The average enterprise sales rep spends a mere quarter of their work week actually selling, according to LinkedIn and Ipsos. But it isn’t because they’re spending the rest of that time brushing up on their golf swing or planning their next vacation.
What is the cause? A major contributing factor is legacy customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
To understand what’s wrong with existing CRM used for sales, look no further than the quoting process. Rather than helping sellers pull together quick and accurate quotes, the tools often present unnecessary hoops to jump through. As a result, salespeople are forced to consult multiple spreadsheets, ping colleagues from sales ops, and then manually configure each quote.
Unfortunately, the challenges don’t end there. At every turn, legacy CRM leaves sales teams trapped in manual data entry, chasing information across disconnected systems and waiting for approvals. This results in lost opportunities, pricing inconsistencies, and frustrated buyers.
To transform sales and accelerate revenue, it may be time to embrace AI CRM. An AI-native sales platform can help organizations create frictionless experiences from quote to cash.
AI CRM can enable sales teams to:
- Generate quotes in minutes by automatically pulling real-time pricing, discounts, and product configurations
- Eliminate manual lookups by connecting CRM, enterprise resource planning systems, and product catalog data in a single workflow
- Configure complex solutions intuitively, with AI-suggested optimal bundles based on customer context
- Accelerate approvals with automated routing and compliance checks built into the process
- Reduce errors and rework by validating configurations against margin and policy requirements in real time
- Improve customer experience with faster, more accurate quotes that build trust and credibility
- Free selling time by removing administrative tasks and enabling reps to focus on closing deals
AI-native platforms can take the guesswork out of the quote-to-cash process. Such systems enforce pricing rules and discount policies automatically, helping to ensure every quote is compliant. Configurations happen in real time, so errors are caught before they reach the customer.
Reps spend less time chasing status updates and more time driving revenue. Enterprise customers get the same seamless sales experience they’ve come to expect from consumer-facing brands. That’s how you build long-term customer relationships that result in higher customer lifetime value.
AI-native platforms change the B2B sales game. They analyze purchase patterns to recommend relevant products to customers. They tailor configurations based on specific industries and actual product usage. And they suggest product bundles proactively with clear explanations as to why they fit specific customers.
By integrating the entire sales process on an AI-native platform, fulfillment can move seamlessly from price quote to product or service delivery. Automated approvals eliminate bottlenecks. Real-time visibility gives finance and legal teams the context they need. And shared workflows replace emails and spreadsheets.
The organizations that are winning in today's B2B marketplace aren't automating old processes; they're radically rethinking how sales should work in an AI-native world. They're freeing their teams from legacy systems and accelerating revenue by removing the friction legacy systems created.
So, will you lead the AI sales operations transformation or waste time trying to make your legacy CRM fit your current needs...and then scramble to catch up?
Find out how ServiceNow can help you simplify sales processes and drive revenue growth.
