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1,036salesprofessionalsfrom3countries

SALESFORCERESEARCH

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ResearchMethodology

Salesforceconductedasurveyon

generativeAIinpartnershipwithYouGov

fromMay18–25,2023.Itincludedmore

than4,135full-timeemployeesacross

sales,service,marketing,andcommerce.

Thedatainthisguidereflectsresponses

from1,036full-timesalesprofessionals,

representingcompaniesofavarietyof

sizesandsectorsintheUnitedStates,

UnitedKingdom,andAustralia.Thesurvey

tookplaceonline.Thefigureshavebeen

weightedandarerepresentativeofallU.S.,

U.K.,andAustralianfull-timeemployees

overtheageof18.

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TableofContents

Foreword04

01|GenerativeAIisHelpingTeamsSellFasterandMore··05

02|SalesTeamsFeelUnpreparedforGenerativeAI·06

03|BuildingTrust:SellersWantOversightandSecureData07

04|BuildingSkills:SellersWantTrainingandOpportunities··08

MoreAIResourcesforSalesTeams··09

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Foreword

JenniferLagaly

EVP,Sales,Salesforce

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You’veprobablyheardalotaboutgenerativeAIbynow.

You’veprobablyeventriedusingitforbasictaskslikewriting

emails,onlytogetbackgenericcopywithquestionableaccuracy.Notveryrevolutionary.

ImagineusinggenerativeAIthatpullsnotjustfrompublic

databases,butfromcustomerdatayoucantrust.Thistoolcanseethatacustomerjustbrowsedyourwebsiteandlaunchedanew

product.Thenitcancreateasalesstrategyforyourteamthat’sso

relevantandpersonal,itmakesjuniorsellersas

effectiveastopreps.

Nowthat’sagamechanger.AtSalesforce,we’vemadethis

dreampossible.WeseegenerativeAIasthetechnologyofourlifetime.AndwewanttohelpyoudifferentiateyourselfandyourcompanybysupersizingyourskillswithgenerativeAI.

Here’show.ThefirstwaveofgenerativeAIwillcomeoverthe

nextyearortwo.Duringthisfirstpartoftheinnovationcycle,theadvantagewillgototheearlyadopters.Myadvice?Getinnovative,actwithurgency,anduseit.

Then,therewillbeasecondwaveofgenerativeAI,asitsuse

becomeswidespreadandsustainable.That’swhentheadvantagewillgotothecompanieswiththecleanestcustomerdata.My

advice?Don’twaittotoshoreupyourdata.

Togetyoustarted,thisreportshedslightonhowmorethan1,000sellersareexperimentingwithgenerativeAI.You’lllearnhow

they’reovercomingskillsandtrusthurdles.You’llgetinsightsfor

catchingthefirstwaveofgenerativeAIwithnewtools.Andyou’lllearntheimportanceofcleaningandsecuringyourcustomerdatatousethistechnologyeffectivelylong-term.

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01

Createbasiccontent

82%

74%

Automatesalescommunications

Createsalesreports

71%

68%

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GenerativeAIIsHelping

TeamsSellMore,Faster

SalesprofessionalsalreadyusinggenerativeAIareusingitto:

Overhalfofsalesprofessionalsagreethatgenerative

AIhelpsorwillhelpthemdotheirjobsbetterinseveralways:

Analyzemarketdata

.58%ofsalespeopleagreegenerativeAIhelpsor

willhelpthemincreaseproductivity.Theyestimate

itsavesorcouldsavethem4.5hoursaweek.

.56%sayithelpsorwillhelpthemincreasesales.

.61%sayithelpsorwillhelpthembetter

servecustomers.

SalesprofessionalsarealreadyusinggenerativeAItohelp

withavarietyoftasks,fromresearchingaccountsand

Buildsalesplansandstrategies68%

writingprospectingemailstocreatingsalesreportsand

buildingsalesstrategies.

Base:RespondentswhousegenerativeAI

MarcusChan

Salescoachandauthorof“Six-FigureSalesSecrets”

“Thefutureofsalesistoserve,notsell.GenerativeAIgivesusguidance

that’ssopersonalandprecise,we’realwayspresentingthemost

relevantsolutions—nopushingrequired.”

Atrustgap:

73%

ofsalesprofessionalssaygenerativeAIintroducesnewsecurityrisks.

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02

SalesTeamsFeelUnpreparedforGenerativeAI

Aboutathirdofsalesprofessionalsarecurrently

usingorexperimentingwithgenerativeAI.That’s

morethaninservicebutlessthaninmarketing.

What’sholdingsalesteamsback?Largely,atrust

andskillsgap.

MostsalesprofessionalssaygenerativeAIintroducesnewsecurityrisks,andnearlyhalf(49%)alsothinkgenerativeAIoutputsareinaccurate.

Manyalsofeelunprepared.Only47%saytheyknowhowtogetthemostvalueoutofgenerativeAIatwork.

SalesprofessionalsreportlowgenerativeAIadoptioncomparedtomarketingcounterparts.

Marketing51%22%

Sales

35%

20%

Service

24%

15%

Total

●CurrentlyusingorexperimentingPlantouse

41%20%

Askillsgap:

49%

ofsalesprofessionalssaytheydon’t

knowhowtosafelyusegenerative

AIatwork.

AnitaNielsen

Salesleaderandauthorof“BeatTheBots:HowYourHumanityCanFuture-ProofYourTechSalesCareer”

“Therealityisthatbeingunpreparedisachoice.Thebenefitscomewhen

weseeAIasatool,notaterror,andbringitintooursalesmotions.”

03

Humanoversight

Trustedcustomerdata

Enhancedsecuritymeasures

Ethicaluseguidelines

Combinedpublicandprivatedata(e.g.,customerdata)

54%

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SalesprofessionalssaythesearethemoreimportantfactorsforusinggenerativeAI:

BuildingTrust:SellersWant

OversightandSecureData

Toclosethetrustgap,salesprofessionalsprefertokeepa

humanintheloopandprotectsensitivedata.

Themajorityofsalesprofessionalssayethical-useguidelines

arecriticalforsuccessfullyusingthistechnology.Mostalsocall

forhumanoversighttoverifyitsconclusions,withmorethan

two-thirds(68%)agreeingthatgenerativeAIlackshuman

contextualknowledge.

Salesprofessionalsarealsofocusedondatasecurity,

with63%sayingthattheircompany’sdataisnot

properlysetupforgenerativeAI.

ofsalesprofessionalssay

humanoversightisimportantforusinggenerativeAI.

56%

Acallforhuman

oversight:

ofsalesprofessionalssayethicaluseguidelinesare

criticalforusing

generativeAI.

Acallforethical

guidelines:

ScottLeese

SalesleaderandFounder,ScottLeeseConsulting

“BeforewecanexperiencethebenefitsofgenerativeAI,wehavetoknowwecan

trustit.Workwithyourtechnicalteamstosafeguardcustomerdataand

monitorresultsforinaccuracyandbias.”

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63%

BuildingSkills:SellersWantTrainingandOpportunities

AsgenerativeAIarrivesatwork,salesprofessionalsare

tornbetweenbetweenfeelingexcitedandunprepared.

Ononehand,salesprofessionalsareconcernedaboutjobsecurity,with39%worryingtheywilllosetheirjobsiftheydon’tlearnhowtousegenerativeAIatwork.

Ontheotherhand,theyseethepotentialofgenerative

AItobringpositivechangetotheirrole:56%ofsales

professionalssaythatgenerativeAIwilltransformtheskillstheyneedatwork.

Eagertolearn,salesprofessionalsarelookingtotheir

companiesforopportunitiestoworkwithgenerativeAI.

67%

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ofsalespeopleexpecttheiremployertoprovidethemopportunitiestolearnhowtousegenerativeAI.

ofsalesprofessionalssaytheiremployerdoesn’tprovide

generativeAItraining.

JohnBarrows,

CEO,JBarrowsSalesTraining

“Turnyoursalesorgintoasaleslab.GivegenerativeAItoolstoyoursellersand

tellthemtoexperimentuntiltheyfindtheapplicationstheylove.That’show

we’lltrainsellers—notfromthetopdown,butfromthebottomup.”

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AIResour