams are embracing AI sales agents. AI sales agents can handle larger parts of the sales cycle, more independently, which frees up sellers to focus on fostering relationships, building trust, and closing deals.
AI sales assistants vs AI sales agents
Both can play an important role in increasing productivity and improving buyer experience
| AI sales assistant | AI sales agent | |
|---|---|---|
|
Purpose |
Support human sales reps with tasks and recommendations. |
Perform tasks with minimal to no human input. |
|
Level of autonomy |
Low. Requires human review, approval, and execution. |
High. Can take action and make decisions without human intervention. |
|
Who takes action |
Human sales rep |
AI sales agent |
|
Best for |
Supporting reps with decision-making and task execution. |
Streamlining and automating entire portions of the sales cycle. |
|
Examples of tasks |
– Drafting emails – Recommending relevant, proven sales content – Recommending next best steps |
– Qualifying leads – Answering basic questions – Scheduling meetings – Routing prospects to appropriate live sales rep |
|
How it impacts sales teams |
Increases efficiency and reduces time spent on manual, tedious tasks. |
Frees up reps’ time so they can focus on building relationships and closing deals. |
What are the benefits of an AI sales agent?
More and more organizations are investing in AI sales agents, and it’s not hard to see why. These intelligent tools provide plenty of advantages that can help customer-facing teams work smarter and close more deals.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the top benefits of an AI sales agent.
During the average week, sales reps spend a mere 30% of their time on selling activities. The remainder is spent on other time-consuming tasks like qualifying leads, booking meetings, and data entry.
One of the biggest benefits of an AI sales agent is that it saves sellers’ time. These agents can streamline (or even completely automate) the routine, tedious tasks that are necessary – but take up so much of a seller’s time. That way, reps have more time to dedicate to high value activities like building relationships and closing deals.
Prospects are bound to have questions. They expect timely answers – no matter when a question arises.
In the past, prospects were at the mercy of a seller. If a sales rep didn’t respond fast enough, the prospect would look elsewhere.
Now, AI sales agents allow for timely engagement, any time of day. For example, an AI sales agent can answer simple questions from a prospect in real-time. These agents can also help sales reps surface information and content faster, which allows for faster response times.
Today’s B2B buyers expect personalized communication and experiences throughout the sales cycle. But reps often struggle to meet their expectations.
AI sales assistants make it possible to deliver consistent, personalized communication at scale. Every prospect gets relevant messaging and timely follow-up – without overloading sales reps.
The B2B purchase journey is rarely straightforward. Instead, it’s often long and complex, and sellers struggle to keep deals on track.
An AI sales agent can guide sellers every step of the way. For example, AI can help sellers prepare for calls and tailor follow up. AI can also recommend content and training based on the specifics of a deal or suggest what step the seller should take next to keep the deal on track.
B2B buyers depend on content to make informed purchase decisions. But sharing generic content won’t cut it.
An AI sales agent can provide content recommendations for every sales scenario, based on factors like past performance, buyer signals, and deal stage. By sharing relevant content, sellers are more likely to capture buyers’ attention – and keep them engaged throughout the sales cycle.
Sales training is important. But sellers also need opportunities to practice what they’ve learned. While traditional role-plays are effective, they’re also time-consuming and hard to scale across teams.
An AI sales assistant is the answer.
AI role-plays allow sellers to practice their skills through realistic, on-demand sales simulations. Some AI sales tools even let sellers customize role-plays with real deal information. That way, sellers can fine tune their approach and head into the field with confidence.
Ongoing sales coaching is essential for all sales reps. But getting timely feedback often depends on a manager’s availability. By the time coaching happens, it may be too late.
With an AI sales agent, sellers can get real-time AI coaching based on their performance on sales calls or role-plays. They can use this feedback to adjust their approach and improve outcomes.
Every organization aims to boost revenue. But many assume the only way to close more deals is to hire more sales reps.
With an AI sales agent, organizations can engage more customers and close more deals – without adding more headcount.
Unlock your sales potential with AI tools from Mindtickle
Modern B2B buyers expect tailored, seamless communication and experiences – no matter where they are on the purchase journey. The right AI sales tools empower your sellers to meet those expectations and close more deals – without wasting valuable time.
Mindtickle is an all-in-one revenue enablement platform that’s trusted by organizations across the globe. With Mindtickle’s AI-powered sales tools, you’ll improve sales performance and productivity and deliver outstanding buyer experiences at scale.
Mindtickle Copilot offers powerful AI capabilities to support every member of the go-to-market team.
Mindtickle Copilot makes it easier for sellers to prepare for every sales interaction and follow up accordingly. Copilot also offers capabilities to streamline and automate tasks throughout the sales cycle and ensure sellers have the skills needed to close more deals. For example, A-guided selling helps sellers build the right strategy for every deal, and AI role-plays allow sellers to practice their skills in realistic sales simulations.
Mindtickle Copilot also helps sales managers personalize coaching to address the unique strengths and weaknesses of each sales rep. Managers get insights on competencies, benchmarks, and next steps to take to upskill their teams.
Finally, Mindtickle Copilot has robust capabilities to support sales enablement teams. With Copilot, enablement teams can quickly create and launch engaging enablement content. They can also leverage content localization to support global teams.
Today, AI is all around us – including in many of the tools that sellers depend on every day. But often, AI is stuck in silos. Mindtickle’s AI capabilities integrate with other AI agents and your existing tools – including CRM systems and other engagement platforms. That way, your sellers can experience even larger productivity and performance gains.
Improve Seller Productivity with Mindtickle
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By Helen Waite
By Christian Pieper
