What is an AI copilot for sales? How to make every rep your best rep

In case you haven’t heard…

We’ve just launched Duo, the first-ever AI copilot for sales teams!

“Wait,” you’re saying. “Isn’t this just more AI enablement? Don’t I have plenty of that already?”

The answer is no. Trust us when we say this is like nothing you’ve ever seen before in sales enablement.

Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about the latest revolution in AI-powered sales, and why it matters for your team.

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What is an AI copilot?

Last year was the year of AI. This has been the year of the AI copilot.

AI copilots are tools that apply AI in a more integrated, intuitive, and autonomous way than your standard AI tools. 

Typically, an AI copilot is better at making decisions based on a set of prompts and putting them into action. Of course, many standard AI tools could do this to some extent, but AI copilots tend to be engineered in a way that makes them easier to prompt and more comprehensive in their outputs. 

In other words, they’re far easier for non-technical people to use, and more far-reaching in what they can do.

As the name suggests, an AI copilot is like your technological sidekick that thinks and behaves as you would in many of your day-to-day tasks!

Key differentiators that make AI copilots stand out from other tools:

• They are designed for highly-specialized use cases to assist a particular persona in a particular line of work or set of tasks.
• They are capable of extensive integration across different platforms to knit diverse sets of data together.
• Unlike basic tools that formulate reactions to specific data, AI copilots are more proactive in applying what they’ve seen in the past to new tasks.
• Rather than executing isolated tasks, they are better at combining tasks into a coherent strategy, making decisions, or forming suggestions for future actions.

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What is an AI copilot for sales?

An AI copilot for sales applies all of the above to make it easier for you to find and engage your ideal buyers.

A good AI sales copilot will be equipped to handle every part of your sales process, from defining your ICP to prospecting; identifying and prioritizing high-potential leads; and drafting and executing personalized outreach sequences for each individual buyer.

Using an AI sales copilot is like having a personal assistant that understands the scope of your work and always has your back. This leaves you with more time to focus on face-to-face customer interactions or nurturing deals to closure!

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How does an AI sales copilot differ from other AI sales enablement tools?

You might already be using some sales automation tools, like a CRM system, prospecting database, or email automation software. So, how is an AI sales copilot different?

While these tools help you manage your sales data and processes, an AI copilot takes things to the next level by connecting everything together. As we saw above, it’s better at actually analyzing data, spotting patterns, and providing personalized recommendations to improve your sales game. 

Here are some examples of how an AI sales copilot differs from other sales engagement tools:

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1. It’s already tailored to your use case

In the same way that you have to prompt ChatGPT to produce content, most sales enablement tools require a level of input from you to get the output you want. 

If you’re not adept at prompting or tuning your tools, this can detract from the value you’re able to get out of them. Not to mention the fact that learning to prompt, programme, or configure your tools means more time away from active selling.

An AI copilot, on the other hand, is set up to understand your sales strategy inside out as soon as you log in. This includes your target ICP, your product USPs and messaging approaches for different personas, your preferred intent signals, outreach tone of voice, style of interaction, and much much more. 

This means it’s able to be a lot more autonomous, saving you time and effort whilst reducing the risk of mistakes being made.

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2. It offers end-to-end support to your sales process

Another problem with many standard AI sales enablement tools is that they tend to be single-point solutions; that is, they’re designed to tackle one area of your process or pipeline, like prospecting, verifying data, or sending outreach, but it’s up to you to stitch them together to support your sales funnel. 

The more tools you add to enhance your capabilities, the more complex your process becomes, and the harder it is to ensure your pipeline data flows as it should. This is the stuff of revenue operations nightmares.

An AI sales copilot is more like having an assistant that takes care of everything itself than a stack of tools that you have to manage!

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3. It reduces the performance gap between top and average sellers

Being tuned to your sales strategy also means that your AI copilot is exceptionally consistent in the quality and sophistication of sales plays it suggests. 

It doesn’t matter if the user is a pro seller with decades of experience or a complete newbie to outbound; an AI copilot for sales is capable of applying your strategic blueprint according to each user’s preferences so they can execute advanced sales tactics from day one.

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4. The AI is constantly improving and refining

Another key feature of AI copilots is that they are engineered to keep learning to refine their decisions so their actions don’t stagnate or become redundant. 

For example, your AI sales copilot will pick up on things like:

• Which of your target personas are most relevant in the buying process
• What messaging does or doesn’t resonate with different target personas
• Which activity signals show leads are likely to be interested in a purchase
• Which channels are likely to yield responses from specific prospects
• The best times of day to schedule outreach for target personas

…and adjust your outbounding suggestions accordingly. 

These are things that many AI tools can analyze and provide data for, but they’re not so effective at assessing them from your overall strategic point of view, or at making autonomous adjustments as data changes. 

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5. Your AI sales copilot is focused on the big-picture revenue results

We mentioned above that many existing sales engagement tools offer single-point solutions to specific problems. Asides from fragmenting your processes, one of the problem with this is that it’s hard to measure their individual impact on your overall revenue growth. 

You might be able to pull metrics on the specific activities happening within an individual platform (e.g. number of leads scraped, delivery rates, or open rates), but you then have to extrapolate whether they are directly impacting your broader sales results. There’s a lot of room for misreading your data.

Conversely, because an AI sales copilot is focused on one thing above all (helping you improve your revenue growth), all activities are calibrated against the same measure of success. For example, your copilot will not sacrifice quality of outreach in the interests of quantity if it means your conversion rates suffer. 

By keeping you from getting sidetracked on vanity metrics, an AI copilot is better at helping you hit quota and progress in your sales growth.

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Is an AI sales copilot the same as an AI agent or AI SDR?

You may have seen AI sales agents or AI SDR software emerging on the market recently too.

These are not the same as an AI sales copilot.

While they all use AI technology to assist sales teams, they have some key differences.

An AI agent or AI SDR is like a virtual sales rep that automates every aspect of your prospecting and lead generation. These are often marketed with the explicit purpose of replacing the need for human reps and saving businesses money on hiring.

In contrast, an AI sales copilot is more of a supportive, behind-the-scenes assistant. It's there to help you and your human sales team be more productive and effective, not to replace you entirely.

An AI sales copilot still allows you to automate tasks, but it does so in a way that enhances the human element of connection in sales rather than displacing it.

Sales reps have nothing to fear from AI copilots. They’re not here to steal jobs!

What they do do is enable reps to level-up their performance with more consistent and effective pipeline plays.

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How does an AI sales copilot compare in price to other sales enablement tools?

When it comes to pricing, AI sales copilots can vary quite a bit. Some vendors offer subscription-based plans that start around a few hundred dollars per month, while enterprise-level solutions can cost several thousand dollars per year.

Compared to other sales enablement tools, like simpler social selling extensions or email automation software, an AI copilot is likely to carry a higher price tag. But the value it can bring to your sales team in terms of increased productivity, better-qualified leads, and more personalized customer experiences can make it a no-brainer investment. 

You also have to compare the potential cost against the savings you could make be eliminating other piecemeal solutions from your sales stack.

The key is to carefully evaluate your sales needs, your budget, and the potential return on investment that an AI copilot could provide. With the right AI assistant in your corner, you might be surprised at how much of a difference it can make.

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Introducing Duo, the first AI copilot for sales teams!

Now you understand why AI sales copilots are such a big deal, it’s time to meet Duo!

Duo is Amplemarket’s AI Copilot built to be the perfect complement to the sales rep’s skills and keep the art of human connection at the heart of every prospect interactions. It’s sales that’s AI-powered, and human refined.

We describe it as as a "self-driving car for sales" - an AI sales assistant that guides sales reps from prospecting to engaging to booking a meeting, all whilst reducing manual work and boosting productivity.

As soon as you log in to Duo, your personalized copilot gets to work:

• Automatically finding your best-fit accounts and prospects
• Surfacing relevant lead signals, account data, and lead updates
• Crafting personalized outreach emails
• Scheduling meetings
• Handling objections
• Sending follow-up reminders
• Creating AI-generated voice messages that match your unique tone

…and much, much more.

Ready to try the AI sales copilot for yourself? You can sign up for a Duo demo or learn more about the platform here!