The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just a boon for big companies. It can also help small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) sell smarter and more efficiently, regardless of a company’s resources.

In the very near future, I imagine a world in which SMBs use generative AI through Sales Cloud to streamline the sales process and close more deals faster and with fewer resources. Capabilities like automated, AI-generated proposals and customer communications, along with predictive sales modelling, will give SMBs even more powerful tools to help them provide great customer experiences, manage operating expenses, and achieve sustainable growth.

Generative AI is technology built on pre-trained, large-language models that help users create unique text, images, and other content from text-based prompts. Although it has the potential to transform sales, it will face several hurdles before it can become mainstream. That’s why Salesforce recently published five guidelines for trusted generative AI development, and explained the potential for generative AI in enterprise tech — and how to balance this transformative tech with the reality and risks.

Here are three ways that generative AI could empower SMB sales teams.

Generative AI will automate more time-intensive sales tasks like composing emails, scheduling meetings, and preparing notes for the next interaction. By using generative AI to summarise past customer interactions, sales teams will be better informed for important conversations and will be able to identify and close upsell opportunities without jeopardising customer relationships.

Generative AI can produce fast, personalised customer communications based on historical data and customer interactions. The technology could also help you qualify leads and answer common customer questions more quickly. This customer-centric shift will help SMBs deepen existing relationships and fuel new customer acquisitions through frictionless buying experiences.

Generative AI can help boost pipeline growth by crafting personalised emails to engage with the most promising prospects. When combined with predictive modeling that can forecast customer behavior — such as which products customers are likely to purchase — generative AI can transform prospecting efforts from tedious and time-consuming to optimised and autonomous.