{"id":111791,"date":"2024-05-06T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=articles&p=111791"},"modified":"2024-05-06T14:30:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T18:30:16","slug":"enabling-sellers-to-create-human-connection-in-the-ai-age","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/articles\/sales\/enabling-sellers-to-create-human-connection-in-the-ai-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Enabling Sellers to Create Human Connection in the AI Age"},"author":52,"featured_media":111818,"template":"","tags":[4803,17124],"class_list":["post-111791","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-human-connection","tag-sales-technologies","global_topic_tax-artificial-intelligence","global_topic_tax-sales"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Alec Niedenthal","author_image":97989,"author_bio":"Alec Niedenthal is senior writer for\u202f<\/span><\/span>Rallyware<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u202fand lives in Brooklyn, New York<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>","excerpt":"There is no way of eliminating technology from the sales equation, so it\u2019s essential to think through how to use technology to make the seller-consumer relationship more human.","main_content":"Today\u2019s consumer wants more than a product or a price point, and this is true for several reasons. The ghosts of the COVID-19 pandemic still haunt us, with all its anxiety and conflict. At the same time, the pervasive influence of social media means that the brands we wear and engage with reflect who we are \u2014 our values and perspectives. Furthermore, particularly when it comes to assisted sales (retail, direct selling), consumers want a feeling of connection<\/em>. Otherwise, they\u2019d simply shop online and never interface with a person at all.\r\n\r\nIndeed, there is evidence that as digitalization proceeds and online experiences replace interpersonal ones, consumers will value human connections even more. PwC research indicates<\/a> that 75% of consumers say they will want to interact with a real person more as technology improves. As AI technology becomes ever better at simulating human consciousness and conversation, this craving for real interaction will only sharpen. Thus, those companies that become more adept at creating human connections will be more likely to stand out and win repeat clientele.\r\n\r\nYet how to do so in a more technologized world?\r\n

Seller Enablement: Creating Meaningful Connections Between a Brand, Seller and Consumer<\/h2>\r\nClearly there is no way of eliminating technology from the sales equation, so it\u2019s essential to think through how to use technology to make the seller-consumer relationship more<\/em> human.\r\n\r\nTechnology is, at its core, useful in business as a form of empowerment and enablement. Companies do not acquire technology simply to create efficiencies. The idea behind a digital strategy should be that the technology rolled out enables a company to accomplish something it could not without that tech, helping it stand out from competitors and driving growth. Furthermore, tech tools should scale with the company \u2014 and adapt to future contexts. As the company grows and market conditions shift, tech should still create enough value to offset its costs, seamlessly evolving along with the times.\r\n\r\nHuman connection looks likely to remain a major key performance indicator (KPI) for sales organizations. Technology is only set to become better at simulating human interaction, and therefore the creation of human connection in sales relationships will become more important in tandem with this change.\r\n\r\nIt stands to reason, then, that sales organizations should look at how best to optimize and enable these connections, including through the very technology they are using to add value to the organization. What if the AI-enabled tech making human connection more important also<\/em> made it easier to accomplish?\r\n

Sales Performance Enablement and Seller Purpose<\/h2>\r\nThis report<\/a> examines the connection between seller happiness, seller service-skill and seller productivity, finding that the more skilled and enabled sellers feel, the happier they are in the flow of work, and the more productive they become.\r\n\r\nThat is to say, the better the seller becomes at providing sales service, the happier they become, and in turn the likelier they become to sell, in large part because customers feel more secure \u2014 not like they\u2019re simply the object of a transaction. These three elements mutually reinforce each other.\r\n\r\nIn this manner, think of technology that enables the seller\u2019s service skills in the flow of work. These performance enablement platforms<\/a>, or PEPs, use AI and real-time context to continually recommend actions the seller can take to perform at their best. This is one example of how seller technology establishes purpose for sellers.\r\n\r\nOn one level, purpose refers to the connection between the seller\u2019s and the company\u2019s mission \u2014 improving people\u2019s lives, creating change in the world, etc. In a more concrete sense, we can think about it as the sense of direction and guidance the seller feels day to day, making them more confident while lifting the burden of operational guesswork. Purpose is the feeling of, \u201cThis company supports me and is helping me cut through stress and accomplish my goals.\u201d\r\n\r\nBecause PEPs suggest productive actions to take based on live data (e.g., behavioral and performance data), as well as past customer behaviors and preferences, tech like this helps sellers feel that sense of connection to the company.\r\n\r\nAs they feel more connected to the company, they are better able to create connections with the customer. In this respect, creating connection is not only about developing a positive, inspirational brand identity, but about creating a seamless link between the company and the seller, motivating the seller to in turn create a connection with the consumer.\r\n

Seller Enablement Strategy and Creating a Culture of Purpose<\/h2>\r\nNo seller enablement strategy is complete without a cultural <\/em>strategy, which is to say, the processes and practices by which a company establishes the kinds of connections it wants to create between its sellers and customers.\r\n\r\nThis strategy requires companies to create a culture of purpose among the sales force, framing transactions not as \u201csuccessful sales\u201d but as meaningful points of connection. Thus, for instance, a seller is not \u201cselling shoes\u201d but helping the customer achieve the lifestyle of their dreams at an affordable price point. Or a seller is not \u201cselling watches\u201d but helping the customer create the kind of look that will affirm their identity.\r\n\r\nCreating this culture of purpose is not something that happens overnight. Instead, it must be built into each aspect of the seller experience, from onboarding and training to continual sales enablement<\/a> and team and customer communications.\r\n\r\nFor instance, a company that provides sales training to its sneaker sellers has two options: It can instruct the seller to upsell the customer in order to drive more revenue, or the company can tell a story about the role that sneakers play in their customers\u2019 lives \u2014 helping them recover from injuries, helping them get into shape and feel confident in their bodies.\r\n\r\nAt each point in the seller enablement journey, companies can choose to emphasize profit or connection. Ironically, it is in emphasizing connection that these companies will generate the most profit: by truly speaking to the consumer of today.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>\r\n

Merging Tech and Culture<\/h2>\r\nPurpose is key in creating connection between the company, the seller and the customer. This works on two levels, digital and cultural strategy. Technology can help the seller move confidently through their day, continually showing them the next action to take to be productive; this helps them feel supported and cared for, which fuels their connection to the company\u2019s mission.\r\n\r\nPsychologically speaking, they then become more receptive to the company\u2019s purpose on the cultural level, more willing to engage with it. Yet if you tell the seller a story about the company\u2019s purpose without supporting them operationally, they\u2019ll check out. They\u2019ll think, \u201cPut your money where your mouth is.\u201d You don\u2019t want empty words. You want to tell your sellers truths.\r\n\r\nOn the cultural level, once the seller feels supported and receptive to the company\u2019s message, companies must establish the meaning behind the transactions they make possible. The seller asks, why am I selling this? And the customer asks, why am I buying this? The answers to these questions should essentially be the same and should be easily identifiable. The company must tell a clear, vivid story that embodies their purpose.\r\n\r\nParticularly in a world where seller retention<\/a> is such a problem, it\u2019s inadvisable to convey to sellers that their purpose is merely to make the company money. In that case, they will move to another company as soon as there is an opening, because one company whose goal is just to drive revenue is as good as another. Rather, companies should give their sellers a meaningful purpose, one which carries emotional weight \u2014 making the customers\u2019 lives better in some way.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s only when these technological and cultural ways of instilling purpose are combined that sellers can truly be enabled. The seller of the 21st century does not want to sling products, they want to sell purpose. The companies that empower them to do that will stand out, both to sellers and the consuming public, and succeed.","full_width":false,"content_band":[{"acf_fc_layout":"social_callout","blockquote":" As AI technology becomes ever better at simulating human consciousness and conversation, the craving for real interaction will only sharpen. "},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_area","wysiwyg":"[hubspot type=\"form\" portal=\"47185625\" id=\"e4e19551-ca10-4a5d-b1c3-0fdc37355374\" version=\"v4\"]