An AI-based system suggests to a salesperson at a technology company that a medium-sized company might be interested in purchasing cloud services. A sales manager at a financial services firm gets a LinkedIn-generated list of potential hires to fill a vacancy. A sales leader at a pharmaceutical company gets a recommendation from an internal project team to reduce its sales force size by several hundred salespeople.
When Analytics Should Drive Sales Decisions — and When They Shouldn’t
Two questions leaders should ask before following data-driven recommendations.
December 21, 2023
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Summary.
As AI proliferates, companies are using it to offer data-driven recommendations on a wide range of activities, from whom to hire to what product a salesperson should recommend to customers. How much to rely on these data-driven recommendations should hinge on two questions: How high are the decision stakes? And how reliable is the data-driven insight?
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Marketing Essentials Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Marketing Essentials. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to communicate with your customers—strategically.