Unless you’re living under a rock, you’re well aware how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the top of everyone’s minds, in every industry.

You’ve likely put in time researching, talking to fellow sales professionals, and reading articles like mine. All in an effort to answer questions like,  'Will it replace you?' or ‘How do you protect yourself?’

In that time, we’ve come to terms that AI isn’t going away, and the only way to truly safeguard yourself is to embrace it and use it as a tool to enhance your sales rep game. Use AI’s powers for good, not evil.

Which is why today, I’m sharing five ways you can use CHAT GPT to cut down your time spent on account research. Time is one of your biggest commodities so let’s get to it. 

What is Account Research?

If you’ve followed me or read any of my blogs, y’all know by now I’m a huge advocate for thorough account research. Heck, I have a whole series on advanced account research, or as I like to call it, Triple-A. 

Account research is the first step after you assemble a list of potential clients and companies to reach out to. But long gone are the days where knowing their product, their space, and competitors is enough.

Nowadays you need to know all of that and more, including:

• Using LinkedIn, Zoominfo, and other data tools to understand company hierarchies, job descriptions, their brand, and mission.

• Knowledge of industry news and trends on social sites (Twitter, Crunchbase) to stay up to date on the lives of your prospects and how that impacts decision-making timelines

• Offering specific and timely solutions to their problems, thus making you invaluable. 

Sales research, if done correctly, should build a deeper understanding of your target accounts and ultimately lead to more productive conversations with clients. 

CHAT GPT and Account Research

Effective account representatives spend A LOT of time organizing data in order to be effective at selling. This includes the aforementioned, crucial account research, market research, buyer personas, and writing sales campaigns. 

But…time is money. If you’re spending more of your time researching and less of your time using that research to reach clients, you’re doing it wrong. 

Here’s five ways I use CHAT GPT to save time on account research.

[1] Annual Reports

Another area where you can glean some helpful data is usually the annual report. Yes, you should still go through the annual report…it will help with context.

Remember CHAT GPT can pull data, but it doesn’t have any context.

Prompt example: 

• What are Quest Diagnostic's annual goals for 2023?

[2] SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis

One of the easy ways to get a quick overview of what a customer is doing is a SWOT analysis. It’s a good starting place. I remember when I used to actually fill out a SWOT analysis. I remember entering each bullet point in the different columns. Now with one prompt, I can generate a SWOT analysis in 3 seconds. Here is one for an account where I’ve closed a significantly large deal. 

Prompt example: 

• Generate a SWOT analysis for Quest Diagnostics.

You know what a SWOT analysis looks like so I won’t include the full analysis here, but I’ll include two screenshots; the opportunities and threats. Once again, this is not the end-all be-all for research, but this is a good starting place to get you in a good place to start having discussions with your customers.

[3] Identify Buyers and Competitors

At the end of the day, clients are concerned with how you make them more money. How are you going to attract more buyers and beat out their competitors?

Prompt examples: 

• Can you create detailed buyer personas for (insert company here)? Provide demographic info, psychographic info, needs, likes, and dislikes. 

• Can you make a table of the top five brands in (insert industry here)? Provide website URLs, Instagram handles, and important data about each of them. 

[4] Suggestions on Ways to Fill In Market Gaps

You want whatever solution you are offering to solve your clients’ problems, especially ones they aren’t even aware of.

Prompt example: 

• Are there any unique selling propositions (USPs) that current (insert company or brand here) don’t take advantage of?

[5] Outreach Emails

It’s time to put your research to use and write those outreach emails. Often, if not the hardest step, especially given you are likely trying to convince a complete stranger why they should hire you.

CHAT GPT gives you a great jumping-off point, but don’t forget to fill in the gaps and add your unique, personal touch and voice. Pro tip, utilize stylistic words to help it give you a more targeted email.

Prompt examples: 

• Write a concise and informal cold email to a sales lead. 

• As (insert your name and company here), write a warm introductory sales email to (insert individual’s name here) from (insert company here). 

CHAT GPT is a powerful tool, if used correctly, that should be able to cut off at least three hours of your time spent on account research. Note, I said cut down, not replace.

Keep doing your own thoughtful account research to leverage your own unique understanding, value, and expertise. Use the tools, don’t let the tools use you. 

What’s Next?

Need help or just more support learning how to embrace and make CHAT GPT your friend, not your adversary?

Join a community of tech sales professionals who are building a better world through empathetic selling and problem-solving. 

Lissen, I know that everyone doesn’t have the budget for another monthly membership—although this Patreon is pure gold so you may wanna give it some thought—plus y’all know I’ve always got a freebie or two ready for instant download, and implementation. 

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