By The PhantomBuster TeamHave you ever dreamed of having a virtual assistant? Thanks to artificial intelligence, you can!
An AI-powered sales assistant can help you bounce ideas, analyze customer interactions, and close more deals.
Let's explore how virtual sales assistants can support your lead generation and prospecting with some real-life examples of AI tools to get started.
AI highlights
An AI sales assistant is a virtual assistant that supports your sales process, assisted by machine learning.
AI sales assistant software lets you automate time-consuming tasks and optimize every step of your sales workflows.
Use cases for AI sales assistants include lead generation, lead scoring, cold outreach, sales coaching, sales forecasting, and more.
Here are some of the leading AI SDRs and sales assistant software available today:
AiSDR: A virtual sales assistant that runs outreach campaigns and follow-ups, books demos, and tracks the results ($750/ month).
Ava: Designed by Artisan, Ava is a virtual BDR that can run and optimize your email and LinkedIn outreach (pricing is available upon request).
Jazon: An autonomous AI assistant that stands out for its advanced natural language processing features (free for 3 months, then $1,999/agent/month).
Gem-E: An AI assistant that can access UserGems' exclusive database and support each stage of your lead generation (pricing available on request).
Here’s a roundup of the best AI-powered sales tools to boost productivity and drive results:
PhantomBuster: Lets you automate sales workflows with AI-powered automation for lead scoring, data enrichment, and personalized outreach ($56/month).
Gong AI: To automate your sales intelligence, communication, and beyond (pricing available on request).
Claygent: An AI-powered research assistant that can scrape the web on your behalf ($134/month for 24,000 credits/year).
When choosing an AI sales assistant, you should look for tools that integrate with your CRM, are customizable and scalable, and provide data and analytics to boost performance.
What is an AI sales assistant?
AI sales assistants are sales tools that use artificial intelligence to support every step of lead generation and prospecting.
For example, you could use an AI sales assistant to automatically create a lead scoring model or generate a personalized LinkedIn cold message.
The goal is to increase sales productivity and efficiency, letting AI handle the heavy part of the sales process while you focus on closing deals.
Why should you use an AI sales assistant?
An AI sales assistant can boost your efficiency and reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks, helping you stay on top of opportunities and avoid sales burnout.
Here's how it can help:
Automate repetitive tasks: Every sales rep's worst nightmare is time-consuming, manual tasks. But with an AI assistant, you can run your sales process like clockwork.
Gain valuable data and insights: You can use an AI sales agent to better know your audience and sales process—from leveraging sales intelligence to learning how to boost your sales productivity.
Generate high-quality leads: With an AI-powered tool, you can automatically set up lead segmentation and lead scoring workflows to focus on the right prospects.
Write better sales emails and messages: AI can refine your sales conversations and outreach, such as cold emails, based on which prospects you're talking to.
Benefits of using AI/automation in B2B sales | HubSpotMain use cases for AI sales assistant tools
AI sales tools can be subdivided into two categories:
AI sales assistants: Virtual AI SDRs that use artificial intelligence to automate and perform tasks typically handled by human SDRs, reducing workload and boosting productivity.
AI-powered sales software: AI-powered sales automation tools that handle the manual aspects of your sales process, giving you time to add a human touch to the rest.
In both instances, AI sales software can support many use cases, including:
Lead generation: Automate tasks to find leads who fit your ideal customer profile in less time.
Lead scoring: Score your prospects based on their likelihood to convert.
Lead qualification: Use AI-powered insights to decide which prospects fit best.
Lead nurturing: Use generative AI to craft messages that engage buyers.
Sales forecasting: Anticipate sales opportunities and project your revenue growth accordingly.
Meeting scheduling: Automatically book meetings, demos, and sales calls at a time that works for everyone.
Automated call recordings: Review calls so your team can stay in sync.
Automated meeting notes: Ensure your revenue teams are on the same page after check-ins.
Sentiment analysis: Use conversation intelligence to find the best tone of voice for your prospects.
Sales coaching: Get real-time tips and insights during customer interactions.
Sales pipeline management: Track every step of your sales pipeline to boost performance.
Predictive analytics: Collect data via AI insights and use it to boost conversion rates.
AI/automation tools used in sales | HubSpotBest AI SDR and sales assistant software
An AI SDR (sales development representative) will run tasks usually completed by human sales reps.
These tools can handle tasks like tracking client calls and automating outreach so sales reps can focus on sealing the deal instead of getting stuck in admin work.
Here are 4 of the top AI SDRs on the market.
1. AiSDR: AI sales assistant for prospecting and outreach
AiSDR is a virtual sales rep powered by artificial intelligence. It describes itself as 'an AI SDR that speaks with prospects in your voice.'
It can run personalized LinkedIn outreach sequences with automated follow-ups and personalized emails and texts.
AiSDR can also book meetings, qualify prospects via buyer intent data, and prioritize leads. Plus, it's equipped to share icebreakers such as memes and AI-generated videos.
What makes AiSDR a good AI sales assistant
AiSDR has the combined power to add a human touch to your sales process while automating everything that is slowing you down.
Connect your email: Send and receive emails straight from the AiSDR dashboard. Your inbox will be warmed up automatically to boost email deliverability.
Build a sales persona: Train AiSDR to sell using your voice, target your ideal customer profile, and stick to your outreach goals.
Launch campaigns: Build your sales prospecting list via AiSDR's lead database or upload your own prospects. Then, use the sales intelligence platform to get to know them, launch cold emails, and more.
Integrate your calendar: You can connect your Calendly or HubSpot calendars with AiSDR and automatically update your campaigns and outreach when a meeting is booked.
Track the results: Review your campaign's performance and give the AI feedback about which messages resonate most.
Pricing
AiSDR does not offer a free trial, and pricing currently starts at $750 per month for unlimited leads, text messages, and 1,000 emails.
2. Ava by Artisan: Outbound demand generation automation
If you're focusing on B2B lead generation, Artisan's AI BDR, Ava, could be a great fit. She's a virtual assistant who can find prospects, gather data, and write personalized cold emails.
Ava operates via Artisan's outbound sales dashboard, which covers every sales pipeline stage (no integrations needed).
Using Ava, sales managers and reps can access email deliverability features, a data miner, personalization tools, LinkedIn automation, and a B2B contact database.
What makes Ava a good AI sales assistant
Ava's SDR is designed to self-optimize over time and train itself based on your edits. It also has many other features to help sales leaders and teams.
Set up campaigns: Give Ava your messaging guidelines, and let the software run outreach campaigns tailored to your ideal customer profile across LinkedIn and email.
Gather data about your prospects: Scrape data such as technographic, firmographic, demographic, and buying signals.
Send multi-channel LinkedIn and email outreach: Use a drag-and-drop interface to create message sequences and access winning templates for emails, connection requests, and LinkedIn messages.
Personalize messages: Write messages based on your prospect data and plug them into your email and LinkedIn sequences.
Optimize your approach: Coach Ava to optimize her writing style and enhance your response rates over time.
Pricing
Artisan pricing is available on request, with plans tailored to different business sizes and requirements. There is no free trial, but website visitors can book a demo to see the tool in action.
3. Jazon by Lyzr: AI-powered sales outreach
Jazon is an AI assistant combining AI, automation, and smart integration to enhance the entire sales process.
It's designed to work with businesses of any size and can be deployed within 24 hours, making it a great solution for any enterprise that wants to get more deals quickly.
Jazon can also adapt its strategy based on prospects' behavior, focusing on the leads that are most likely to convert.
It also stands out for its autonomous approach, reducing the need for human assistance.
What makes Jazon a good AI sales assistant
Jazon follows an advanced natural language processing framework, giving detailed data analysis and effective personalization.
Automate follow-ups: Use Jazon to track responses from prospects and send timely follow-up emails.
Research on autopilot: Harness Jazon to scrape websites, review social media profiles, and check third-party databases.
Optimize outreach: Let Jazon improve with every customer interaction to connect, learn, and adapt to your sales needs.
Scale quickly: Manage thousands of outreach tasks on one interface without hiring or training a larger sales team.
Run from the cloud: Ensure data privacy using Jazon via your company's cloud infrastructure.
Pricing
You can try Jazon's Pilot Program for free for 3 months before adhering to a paid plan, which costs $1999/agent/month.
The free plan includes self-learning capabilities, enterprise support from their contact center, and a dedicated engineering team.
4. Gem-E by UserGems: Tracking and re-engaging warm leads
Gem-E monitors prospects, identifies buying signals, and tells sales reps who to contact. It also suggests when and why they should reach out.
Working 24/7, Gem-E can access UserGems' database and signals. It can also scan your CRM, monitor your prospects, and write messages that bring results.
What makes Gem-E a good AI sales tool
If you want to have your research, data enrichment, and message-writing covered, then Gem-E could be a good tool for you.
Find accounts with buying signals: Focus on the prospects who will be genuinely interested in your brand.
Write messaging that stands out: Use Gem-E to write sales content based on the latest best practices and industry standards.
Launch outreach automatically: With 'Auto-pilot' mode, Gem-E can send emails on your behalf.
Pricing
Pricing information is private on UserGems' website, but you can schedule a demo call to learn more.
Best AI-powered sales tools for sales reps
AI sales tools streamline your sales process by automating manual tasks, freeing up your time to focus on adding that essential human touch where it matters most.
When it comes to AI-powered sales tools, there are several that stand out.
1. PhantomBuster: AI-powered lead scoring and lead data enrichment
PhantomBuster is a lead generation automation platform. It can run actions on your behalf across major platforms such as LinkedIn and Sales Navigator—and you barely lift a finger.
The tool offers AI features for LinkedIn lead generation and outreach. For example, it can analyze LinkedIn profiles to support data enrichment and then use the data to write personalized messages.
If your sales team prioritizes automating tasks, finding quality leads, and social selling on LinkedIn, then PhantomBuster's AI software could be a great addition to your tech stack.
What makes PhantomBuster a good AI sales tool
Here's how PhantomBuster helps you run your sales processes automatically:
Enrich data: Use AI to analyze your leads' data and provide complementary insights, such as identifying which leads fit your ICP.
Score leads: Use PhantomBuster's AI LinkedIn Profile Enricher to create a prompt and give scores to each prospect based on their likelihood to convert.
Write tailored messages: Create personalized messages based on your prospects' LinkedIn profile data and activity using AI-generated content—all without manual effort.
Pricing
After a 14-day free trial, pricing starts at $56 per month for an annual plan. This includes 20 hours of execution time per month, 10,000 AI credits, and unlimited data exports.
2. Gong: Sales intelligence AI platform
Gong AI could be the right tool if you're looking for an AI assistant that can forecast sales, deliver real-time insights, and guide your team.
This tool analyzes customer data, including sales calls and emails, and combines the information with CRM and other data sources to provide valuable sales intelligence.
What makes Gong a good AI sales tool
Gong AI is a winning sales intelligence tool with capabilities that cover every part of your sales workflows.
Get conversation intelligence: Identify topics, insights, and risks in your customer interactions.
Use deal intelligence: Forecast sales performance based on current data and insights.
Create compelling content: Write account briefs and follow-up emails using up-to-date information.
Access sales enablement tools: Use Gong's AI assistant to get real-time coaching and upload data automatically to your CRM.
Pricing
Gong's pricing is available on request and is based on factors such as team size. Integrating your tech stack is free.
3. Claygent by Clay: AI web scraper for automated research
Claygent is an AI research model designed by Clay. It specializes in sales AI intelligence and can visit a list of domains, find information, and report back to you.
With manual research being a huge time drain for salespeople, Claygent stands out as the solution—and it frees up more time and resources for teams to focus on nurturing their leads.
What makes Claygent a good AI sales tool
If you want to prioritize web scraping automation, Claygent can handle it on autopilot.
Enrich company data: Claygent will scrape web pages to find information about a company's customers, hiring, locations, and more.
Enrich people data: Use Claygent to search for people, such as via company case studies.
Ask refined questions: From podcast appearances to happy customer testimonials to company investors, you can ask Claygent anything about your prospects.
Pricing
Claygent is available in Clay's free plan, which includes unlimited users, up to 100 people or company searches, and 1,200 credits per year. Paid plans start at $134 per month (billed annually).
How to choose the right AI sales assistant for your sales team
When searching for an AI-powered sales assistant, you need to be confident that it will help you close deals—not hinder them!
Let's look at six things to check before you sign up:
Core AI features: Ensure the tool can understand and predict customer behaviors using conversation intelligence, data insights, and previous learning to help close deals.
Machine learning capabilities: An AI assistant should improve over time by learning from your data. Look for tools that can analyze deals for successful patterns and identify when leads are losing interest so that you can make the most of your sales pipeline.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): Ensure the AI sounds authentic, contextually relevant, and communicate effectively across formats like email, SMS, or LinkedIn.
CRM integrations: Confirm that the tool integrates seamlessly with your existing systems, such as Salesforce or HubSpot. Bonus points if it can update your CRM automatically, saving time on manual data entry!
Analytics and tracking: The best sales leaders rely on data. A strong AI tool will deliver actionable sales data, such as which deals will likely close based on intent data or which tone of voice will work with specific qualified leads.
Customization and scalability: Even the most powerful AI assistant is useless if sales managers can't implement it. Choose a sales AI tool with an intuitive dashboard, adaptable features, and a scalable platform as you close more deals.
Conclusion
Choosing the right AI sales assistant doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Focus on your team’s needs, prioritize integration and usability, and look for tools that grow with you.
As a starting point, we recommend getting a free PhantomBuster trial. It will let you test AI workflows for LinkedIn lead generation and prospecting, helping you to work smarter, not harder.
