It is not unusual for manufacturing sales to rely heavily on experience, relationships and gut instinct. Skilled salespeople know which prospects and clients to focus on, when to push for a deal and how to navigate complex discussions around pricing. But in today’s tech-driven landscape, using data and AI-powered tools can take sales strategy and operations to the next level.
More manufacturers are embracing business intelligence (BI) and artificial intelligence (AI) to transform various aspects of their business, including sales processes. With BI, you can build a foundation of understanding customer behavior, identifying trends, profitability drivers and understanding customer lifetime value (LTV). With AI, you can take it a step further by incorporating automation, predictive analytics and AI-powered virtual sales agents that can bring more efficiency and strategy to the entire sales cycle.
With the right combination of BI and AI, manufacturers can maximize profitability through data-driven processes and decision-making, improving sales efficiency and increasing customer retention.
How BI Can Lay the Foundation
Data is one of the most powerful tools in a manufacturer’s sales strategy. However, without the right structure and analysis, it may not be properly leveraged. That’s where BI comes in. Transforming raw sales data into meaningful insights can drive smarter decision-making. Manufacturers often struggle with key questions that directly impact growth and profitability. BI can help you answer such questions:
- Which orders and pricing strategies drive the highest profitability? BI can uncover trends in pricing, order frequency, and customer spending habits, helping manufacturers optimize their sales approach.
- Who are our most valuable customers? Understanding which accounts drive the most revenue can allow sales teams to focus their efforts where they’ll have the greatest impact.
- How can we measure and improve customer retention and LTV? By tracking customer engagement and spending over time, BI can highlight early warning signs of churn, allowing sales teams to act before losing key clients. It can also provide valuable insights around the customer’s business and their needs that can help drive loyalty and LTV.
Before incorporating AI into their system and processes, manufacturers need to first understand their data and trends. Many companies don’t fully leverage data sources such as CRM systems, ERP software or customer interactions. BI tools aggregate and analyze these sources, providing a holistic view rather than siloed insights. With this foundation, companies can interpret AI-driven recommendations and educate their sales teams to make more informed decisions.
Turning Insights into Action with AI
While BI can help businesses understand their data and make informed decisions, AI can take it further by automating tasks, connecting information, making recommendations and predicting outcomes. In some cases, AI can even act autonomously. However, it’s important to know what’s in your data because otherwise, this could be risky.
AI complements BI by being able to process large datasets faster than humans and uncovering patterns that may be overlooked.
More than 60 percent of sales and service professionals believe generative AI will help them better serve customers, according to Salesforce. Another Salesforce report found that sales teams using AI are 1.3 times more likely to see a revenue increase. AI is already having a transformative effect on sales functions, helping teams work smarter and more efficiently.
AI-powered tools can transform sales strategies in several key ways:
- Customer engagement – An AI agent can handle orders, answer questions and resolve issues, improving first-contact interactions.
- Personalization – Tailors recommendations and offers based on customer preferences and behavior, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.
- Sales assistance – Provides real-time coaching by tapping into an insights database, helping sales reps make data-driven decisions and prioritize the most promising opportunities.
AI can also help enhance upselling and cross-selling efforts by identifying which additional products or services align with a client’s past purchases. A sales team that once relied on more generalized recommendations can now take a more tailored approach, offering personalized solutions that truly meet the needs of each client.
Why AI Won’t Replace Sales Teams
With the increasing adoption of AI in recent times, one common concern is whether it will replace human sales teams. The short answer? No.
While AI can process data, automate tasks and generate insights, it is not replacing the human expertise needed to serve customers with tailored solutions, build relationships or close a deal. AI-assisted selling can help sales teams do more in less time and take a more strategic, consultative approach. AI can flag a long-time customer with declining orders, while BI provides insights into past interactions and pricing trends. With this data, sales reps can use a tailored strategy to strengthen relationships and drive growth. When your customers grow, you grow.
Successfully integrating BI and AI into the sales process doesn’t require an overnight transformation. A step-by-step approach can create a smooth transition while maximizing long-term impact.
The first step is building a strong data foundation and establishing data quality, consistency and having the right infrastructure in place for AI readiness. BI tools help identify key use cases by integrating real-time dashboards for sales performance, customer segmentation and profitability analysis. Once a solid BI foundation is in place, AI can be introduced to incorporate automation and increase efficiency. AI-powered lead scoring, pricing optimization, and demand forecasting helps sales reps focus on high-value opportunities while reducing repetitive manual tasks.
Finally, BI and AI models must evolve with internal business goals, customer behavior and market trends. It’s important to regularly review data accuracy, integration processes and automation workflows to make sure these tools continue to deliver maximum value.
The Future of AI-Powered Sales
BI and AI are reshaping the manufacturing industry, from operations to sales. BI provides a strong foundation of data-driven insights, while AI enhances efficiency through automation, process optimization and predictive modeling and analysis. Even with advancing technology, sales remains a fundamentally human-driven process. The most effective sales strategies will come from a balance of BI- and AI-driven insights with human interaction and relationship management.
For businesses looking to make the transition to BI and AI-powered sales for smarter processes and decision-making, working with experts who understand both the manufacturing industry and this technology can make all the difference. Such guidance can help you navigate the process and implement the right solutions that align with your business goals.
Vera Nieuwland is a Director in Kaufman Rossin’s business consulting services practice, leading the service line for Digital Transformation. Lilia Restrepo is a Director in Kaufman Rossin’s business operations team where she provides expertise on creating dashboards with business insights as well as developing reporting solutions to create impact and increase efficiency in internal processes.