AI: What Impact on the Sales Manager’s Role?

The rise of artificial intelligence is as concerning as it is fascinating. And sales professionals are not immune to these concerns: the tasks they are responsible for can increasingly be entrusted to tools equipped with artificial intelligence.

In a context of constant technological progress, the role of sales teams evolves alongside that of the sales manager. How is artificial intelligence transforming the sales manager’s mission?

Sales Manager: An Educator’s Role

The primary role of tomorrow’s sales manager will indeed be to prepare their sales team for the arrival of artificial intelligence. And to prepare, it will be necessary to both explain and train.

The implementation of a form of artificial intelligence within your sales organization will undoubtedly disrupt your employees’ working methods. It is therefore essential to manage the change smoothly, explaining it before implementing it. The sooner you identify your sales team’s obstacles and concerns, the better you will be able to present them with the benefits of such a change.

Once these obstacles are removed, the sales manager will need to act as an educator by guiding their sales team in adopting their new tools. By adopting a coaching approach, rather than simply being a hierarchical superior, you will thus be able to train your sales force on the new tools you provide them with.

Sales Manager: A Mediator’s Role

While artificial intelligence aims to improve the productivity of your sales team, it cannot, however, replace them. Tomorrow’s sales manager’s second mission will therefore be to arbitrate.

You will notably need to distinguish between tasks that can be handled by artificial intelligence tools and those that cannot do without human input.

Indeed, your sales force is the guarantor of your customer relationships. Artificial intelligence should therefore not “erase” the relational aspect of the sales function, but rather strengthen it by relieving your sales force of repetitive and/or administrative tasks.

It will then be up to you, as a sales manager, to act as a mediator between your digital resources and your human resources.

Artificial Intelligence: Towards Field Sales Management?

According to a survey conducted by Harvard Business Review, 54% of employees perform administrative tasks, regardless of their hierarchical position within the company. Often repetitive and unengaging, these tasks can be an obstacle to the productivity of sales professionals, but also to that of sales managers.

Indeed, artificial intelligence should allow you to delegate the majority of your administrative work to dedicated tools, capable of generating highly accurate statistical reports. This way, you will free up more time to support, coach, and motivate your sales force.

Overall, artificial intelligence should allow the sales manager to reconnect with their role as a field leader. New digital tools make it possible to delegate low-value-added tasks, to focus on what is essential: the synergy that unites a sales manager and their sales force.

Discover how our client Interfimo boosted its sales performance thanks to Incenteev’s digital solution.

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