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Skaled Consulting CEO Jake Dunlap recommends ChatGPT in sales for its custom-GPTs feature.
He said ChatGPT could help with deal preparation, understanding trends, and speeding up research.
For sales managers, it can also make personalized training easier and speed up onboarding.
It looks like some salespeople are already sold on using ChatGPT at work.
That includes Jake Dunlap, the CEO of Skaled Consulting, a management and sales consulting firm with clients including LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Adobe.
In a new video breaking down helpful tips for using ChatGPT in sales, Dunlap said that while these pointers could be used with any AI chatbot, he preferred OpenAI's ChatGPT for its custom-GPTs feature, which allows for tailored versions for specific prompts or use cases.
Here are Dunlap's favorite ways to use ChatGPT to boost his sales game and be more productive, which can help everyone from sales managers to account executives.
When it comes to research, Dunlap said, "do not go to Google first; go to ChatGPT and tell it exactly what you want to do."
Dunlap advised sales-development representatives to speed up their research process about a company or industry and become experts. You can even customize ChatGPT's teaching methods. For example, you could request a trivia game about a company.
"I'm trying to book a meeting; teach me about this company," he said. "Literally within five minutes, it can summarize research that would have taken me two hours."
Dunlap said that ChatGPT could be used to create more-personalized outreach strategies for prospective clients.
In a strategy he dubbed "the triad methodology," Dunlap said to look at industry trends, trends within the role you're focusing on at a company, and how to support these two.
For example, if you're trying to sell to human resources at a publishing company, Dunlap suggested asking ChatGPT about trends in the publishing industry and those within HR.
"And then, what are trends in publishing for talent-acquisition leaders, specifically," he said. "Then how do we address the trends happening in publishing and, specifically, to HR leaders with what we do."
The Skaled CEO said that since most high-level decision-makers prefer "direct communication," personalizing messages to specify trends within a company's industry or area is more enticing to prospective clients.
Dunlap said there's "absolutely no reason an email should ever be sent" without saying, "Here are the top three trends that we're seeing, and I think we can help — let's set up time to meet."
For calling early prospects, Dunlap uses a custom GPT that already has his company's data and general information. He then feeds it a link to the company he wants to work with to get up to speed on its business.
Dunlap also loves using the voice tool on the ChatGPT mobile app before a meeting because he can tell it to gather everything he's prepped, streamlining the process with a custom GPT that already knows his company's information.
He also recommends using a custom GPT for later-stage deal preparation. The chatbot can generate information like value propositions or who your competition is before you talk to your client.
"What are the top two ways I should position against the competition," Dunlap said. "What are two or three things I should avoid that they're maybe stronger at."
Rather than going to other leaders to discuss these scenarios, he said, you could use "role-play" GPTs to help you prepare.
Dunlap said he used to do these preparations in the middle of the night but now just goes right to ChatGPT.
"So that is my hack for closing more deals," he said.
For sales managers who lack the bandwidth to build personalized training plans for team members, Dunlap said that ChatGPT could be used to develop customized curricula.
"They each have their own areas we're growing on," he said. "These are the areas they're good at. These are the areas they're trying to double down on."
He added: "I can say, 'Hey, I'm working with one of my direct reports on this. Help me to build an eight-week training program with 45-minute meetings. Give me a detailed agenda for each meeting that I can work with them on A, B, C.'"
Along with employee training, Dunlap likes creating quizzes and detailed curricula for his personal learning.
"You don't need your salesman to do this if you have a skill you're working on," he said. "You can go do it yourself; go build your own plan."
"If you aren't implementing generative AI, you are extending your sales-rep ramp period by probably double," he said.
Dunlap said GPTs could help new employees learn about whom they sell to, their products, and their value propositions without needing "30 conversations" because the chatbot can run the onboarding itself.
"I can teach you the basics, and then by conversation 10, you're already at proficiency," he said.
He again recommends asking "role-play" GPTs to learn about the company's industry and buyer personas.
"I'm going to come in and ask you a question about this persona, and I want you to give me a new 10-question trivia on it," he said.
