AI for sales teams: which tasks to automate first
Updated
Across the 14 million US jobs in sales, the work scores 51 of 100 for AI exposure, weighted by how many people do each job. AI can take on about 790 hours a year per full-time person, 40% of a working year. The task that frees the most hours across the team is to answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise, about 73 hours a year for each person who does it.
- AI exposure, weighted by employment
- 51 out of 100 High exposure
- Hours AI can take on
- 790 hours a year per full-time person
- Task time AI can do today
- 25% AI speeds up another 47%
Tasks to automate first
The 15 tasks where AI can take on the most hours across sales: how exposed each task is, how much of the job it takes and how many people do that job. Hours are per person in the role that does the task. How we score each task.
| Task and who does it | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise. Store chatbots and knowledge bases answer product and store questions well. Done by retail salespeople. | 65% AI can do it 73 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment. POS software totals sales, but staff handle cash and card payments. Done by retail salespeople. | 58% AI helps 66 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies. LLM assistants can answer policy questions from store documents. Done by cashiers. | 70% AI can do it 70 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Place special orders or call other stores to find desired items. Searching stock and placing orders can run through software and agents. Done by retail salespeople. | 60% AI can do it 56 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Establish or identify prices of goods, services, or admission, and tabulate bills, using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners. Scanners and registers already set prices; software does the tabulating. Done by cashiers. | 65% AI can do it 66 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Answer incoming phone calls. Voice AI can already answer routine store phone calls. Done by cashiers. | 65% AI can do it 65 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Maintain customer records using automated systems. CRM record keeping is routine data entry for automated systems. Done by sales representatives of services. | 82% AI can do it 109 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Compute and compare costs of services. Cost calculations and comparisons are simple for software and AI. Done by sales representatives of services. | 78% AI can do it 104 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Perform administrative duties, such as preparing sales budgets and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports. Reports, budgets and expense records are well suited to AI. Done by sales representatives. | 75% AI can do it 105 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Prepare sales contracts and order forms. Contract and order form drafting from templates is highly automatable. Done by sales representatives. | 70% AI can do it 101 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms. AI answers routine product, price and availability questions quickly. Done by sales representatives. | 65% AI can do it 98 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Create forms or agreements to complete sales. Agreements and forms generate from templates with minimal review. Done by sales representatives of services. | 72% AI can do it 96 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Keep records of purchases, sales, and requisitions. POS systems already log most sales and requisition records. Done by retail supervisors. | 65% AI can do it 70 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Estimate consumer demand and determine the types and amounts of goods to be sold. Forecasting tools use sales history; person checks the output. Done by retail supervisors. | 65% AI can do it 65 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Plan and prepare work schedules and keep records of employees' work schedules and time cards. Software drafts shifts and tracks time cards; manager approves. Done by retail supervisors. | 60% AI can do it 65 hours a year for each person in the role |
What stays with people
28% of the task time across these roles needs a person, and the output of the rest still needs someone to check it. The tasks below take the most of that time.
- 25% AI can do it
- 47% AI helps
- 28% Needs a person
- Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs. Retail salespeople, 12% exposed
- Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental. Retail salespeople, 12% exposed
- Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits. Cashiers, 15% exposed
- Greet customers entering establishments. Cashiers, 3% exposed
- Provide customers with product samples and catalogs. Sales representatives, 15% exposed
Adoption path
Start with the tasks where AI helps a person, then automate the routine ones, then give whole workflows to agents with a person approving the output.
Roles in sales
25 roles, each linked to its task-by-task score. Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, sales representatives of services score highest at 66, retail supervisors lowest at 43.
- Retail salespeople, 27.3% of the team, score 48 out of 100
- Cashiers, 21.7% of the team, score 43 out of 100
- Sales representatives of services, 8.8% of the team, score 66 out of 100
- Sales representatives, 8.7% of the team, score 63 out of 100
- Retail supervisors, 7.9% of the team, score 43 out of 100
- Sales managers, 4.5% of the team, score 45 out of 100
- Stockbrokers, 3.4% of the team, score 64 out of 100
- Insurance agents, 3.4% of the team, score 57 out of 100
- Rental clerks, 2.8% of the team, score 57 out of 100
- Technical sales representatives, 2% of the team, score 60 out of 100
- Online merchants, 1.9% of the team, score 66 out of 100
- Parts salespersons, 1.9% of the team, score 38 out of 100
- Sales supervisors, 1.5% of the team, score 48 out of 100
- Real estate agents, 1.4% of the team, score 54 out of 100
- Advertising sales agents, 0.6% of the team, score 61 out of 100
- Product demonstrators, 0.5% of the team, score 42 out of 100
- Telemarketers, 0.4% of the team, score 76 out of 100
- Travel agents, 0.4% of the team, score 68 out of 100
- Sales engineers, 0.4% of the team, score 57 out of 100
- Real estate brokers, 0.3% of the team, score 57 out of 100
- Casino cashiers, 0.2% of the team, score 31 out of 100
- Talent agents, 0.1% of the team, score 50 out of 100
- Models, Counted under a related job in US data, score 36 out of 100
- Door-to-door salespeople, Counted under a related job in US data, score 47 out of 100
- Solar sales representatives, Counted under a related job in US data, score 65 out of 100
Questions about AI for sales teams
Which tasks should a sales team automate first?
The first task to automate is to answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise (65% exposed). Next come the tasks to compute sales prices (58%) and to answer customers' questions (70%). Together they free the most hours across the team.
How many hours can AI save a sales team?
About 790 hours a year per full-time person, 40% of a 2,000-hour working year. For a team of 10 that is about 7,900 hours, the time of 4.0 full-time people. The figure is the share of task time AI can remove today, weighted by how many people do each job.
Which roles in a sales team are most exposed to AI?
Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, sales representatives of services score highest, at 66 of 100, and retail supervisors lowest, at 43. Each role's page lists its tasks one by one.
Will AI replace jobs in sales?
AI can do 25% of the task time across these roles today. Another 47% gets faster with AI while a person stays in charge. 28% needs a person. One task that stays with people is to greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
Where should a sales team start with AI?
With the quick wins: approved assistants for the tasks AI helps with, under a written AI policy. Then automate the 14 tasks on this page AI can do end to end. An AI audit maps the tasks in your team and ranks them the same way this page does.
Next steps
Find the tasks to automate first in your team
We map the tasks in your sales team, score each one the way this page does and build the automations that pay back first.