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We have just entered the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but the apprehension over massive job cuts looms large. According to several experts, sales and marketing will be most affected because of AI. As per LinkedIn’s 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark report, 3 in 4 B2B marketing leaders in India are already using Generative AI applications in their marketing activities.

 
Contrary to the popular belief that Generative AI will eat jobs, some experts argue that it could be a blessing in disguise. 

 
According to Deepan Dasgupta, Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, Indian employees in sales and marketing could see a salary hike of nearly 60 percent. Talent platform foundit said that integrating generative AI in marketing and sales would likely increase the demand for AI-related skills, leading to higher salaries for employees who possess these capabilities. "As AI handles routine tasks, the value of human roles will shift towards creativity, strategy, and high-level decision-making, which can further drive salary growth for those who excel in these areas," Sekhar Garisa, CEO at foundit said. However, there may be disparities based on the ability to adapt and acquire new skills, he added.

 
'AI-focus jobs'

 
According to analysts, several organisations have significantly optimised their sales and marketing teams to the tune of 20-25 percent. A cumulative of 500+ sales and marketing employees have been let go in the past year-and-a-half across various organisations. 

 
Deloitte India said that it is not that completely new jobs are emerging, but shapes of jobs are getting modified and augmented. Certain jobs in sales and marketing departments, particularly those involving repetitive, routine tasks, can be automated and replaced by AI.

 
According to Dasgupta, "More than 30 percent of the tasks currently undertaken by Sales and Marketing professionals will either get augmented or eliminated with the help of AI/GenAI". For instance, a Marketing/ Sales automation specialist implements AI-driven marketing campaigns, automates marketing processes, and enhances customer engagement through personalised experiences. Other AI focus jobs that are coming up in sales and marketing are- Data Analyst, Content Writer, Forecasting Manager, Sales & Marketing Strategist, and Customer Engagement and Manager, among others.

 
'Upgrading skills'

 
Experts said that to overcome the AI crisis, employees need to understand AI and machine learning fundamentals, such as 'Data analysis and visualisation tools', 'Prompt engineering with linguistic proficiency', and 'AI and NLP knowledge', etc. Garisa, CEO of foundit said that a Sales and Marketing Strategist should understand AI applications, strategic thinking, data analysis, and leadership skills to stick in the game. 

 
According to Sachin Sharma, Director, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, "Job posts mentioning AI or Generative AI on the platform more than doubled (2.5x) in India between 2021 and 2023. As a result, the most in-demand skills in marketing now include a balanced mix of technical expertise like SEO and digital marketing, along with essential soft skills like communication and analytical thinking".

 
LinkedIn’s Deep Sales report highlighted that ‘Artificial Intelligence’ is the fastest-growing digital skill for CMOs globally. Deep sellers in India are 2.4x more likely than others to use AI to connect with colleagues who know relevant stakeholders.

 
"AI's role is to enhance productivity and efficiency, enabling professionals to concentrate on higher-value activities that require human insight and innovation. This synergy between AI and human capabilities fosters a more dynamic and effective work environment, driving better business outcomes," the CEO of foundit said.

Mastering AI tools, and machine learning key to retaining sales and marketing roles

As technology changes the way we work, sustained buyer relationships are becoming increasingly important for sellers to succeed. Over half (52 percent) of Indian buyers say that they have bought from the same sales professional even after they’ve switched companies. In fact, both sellers (93 percent) and buyers (64 percent) agree that it is important to meet in-person prior to closing a deal. 

Deep sellers, or ‘top sellers’ go beyond transactional relationships to have high-quality conversations with buyer. The ‘deep selling’ approach guides sellers to focus their efforts where they have warm paths, build relationships deep and wide, and deeply understand their buyers’ context to win more deals – in India, deep sellers are 1.8x more likely to meet their quotas.

LinkedIn has released a new report, Deep Sales: The B2B Sales Playbook to Boost Revenue in 2024, that shares practical tips on how sellers can maximise sales opportunities this year to boost revenue. It also reveals how AI is bolstering top sellers’ efforts, with 73 percent of B2B sellers exceeding their quota using the technology.

"We conducted a research with a company called Ipsos in the US; the idea behind the report was to go back and hear the voices of customers and sellers in the market and arrive at an analysis about the expectations that customers have from sellers and what it is that they need for the relationship to be stronger. We have created a playbook, which then can be replicated by every person who is in a client-facing role and thereby make life a little easier for them because we all know that the last three to four quarters has not been too great for B2B sales," says Abhai Singh, Head of Sales Solution – India at LinkedIn.

Edited excerpts:

What is deep sales and why is it necessary to succeed against constantly shifting buyer dynamics?

Sales is nothing but a combination of art and science. it's the foundational thing which is based on the relationships that you build that is based on a lot of credibility that you have to build over a period of time. It takes a lot of hard work; the science in it keeps on changing.

Very simply put, deep sales is making sure that we give enough. We equip our sellers enough in the market for them to be doing their job a lot easier and make sure that they have the quality conversations because you got to earn that conversation.

With so much data available for every customer right today, the entire sales journey is changing. We believe that the salesperson is going to be engaging only at about 5 percent of the sales cycle; by the time you come into a sales cycle, the customer is already made up their mind.

They're now only looking at the seller validating their choice. The seller needs to build those relationships way ahead of time. Deep sales is nothing but hinging upon the fact that you got to build those relationships.

LinkedIn has a whole bunch of things that we've done around sales navigator tool and the platform that we have and we play huge in this category of sales intelligence where we provide you the right tips and tricks and the triggers and the intelligence for you to have that conversation faster and better than anybody else that you could possibly have it with.

Could you take me through some of the key findings of the report?

The customers and buyers that we've interviewed have both confirmed that there is more appetite for customers to spend more in the next 12 months.
There is a definitely positive optimism that we're seeing; we are also seeing a large focus on building that relationship and hinged on that is the fact that people want to meet people more so in person meetings is something that is gonna be really important if you want to close the deal, , but also meeting in person is picking up. In sales, our customers are hopefully more demanding and we are rising up to the occasion.

Therefore, 32 percent of the sellers in India are deep sellers as we call them, compared to 18 percent globally, which means that these sellers are doing much more research and using the power of the network a lot more than what we're saying.

What are some important habits that can help sellers succeed?

If you have to be successful in the market today, the first and the most important thing is you have to live in the constraints that you have. The constraint is that you only have 24 hours. How do you prioritize the accounts that you would want to go after?

The best sellers are the ones who are doing a lot of effort in terms of prioritizing even if they have 20 top accounts that they can go after and that helps them get their business done. They'll focus on that because they know these accounts are the ones which have the highest potential.

I think the second best habit is to think about who all you want to go and cover and how do you build relationships much ahead of time. So that would mean that you need to identify these 11-12 people crucial for building relationships.

In some cases it could be 50 people, right? So how do you make sure that you build these relationships? You visualize these relationships and then not just take it on yourself to build these relationships. Use the ecosystem that you have around you.

The entire organization's ecosystem for them to party and come to the party with you and build those relationships, and the third I I think is something which is very commonly missed.

Sales is always based on who can refer you to somebody so, Finding the hidden Allies is absolutely, absolutely must. If I know somebody who can get me in front of my customer much ahead of time and give a good word about me, the chances of me getting the conversation going will go much faster.

Obviously the decision is gonna happen much later based on what I have to offer, but that first foot in the door makes it hell out of the way, so I think we have a proven track record of people who've done these three things time and time again. They have a much higher chance of being successful and these are the ones who are definitely on the right side of the bell curve where they achieve much more than any other in their organization.

Could you take me through some market trends that you were seeing currently in the B2B selling ecosystem in the country?

The last three to four quarters have not been very smooth for sales both in India and worldwide. There is a big decline in conversion rates that are happening when you go out and sell, which means that sales people and organizations are now wanting to do a lot more in their go-to-market strategy.

Secondly, consensus buying is taking over. Earlier, if there was a decision that could happen in between three or four people now at least 11 to 12 people or more if it's a complex B2B sales environment. Therefore, your skills have to be better since you need to talk to many different personas.

In the last four quarters about 40 to 60 percent of the customers have not gone ahead and signed a deal.

They haven't taken a decision, it is not that sellers have lost deals to competition; there has been just no decision and that can be attributed to the fear of messing up on the customer side because there's so much scrutiny that is happening and the idea that why should I do anything when nobody else is doing anything?

What results can a B2B seller anticipate when they are doing deep selling?

Sales is all about quantification, right? Money follows pain if you know the pain point that you have with your customers, and if you have a good relationship, you will be able to do a lot more than anybody else.

If you are a deep seller, you're about 1.8 times more likely to exceed your quota compared to a shallow seller.
The report also says that sellers are 2.5 times more likely to exceed the quota if they significantly do more research. That is where I think technology comes in. The likes of LinkedIn actually opens up the door for you to do a lot more.

How is AI impacting the B2B landscape across the globe and India currently?

AI’s playing a big role. Every organization is trying to incorporate AI in their products and their solutions. The B2B sales landscape is no different. Some jobs can be automated and scaled using AI.

You could do a lot more research much faster and therefore it is important to figure out the technology at the right time.

93 percent of B2B sellers in India say that they want more training and how to use AI technology because there's so much more that they can do than what they're doing today.

There was always a fear that AI is going to take a lot of jobs. AI is gonna help you do your job a lot better.

It will ease up and open up more time for you to do multiple other things which you should focus on, and therefore it's gonna be a combination of machines and the human element coming together to make you more productive than ever before.

How is LinkedIn leveraging AI to offer innovative solutions to customers?

We have leveraged A in all aspects of our sales navigator technology around a feature called Account IQ. It is everything that you need to know about an account when you go and talk to somebody, how do they make money? Who are they competitors? What are the strategic priorities? Which are the leadership team members there? How is the growth trend?

It's a combination of what there is out in the market on the web, which is outside LinkedIn and LinkedIn data which is surfaced together as a one pager. Therefore things that could take probably 3-4 hours can happen in 3-4 seconds and that can come in.

Now you can simply drop in with LinkedIn's solutions and drag and visualize those 11-12 people that you need to map on the platform. These people are not something that a salesperson is supposed to map alone. You now need to collaborate with your pre-sales people. You need to collaborate with your delivery folks.

You need to collaborate with your leaders, your team members. Thus a whole bunch of that collaboration engine is being thrown in, so that your relationship map, your org chart is like a dashboard.

LinkedIn is simplifying the sales process for a person based on these technologies that we use and then there are whole bunch of things that we do which is around use of something like something called Team Link which is which is a feature that is an exceptional feature and just imagine the power of the entire organization opening up to help a salesperson to say that I could know this person and therefore I can get you the foot in the door faster than anybody else. You're not just leveraging your network, but you're leveraging the network of the entire organization.

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

The dream of doing more with less is something that AI has brought to reality, and that doesn't mean that the hard work goes away. You still need to do a lot of hard work in sales. I think doing intelligent work is equally important.

As long as you can use the right intelligence tools for the right process that you're following and be very determined and resilient in the process, you will be successful.

The folks who are actually doing well in my team and the companies that I work with are very diligent in the process in making sure that they're resilient. They're making sure that not even one day is wasted. Even if they get a no, they still keep going after it and I think that some doors open just because of resilience more than anything else.

LinkedIn's Abhai Singh on how in the era of AI, relationships are at the core of B2B buying and selling

LinkedIn has released a new report, Deep Sales: The B2B Sales Playbook to Boost Revenue in 2024, that shares practical tips on how sellers can maximise sales opportunities this year to boost revenue. It also reveals how AI is bolstering top sellers’ efforts, with 73 percent of B2B sellers exceeding their quota using the technology. 

The report shows that the 3 habits of top performers in sales organisations include ‘prioritising high-potential accounts’, ‘investing in building key relationships’, and ‘finding hidden allies and intel for relevant outreach’. Sellers who exhibit these behaviours are known as ‘deep sellers’ by LinkedIn. Findings show that 32 percent of B2B sellers in India are deep sellers and are 1.8x more likely to exceed their quotas, and those who use social networks to find key buyers are 2.3x more likely to do so.

 
9 in 10 B2B sellers swear by using AI to research prospects

As per the report, B2B sellers in India are increasingly relying on AI in their selling journeys – to research prospects, identify targets, and find warm leads with buyers. 90% of B2B sellers in India agree that using AI to research prospects or customers will be important for future success. Notably, deep sellers in India are 2.4x more likely than others to use AI to connect with colleagues who know relevant stakeholders. Additionally, those who effectively use sales intelligence tools to find new opportunities are 2.2x more likely to exceed their sales targets.

 Abhai Singh, Head of Sales Solutions, LinkedIn India, says, “Deep sellers are expert guides in the sales world: they reach out with purpose, dig deep into research, and focus on building lasting connections. That’s why companies are on the hunt for deep sellers who know how to use AI and sales intelligence tools. B2B sellers who use LinkedIn Sales Navigator connect 4.3 times more with top leaders compared to others. This drives our commitment to improving our AI tools, so sellers on our platform can grow their businesses smoothly.”

The human touch in buyer-seller relationships is indispensable even in the age of AI

As technology evolves, there's a clear focus on how B2B sellers connect with buyers and maintain long-term relationships. Findings show that 93% of B2B sellers in India agree that meeting face-to-face before closing a deal is important. At the same time, 52% of buyers in India say they still buy from the same salesperson even after changing companies. This shows how important relationships are for sales success and lasting value.

 
LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator can help B2B sellers become ‘deep sellers’ with these features: 

The Account IQ feature helps sellers prioritise high-potential accounts with its AI-generated, updated summary of an account that include topics like strategic priorities, challenges, growth trends, etc.
Relationship Explorer and Relationship Map can help sellers find warm leads and visualise their multithreading strategy. 
B2B sellers can identify hidden allies at scale with features like Team Link and Advanced Search

B2B sellers in India are increasingly relying on AI in their selling journeys: LinkedIn 'Deep Sales' report

SALES