From Mundane to Creative: How AI Unburdens Sales Agents

Keywords: AI Support, Sales Assistance, Sales Calls, Creativity, Organizational Behavior

Abstract:
The concept of “augmented intelligence” envisions AI supporting human employees. A promising field for such cooperation is sales, where AI can handle repetitive tasks, allowing humans to focus on creative and high-value activities. A study with a telemarketing company explores the impact of AI on sales agents’ creativity and performance. Results show that AI-assisted sales agents outperform those without AI, particularly in addressing untrained customer questions, leading to higher purchase rates. The study also highlights differences in performance and the perception of AI among highly skilled and lower-skilled agents. Highly skilled agents benefited from AI support, experiencing positive emotions and improved performance, and thus advocated for expanded AI use. In contrast, lower-skilled agents faced challenges and preferred maintaining the current level of AI assistance. AI assistance can enhance creativity and productivity, but ist impact is skill-biased, emphasizing the need for complementary measures such as upskilling, motivating agents, and clear communication about the intended use of AI to fully leverage ist potential in enhancing creativity and productivity at work.