In our Making Sense of AI for Sales Operations training session, we highlight a predictable pattern that tends to play out every time a powerful new technology comes onto the scene…
First, there’s this period of euphoric build-up, with lots of hyperbolic headlines, high-profile success stories, and cheerleading vendors and consultants. Everyone seems to be excited about the possibilities. And everyone is scrambling to get onboard, get in the game, and avoid falling behind.
Then the buzz and euphoria wears off after a while. The results and impacts don’t seem to line up with the hype and expectations. And as a result, people then start questioning whether the technology is really all that potent or valuable. Gartner refers to this drop off as the “trough of disillusionment,” and while it might sound like something out of a Tolkien novel, it’s a very real phenomenon.
But here’s the thing…this letdown often has less to do with the technology itself and more to do with how the technology is being used in the initial hype cycle.
You see, amid the rush (or push) to get onboard with the new shiny thing everyone is talking about, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of using the new technology to do things that can’t make much of a difference in the first place. It’s like driving a Ferrari to the post office and then dissing the car for not living up to the hype!
We’ve started to see this happening in Sales Ops…
Teams are using AI to generate email subject lines and edit outreach messages. Or to rewrite CRM notes to be more complete and professional. Or to generate boilerplate proposals and quotes. Or to produce transcriptions of internal team calls that no one reads. Or to create generic “analytical insights” dashboards that don’t help anyone take more effective action.
While these uses may reduce some day-to-day frustration and save a few minutes here and there, they can’t move the needle in any meaningful way. And when they ultimately fail to deliver much impact, people will likely conclude that AI itself is largely overhyped. It’s not that the technology isn’t powerful; it’s that it’s being aimed at things that are inherently weak.
One of the key ideas we explore in the Making Sense of AI for Sales Operations training session is that AI now makes it possible to tackle big, high-impact initiatives that used to be impractical or out-of-reach. Through AI, strategic initiatives that were once deemed to be too time-consuming, too complex, or too costly are suddenly much more accessible and feasible.
For example:
- Dynamic, data-driven forecasting with intelligent models that adapt in real time to pipeline changes and behavior patterns rather than just relying on static snapshots or rep-level guesswork.
- Targeting inherently better prospects using AI to uncover subtle patterns across historical wins and losses, and building smarter targeting definitions based on results instead of hunches.
- Dynamic, opportunity-based playbooks that adapt to the specifics of the deal, the customer or prospect, and the competitive context, and are updated regularly based on what’s working in the field.
- Defection detection and retention risk alerts by monitoring behavioral signals and purchase patterns to spot the early signs of revenue attrition and customer churn before too much damage is done.
- Automatically scoring and prioritizing RFPs to help Sales and Sales Ops triage proposals and quotes effectively, avoid wasting time on bad-fit deals, and respond faster with more effective proposals.
These things are not exactly small wins. These are strategic capabilities that most Sales Ops teams have long wanted to develop but often couldn’t, due to limitations in time, budget, or manpower. With AI, all of these barriers have either disappeared or are falling rapidly.
So…with all of these highly impactful things being more feasible than ever before, why are so many Sales Ops teams still only using AI on the small stuff?
Frankly, it’s completely understandable and not at all surprising. After all, through the current hype cycle the term “AI” has become synonymous with Generative AI tools and chatbots. And if your entire understanding of AI is that it’s a sort of “super search engine” that can write emails and answer questions, well then of course you’re only going to embrace applications that align to that concept.
But as we illustrate in the training session, GenAI tools and chatbots are just the tip of the iceberg and only represent a narrow slice of what AI really is and what it can actually do.
If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to go through the Making Sense of AI for Sales Operations training session. In this session, we walk through the evolution and fundamentals of AI, the different types and flavors of AI, and how they’re accessed and applied in Sales Ops contexts. We get beyond the narrow GenAI concepts and explore how to think more strategically about where and how AI can actually make the most difference in your business.
By developing a better understanding of what AI is and what it’s really capable of…and by staying focused on the things that really matter and can actually move the needle…we can sidestep the “trough of disillusionment” altogether!
Making Sense of AI for Sales Operations
There's no doubt that artificial intelligence will transform nearly every aspect of sales and revenue operations. How do we cut through the hype and harness AI to generate improved sales results and business outcomes?
Getting More Out of Your CRM
How do you get past the surface-level usage and unlock the full potential of your CRM system to enhance overall productivity, streamline operations, and optimize customer interactions?
Aligning Sales Ops to Business Strategy
How do you ensure that your sales operation and the overall business strategy are properly aligned? And what do you do when there's a disconnect?
