Salesforce sellers are using AI to improve their face-to-face client meetings and calls
Corporate sales work often requires face-to-face meetings and client calls.
At Salesforce, sellers use AI-powered tech to help them prepare for these conversations.
This article is part of "AI in Action," a series exploring how companies are implementing AI innovations.
After a long day of meeting with clients, Haley Gault, a Salesforce seller, received a last-minute ping from a customer saying they wanted to meet with her face-to-face within the hour.
Gault started to sweat: The customer's business, electric vehicle charging stations, was not a topic she knew well. To get up to speed, she pulled up Salesforce's Agentforce AI tool in Slack, typed in "EV contractors," and received a dossier of previous sales, call recordings, and industry trends.
"I don't have a vertical, so I'm no industry expert in regards to electric vehicle contracting," Gault said. "That's a way for me to really quickly get up to speed on who this customer is. What were the previous conversations with Salesforce? Who are the key stakeholders?"
Gault isn't alone in harnessing AI tools for her sales role. When McKinsey asked about 1,500 companies about how they used generative AI, sales and marketing were the most common responses.
Dan Gottlieb, Gartner's vice president analyst for sales, told Business Insider that sales professionals are an industrious group of self-starters who are actively searching for new AI use cases. They use artificial intelligence to compile research, develop leads, and even hone their pitching skills, Gottlieb said.
But the increasing implementation of AI in sales raises the question: Could this integration diminish the power of human connection? Corporate selling is, after all, a fundamentally human process that relies on relationship building, typically via phone calls and client dinners.
At Salesforce, its 25,000 sellers use AI tools to improve their human approach to sales, not erase it, Connor Marsden, the company's North America president of industrial, consumer, and energy, told BI.
How AI can bolster seller goals
The Columbia Business School professor Michael Brown said he'd noticed some sales professionals worrying about whether AI is dehumanizing the selling process.
"I don't know any buyer who wants to be sold to by a copilot," Brown told BI.
He added that there would always be client-buyers who want to have in-person conversations with sellers about pricing, discounts, and legal agreements. At the same time, Brown said he had a positive outlook on AI's expansion to sales processes, so long as it continues to enhance worker performance.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
30 minutes ago
- New York Post
Media still undercounting return-to-office phenomenon
The media continues to absurdly undercount, downplay or misunderstand the return-to-office phenomenon, although the surge should be obvious from the current leasing frenzy and from crowds on the street. For example, Crain's last week questioned whether the 345 Park Ave. murders would 'impact the city's already stagnant return-to-office rates.' The story based its 'stagnant' claim partly on the Partnership for New York City's supposed finding that only '57% of Manhattan office workers had returned on the average workday.' 3 The Midtown shooting happened at 345 Park Ave. AFP via Getty Images 3 An NYPD police officer stands at the shattered glass entrance to 345 Park Avenue after the shooting. John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock 3 NYC office capacity was never full — even during pre-COVID times. Tierney – That — like many similar off-base readings of data — made it sound as if Manhattan offices that were full before 2020 are now barely more than half full. What the Partnership actually said in March was that 57% of workers in offices at the time 'equates to 76% of respondents' pre-pandemic attendance.' In other words, pre-pandemic offices were not 100% occupied — they never were — but 75% occupied. That's because 57 is 76% of 75. The 19% difference between 76% and 57% is much less than an alleged 43% gap between 100% and 57%. And with so many CEO's calling their staffs back, the 19% gap can only continue to shrink further.
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
Powerball Jackpot Hits $426 Million—Here's How Much the Winner Could Take Home After Taxes
The Powerball jackpot ticked up to $426 million after no winners were drawn Saturday night, but a lucky winner or winners would take home substantially less after paying federal and state taxes on their winnings. Winners from Monday's upcoming drawing could get either $426 million in installments or a lump sum of $193.5 million, but that would get slashed significantly after taxes. Getty Images No tickets were sold matching all of Saturday's numbers (6, 18, 34, 35, 36, and Powerball number 2), raising the jackpot again for Monday's upcoming drawing. If a winner is drawn Monday, they will have the option of either accepting the $426 million prize spread out over 30 annualized payments, or take the lump sum of $193.5 million, which is the more popular option for winners. However, a federal withholding tax of 24% is applied to that jackpot, bringing the winnings down to $323.7 million, or $147 million for the lump sum. The winnings are then taxed based on the winners income—which could rise as high as 37% for Americans in the highest tax bracket, bringing the final winnings for the lump sum down to $121.9 million. State taxes then reduce this jackpot even further, with New York charging the highest rate at 10.9%, though some states, including California, Florida and Texas, do not tax winnings. The next drawing is scheduled for Monday night at 10:59 p.m. EDT. If no winner is drawn Monday, the next drawings will take place Wednesday and Saturday. Key Background The odds for winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery organizers. The odds of winning the $1 million prize (with a ticket matching five numbers without the Powerball number) are 1 in 11.6 million. Big Number $526 million. That's how much a lucky winner in California got after purchasing a winning ticket in March. Because that player won in the Golden State, they did not have to pay state taxes on those winnings.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kura Sushi USA (NASDAQ:KRUS) Is In A Good Position To Deliver On Growth Plans
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although software-as-a-service business lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers So should Kura Sushi USA (NASDAQ:KRUS) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway. We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. When Might Kura Sushi USA Run Out Of Money? A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. When Kura Sushi USA last reported its May 2025 balance sheet in July 2025, it had zero debt and cash worth US$61m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$32m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 23 months from May 2025. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. However, if we extrapolate the company's recent cash burn trend, then it would have a longer cash run way. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below. View our latest analysis for Kura Sushi USA How Well Is Kura Sushi USA Growing? Kura Sushi USA boosted investment sharply in the last year, with cash burn ramping by 53%. That does give us pause, and we can't take much solace in the operating revenue growth of 19% in the same time frame. Considering both these factors, we're not particularly excited by its growth profile. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years. How Easily Can Kura Sushi USA Raise Cash? Even though it seems like Kura Sushi USA is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate growth. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate). Kura Sushi USA's cash burn of US$32m is about 3.1% of its US$1.0b market capitalisation. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money. So, Should We Worry About Kura Sushi USA's Cash Burn? Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Kura Sushi USA's cash burn relative to its market cap was relatively promising. Based on the factors mentioned in this article, we think its cash burn situation warrants some attention from shareholders, but we don't think they should be worried. For us, it's always important to consider risks around cash burn rates. But investors should look at a whole range of factors when researching a new stock. For example, it could be interesting to see how much the Kura Sushi USA CEO receives in total remuneration. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts) Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
