Have you started to implement cognitive computing into your sales and marketing processes? Your competitors have.
If you watch TV at all, you’ve probably seen the commercials where IBM supercomputer Watson is placed in a variety of work environments to help out on assignments as diverse as evaluating basketball players to maintaining a winery.
Cognitive computing (also known as artificial intelligence or AI) will have an increasingly large impact on a wide range of industries and professions. Sales and marketing is no exception. A new survey of chief marketing officers and sales leaders by IBM finds that nearly two thirds — 64 percent — believe their industries will be ready to adopt cognitive technologies in the next three years, yet only 24 percent of those surveyed say they have strategy in place to implement these technologies today.
The sales and marketing executives who responded to the survey (more than 900 in all), are anxious to incorporate cognitive computing into their go-to-market strategy. Both groups expect AI to address some of the biggest challenges they face. For CMOs, that includes the inability to determine ROI of marketing efforts and the inability to deliver an integrated, personalized customer experience. Sales leaders expect AI to help them prospect new markets and targets, and do a better job of anticipating customer needs.
Complement, not replace workers
In addition to facing those challenges, respondents said they expect cognitive computing to help accomplish a host of key objectives, from driving revenue and reducing the cost of customer acquisition, to shortening the sales cycle and increasing customer retention. Interestingly, what respondents did not say they expect AI to do is reduce staff in any significant manner.
“Despite the buzz about companies implementing cognitive solutions to reduce headcounts, we found survey respondents to be far less interested in that objective,” the report states. “This supports our assertion that the real value of cognitive isn’t to replace staff, but rather to extend employees’ knowledge and capabilities so they can make informed business decisions and execute with speed and accuracy — far beyond anything they could achieve with traditional methods.”
Questioning cognitive readiness
As enthusiastic as they are about adopting cognitive computing intotheir marketing and sales processes, respondents also expressed concern they do not have the technological skills to make use of it. Even more concerning, sales leaders are not sure they have the executive support required to make cognitive computing a key element of how they conduct business.
In order to realize the full potential of cognitive computing for marketing and sales functions, the IBM Institute for Business Value offers the following recommendations to CMOs and sales executives:
- Make room for cognitive solutions in your business’ digital reinvention strategy. Instead of viewing cognitive computing as a wholly separate initiative, incorporate into existing digital reinvention efforts, which range from mobile apps to the Internet of Things, to virtual reality.
- Enhance employees’ business skills, not just their data analytic skills. Because cognitive technologies do the analytical heavy lifting, what marketing and sales may need the most are people with a broad perspective of both company strategy and the nuts and bolts of the business.
- Start small if necessary — but do start. Many types of cognitive solutions can be integrated into companies’ existing cloud platforms and data management systems. By starting small, companies can begin to enjoy the benefits of cognitive computing and determine how best to expand over time. The real risk is to wait too long on the sidelines while the competition forges ahead.
A link to the executive summary of the IBM report, “From Data Deluge to Intelligent Insights,” can be found in our Additional Web Resources box at SalesandMarketing.com.
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