When to Integrate Revenue Digital Assistants™ into Your Front-Line Revenue Teams

Let’s face it. You don’t have to be creative to recognize that creativity separates leaders and also-rans. The digital transformation of today’s business landscape drives organizations to seek ways to improve their Sales processes. This is where creativity is critical. How do you envision and sell fundamentally changing your Sales organization?

Don’t worry, we have you covered. Welcome to the world of Revenue Digital Assistants™.

What is a Revenue Digital Assistant?

A Revenue Digital Assistant (RDA) is an intelligent virtual assistant powered by a Conversational AI platform that automates and optimizes Sales and Marketing processes, boosting revenue growth. RDAs identify high-quality leads, personalize marketing efforts, and streamline sales pipelines.

TL;DR: all the low-value, lead-grinding your front-line Sales team currently loathes is taken care of by an RDA, leaving the team to connect with genuinely motivated buyers to invest in your product.

Signs You’re Ready to Make the Move

Recognize more than two of the following? It may be time to change your model. 

1. Inconsistent lead follow-ups and engagement
2. High lead volume overwhelming your team
3. Sales reps struggling to prioritize leads
4. Limited resources leading to inefficient Sales processes
5. A need to scale your Sales operations

What Happens to the Roles of the Existing Front-Line Revenue Teams?

The introduction of RDAs will shift the roles and responsibilities of the existing revenue team members. They can focus on more strategic and relationship-driven tasks, while RDAs handle repetitive, time-consuming activities. Humans and AI both have their strengths and weaknesses, and this setup allows each to focus on what they do best.

We call this the Conversica Growth Workforce™ model.

This shift will enable Sales reps to prioritize high-quality leads and dedicate more time to nurturing relationships and closing deals.

How to Prepare the Team for Incoming RDAs

To ensure a smooth transition, prepare your revenue team for the arrival of RDAs by:

1. Communicating the benefits and goals of integrating RDAs
2. Providing training on how to collaborate with RDAs effectively
3. Establishing clear guidelines for when and how to delegate tasks to RDAs

How to Structure the Team to Take Advantage of RDAs

Integrating RDAs into your Sales Development team involves rethinking the team structure to maximize the benefits of these digital assistants. Treat them the same as any other team member, no matter what your organization has decided to name them.

Once your RDA has been introduced to the team, identify the tasks they can perform most effectively, such as lead scoring, initial outreach and appointment scheduling. Then, assign your human team members to roles that complement the RDAs, focusing on tasks that require a human touch, like building relationships and closing deals.

This hybrid team structure will allow you to leverage the strengths of both humans and RDAs for improved efficiency and effectiveness.

Early Days: What to Task RDAs With, Expected Results and Potential Problems

Initially, assign RDAs tasks such as lead scoring, initial outreach and appointment scheduling. Monitor their performance, test variations and adjust based on results.

Early on, you might encounter challenges such as data inconsistencies, communication gaps or resistance from your team. Address these issues promptly and make necessary adjustments to ensure successful integration. Most teams are up and running with their Revenue Digital Assistant within three weeks.

Ramping & Refining the Process: Optimizing the Team and RDA Performance Over the First 6-12 Months

During the first 6-12 months, continuously evaluate RDA performance and refine their tasks and integration with the team. Optimize your workflows, address any pain points and encourage team members to share their insights on the collaboration process. You can also check your performance against other companies leveraging RDAs through the Conversica Community forum, webinars, case studies and user groups.

This iterative approach will help you maximize the benefits of RDAs in the long run.

Building a Plan for Long-Term Success with the Human-RDA Team

Develop a long-term strategy for your human-RDA team by setting clear goals, performance metrics and milestones. Continuously monitor and evaluate the collaboration, making necessary adjustments to improve productivity and efficiency.

Treat your RDA as you would any human employee you want to retain: look for additional opportunities for growth, including investing in new skills for their repertoire. Over time, your RDA’s effectiveness and ROI should grow and grow, just like your best employees.

Open communication and an ongoing learning culture will help your team stay agile and adaptable.

Where Next: Integrating RDAs into Other Areas of the Value Chain

As you experience success with RDAs in your Sales development process, consider extending their use to other areas of your organization, such as Marketing and Customer Success. RDAs can help automate routine tasks, provide insights based on data analysis and enhance customer interactions in various departments.

The ultimate value comes when RDAs work in concert across the business and throughout the customer journey.

The Bottom Line

Integrating Revenue Digital Assistants into your Sales Development team will significantly improve your Sales process and overall business performance.

By recognizing when it’s time to move, restructuring your team, training them to work collaboratively with RDAs and continuously refining the process, you’ll set your organization up for long-term success with a robust and adaptable human-RDA sales development team.

The future is not humans OR Revenue Digital Assistants; the future is humans AND digital assistants.

Companies figuring this out now are getting a jumpstart on their competition.