Generative AI and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) have become essential tools for chemical technical sales teams.
Sales AI
May 30, 2024
Could your technical sales team benefit from a shorter sales cycle?
Perhaps the better question is — how could they not?
Sales in the chemical and materials industry are challenging in their own right. Even the most experienced sales experts on your team face evolving challenges such as the globalization of the marketplace, new competitors, changing customer demands, and supply chain hiccups.
With most technical sales reps doing their best to tread water, accelerating the sales cycle is merely a pipe dream.
But chemical manufacturing companies across the globe have turned this dream into a reality, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) tools designed to aid technical sales reps in their day-to-day operations. A lack of product suggestions, specialty knowledge, and competitive intelligence are potential obstacles that can delay the sales process. Fortunately, such information is easily accessible through tools like AI.
There are four innovative ways that AI tools can help your chemical sales team sell more effectively and efficiently. Keep reading to learn what they are.
Every deal has its challenges. Every prospect has questions that must be answered. Imagine turbocharging your sales cycle, transforming challenges into opportunities with lightning speed.
Chemical and material companies thrive on innovation, continuously developing new products to meet the diverse, evolving needs of their customers. However, this drive to innovate leads to vast and complex product portfolios. Differentiation is key to growing revenue for chemical industries like paints and coatings or textile chemicals. Understanding and navigating an ever-growing portfolio can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned technical sales reps in any chemical vertical.
Typically, sales reps rely on a handful of familiar products. This approach can become outdated, limiting their ability to offer the best solutions. Here’s where GenAI comes in.
By leveraging AI, sales teams can quickly and accurately sift through extensive product portfolios to identify the most suitable products for a given application. GenAI can analyze product formulations, performance characteristics, and customer requirements in seconds, providing recommendations that would take even an experienced sales rep much longer to compile.
This not only accelerates the sales cycle but also ensures that customers receive the most innovative and effective solutions available.
In the global marketplace, you must know how your product stacks up against similar options. Benchmarking is essential yet time-consuming.
Sales teams need to understand and articulate the unique selling points of their products during customer conversations. However, gathering and analyzing this information can often be overwhelming in customer-focused chemical verticals.
GenAI tools can transform this process by enabling real-time, one-to-one comparisons of products and their features. With a few keystrokes, sales AI can scan vast amounts of data from various sources including competitor information, product overviews, and technical specifications to provide comprehensive benchmarking insights.
Rather than getting bogged down by research, technical sales reps can focus their efforts on strategic analysis and positioning. With accurate, up-to-date information at their fingertips, sales teams can confidently highlight their products’ advantages, making compelling cases to their customers — swiftly and effectively.
Expert knowledge is invaluable and increasingly scarce in the chemicals industry. Subject matter experts (SMEs) possess deep insights into product applications, troubleshooting, and industry-specific challenges. However, SMEs are becoming increasingly harder to find as the industry is undergoing a demographic shift with many nearing retirement.
GenAI offers a solution by capturing and disseminating expert knowledge efficiently. Tools like Nesh’s Sales AI technology capture, store, and interpret the vast knowledge base of SMEs, making this information accessible to sales reps whenever needed. This not only improves the accuracy of information regarding product uses, differentiations, and applications but also frees up subject matter experts to focus on more complex issues and their own pipeline.
Sales reps equipped with AI-driven insights can provide more precise answers to customer queries, troubleshoot issues more effectively, and recommend the best products for specific need — all without constantly relying on SME intervention.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, many industries have experienced a more than 50% increase in customer service queries. The specialty chemicals market is no exception. Improving customer relationships and service levels is crucial for retaining clients and fostering loyalty.
GenAI can significantly enhance customer service by enabling sales reps to provide quick, accurate, and valuable assistance. AI tools help troubleshoot application issues, answer detailed product questions, and suggest new product recommendations in real-time.
By consistently delivering high-quality service, sales reps build stronger relationships with customers who will be more likely to return and less inclined to explore competitors. To put it more bluntly — increased responsiveness makes a substantial difference in customer satisfaction.
While all of this is at stake, AI helps track customer interactions and preferences, allowing sales teams to personalize their approach and anticipate customer needs proactively. This leads to a more tailored service experience, reinforcing the trust and reliability that customers seek.
The integration of GenAI into the technical sales cycle offers a transformative opportunity for chemical and materials companies. By leveraging AI to navigate extensive product portfolios, improve benchmarking, tap into expert knowledge, and enhance customer service, sales teams can become more efficient and resilient.
Embracing AI is not just a technological advancement for your business — it's a strategic team motivator. Companies like Nesh are at the forefront of this innovation, providing AI-driven solutions that empower sales teams to deliver exceptional results. By adopting these AI strategies, your company can stay ahead of the curve, driving growth and success in the ever-evolving market landscape.
If you're ready to learn more about how AI can accelerate your technical sales cycle, reach out to Nesh and discover the future of sales innovation today.
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