"In sales, things don’t always go as planned. For example, you meet with a prospect named Brad. It’s a good meeting, and Brad tells you to follow up in a month. The allocated time passes, so you send an email. When Brad doesn’t answer in a week, you send another. When that is ignored, you call Brad on his mobile.
Brad answers and then proceeds to tell you he doesn’t appreciate being “hounded” and that he’ll let you know if he needs something. You hang up, wondering what you did wrong.
In sales, the line between "I'm killing it!" and "Am I even qualified to sell water in the desert?" can feel a little thin at times. When you land on the wrong side of that line, you can rely on AI technology — I personally like ChatGPT — to help you figure out what went wrong and also analyze performance and suggest improvements.
This powerful tool can be your secret weapon, helping you to consistently improve your sales performance and increase your success rate in closing deals. By leveraging ChatGPT for detailed call reviews, you can analyze what you did right (and wrong) in meetings.
Analyzing a sales call is an easy exercise. To start, open ChatGPT and input meeting details. The more details the better, because AI tools work best when prompts include enough context to ensure a relevant answer. For example, if prospect Brad was a marketing product manager, wasn’t interested in chit-chat, and didn’t mention any pain points with his current vendors, include these details. Here is an example of this type of coaching prompt:
I had a first-time sales meeting with a prospect. He was a product manager at a manufacturing company that made valves. The meeting went like this. He agreed to see me for 30 minutes. When I arrived, he was cordial but told me he was very busy. I could tell he wasn’t interested in chit-chat, so I asked him about his role and responsibilities. He told me they were understaffed. The upcoming quarter was a busy time because they had a big tradeshow looming. He started asking me questions about my company's capabilities. When I mentioned warehousing, he took notice and mentioned they did a lot of kits but did not explain what the kits entailed. After twenty minutes, he looked at his watch and told me he had another meeting scheduled. He said we could get together in 30 days for another meeting. I shook hands and left. Analyze this meeting, telling me what I did well and what I could have done better.
Wonder how ChatGPT would answer? It’s easy to find out. Copy the example and drop it into ChatGPT.
This type of feedback is powerful for sales because it provides a mirror, reflecting both strengths and areas needing improvement. Through the impartial “eyes” of AI, you gain a deeper understanding of your impact on prospects and customers. Yes, it allows you to correct mistakes, but really, it is more about fostering personal growth, enhancing effectiveness, and building stronger, more productive relationships with clients.
And in sales, improving skills can also increase income, which is a very nice benefit for you.
ChatGPT as Your Sales Strategy Coach
The following post was originally published by Printing Impressions. To read more of their content, subscribe to their newsletter, Today on PIWorld.
"In sales, things don’t always go as planned. For example, you meet with a prospect named Brad. It’s a good meeting, and Brad tells you to follow up in a month. The allocated time passes, so you send an email. When Brad doesn’t answer in a week, you send another. When that is ignored, you call Brad on his mobile.
Brad answers and then proceeds to tell you he doesn’t appreciate being “hounded” and that he’ll let you know if he needs something. You hang up, wondering what you did wrong.
In sales, the line between "I'm killing it!" and "Am I even qualified to sell water in the desert?" can feel a little thin at times. When you land on the wrong side of that line, you can rely on AI technology — I personally like ChatGPT — to help you figure out what went wrong and also analyze performance and suggest improvements.
This powerful tool can be your secret weapon, helping you to consistently improve your sales performance and increase your success rate in closing deals. By leveraging ChatGPT for detailed call reviews, you can analyze what you did right (and wrong) in meetings.
Analyzing a sales call is an easy exercise. To start, open ChatGPT and input meeting details. The more details the better, because AI tools work best when prompts include enough context to ensure a relevant answer. For example, if prospect Brad was a marketing product manager, wasn’t interested in chit-chat, and didn’t mention any pain points with his current vendors, include these details. Here is an example of this type of coaching prompt:
I had a first-time sales meeting with a prospect. He was a product manager at a manufacturing company that made valves. The meeting went like this. He agreed to see me for 30 minutes. When I arrived, he was cordial but told me he was very busy. I could tell he wasn’t interested in chit-chat, so I asked him about his role and responsibilities. He told me they were understaffed. The upcoming quarter was a busy time because they had a big tradeshow looming. He started asking me questions about my company's capabilities. When I mentioned warehousing, he took notice and mentioned they did a lot of kits but did not explain what the kits entailed. After twenty minutes, he looked at his watch and told me he had another meeting scheduled. He said we could get together in 30 days for another meeting. I shook hands and left. Analyze this meeting, telling me what I did well and what I could have done better.
Wonder how ChatGPT would answer? It’s easy to find out. Copy the example and drop it into ChatGPT.
This type of feedback is powerful for sales because it provides a mirror, reflecting both strengths and areas needing improvement. Through the impartial “eyes” of AI, you gain a deeper understanding of your impact on prospects and customers. Yes, it allows you to correct mistakes, but really, it is more about fostering personal growth, enhancing effectiveness, and building stronger, more productive relationships with clients.
And in sales, improving skills can also increase income, which is a very nice benefit for you.
Linda Bishop is the founder and president of Thought Transformation, a national sales and marketing consulting group helping printers and other companies achieve top-line growth through a combination of strategies, tools, training and tactics.
Her expertise includes all aspects of outbound selling and account acquisition, account retention and development, solution selling, marketing, and aligning sales processes with marketing strategies. Most recently, she published The ChatGPT Sales Playbook: Revolutionizing Sales with AI and believes AI will offer sales pros new tools for achieving revenue goals.
Before starting Thought Transformation in 2004, Linda sold commercial printing for seventeen years, working as a commission salesperson for the Atlanta division of RR Donnelley Company. She was one of the top performers in the Atlanta marketplace and had annual sales exceeding $9 million.
Linda has a BS degree in accounting from Purdue University and an MBA in marketing from Georgia State. She has written several books on sales topics, speaks nationally on sales and marketing, and has published many articles.