AI for Sales Prospecting: Use Cases and Tools for 2024

TL;DR:

• AI tools streamline lead gen, nurturing, outreach, and tracking results for sales prospecting today
• Tools like Letterdrop, Apollo.io, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator automate lead generation and help build targeted lists
• AI tools like Letterdrop and Close.com assist in warming up prospects for outreach by suggesting content and automating engagement
• Personalized outreach across channels is made easier with AI tools like Apollo.io and Close.com, increasing engagement and conversion rates
• AI tools like Gong, Letterdrop, and Apollo.io help analyze lost deals, identify objections, and provide actionable recommendations to improve close rates

Prospecting for sales is no longer the painful process it used to be, thanks to AI.

It's not just about automating the busy work anymore; AI tools are now helping sales teams find better leads, personalize outreach, and even pinpoint why deals fall through.

In this post, we’ll break down how AI can streamline each stage of prospecting, from generating leads to closing deals, so you can focus on what matters— building relationships with buyers.

Finding the Right Prospects: AI for Lead Gen

Going after accounts that are actually going to buy from you is the cornerstone of prospecting.

Once, this took hours to do. Now, there are AI tools that can scrape huge databases, filter down to your ICP, and help you build out lead lists in half the time.

AI Tools for Lead Gen

1. Letterdrop

G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Letterdrop is SOC-2 certified and capable of automatically scraping warm leads from your website and LinkedIn pages — in other words, accounts that are actually engaging with your content and "in your orbit."

Key Features:

• Scrapes engaged accounts natively on LinkedIn
• Keeps historical data on engaged accounts
• Segment and label accounts within your ICP

2. Apollo.io

G2 Rating: 4.8/5

Apollo.io can access a database of over 275 million contacts, able to find and build out lists focused around your ICP.

It can also help you automate your outreach sequences based on this data, but we'll get more into that later.

Key Features:

• AI-powered lead search and enrichment
• Automated outreach sequences (email, LinkedIn)
• Large contact database and integrations​

3. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

While not fully AI-powered, LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps build targeted lead lists using filters like job title, industry, and location for

It's a great companion tool for a scraper like LinkedIn Helper.

Key Features:

• Advanced search filters for ICP
• Real-time updates on prospect activity
• Integration with LinkedIn messaging

4. LinkedHelper

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

LinkedHelper automates LinkedIn tasks such as profile scraping and sending connection requests. It is a practical tool for generating leads by automating repetitive LinkedIn tasks and building lists from profile views.

Key Features:

• LinkedIn profile scraping and automation
• Automated connection requests and follow-ups

Warming Up Prospects for Outreach: AI for Building Trust

Most sellers jump in with a pitch slap once they have their lead list — in other words, they "spray and pray".

Staying top of mind and nurturing prospects is a much better (and more successful) approach.

Oliver Johnson, BDR at ServiceBell, improved his LinkedIn reply rate from 10-65% in under a month of social selling. It's because he actively warmed up his leads.

AI tools make the process of social selling easier.

Letterdrop

Letterdrop uses AI for sales enablement, suggesting content to send to prospects according to historical engagement with your web and LinkedIn content.

It also automates social selling, auto-generating LinkedIn posts from call data.

Key Features

• AI-generated LinkedIn posts rooted in call data
• Suggests sending prospects certain pieces of content post-call to nurture them
• Automates engagement from your team to amplify posts and "surround" prospects

Personalized Outreach Across Channels: AI for Outreach

Once you’ve built a list of leads and become more top of mind, the next step is to make contact.

AI tools can help you personalize emails, LinkedIn messages, and other interactions based on prospect behavior and data, increasing engagement and conversion rates.

AI Solutions for Outreach:

1. Apollo.io

Apollo automates multichannel outreach with AI-generated email and LinkedIn sequences. It tailors messages based on prospect behavior insofar as its data allows.

Key Features

• AI-driven email and LinkedIn outreach sequences
• Personalized messaging based on prospect activity
• Automated follow-ups and A/B testing​

2. Close.com

G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Close.com focuses on email and call sequences, using AI to personalize messages based on engagement data.

Key Features:

• AI-personalized email and call workflows
• Predictive follow-up recommendations
• CRM integration for contact tracking

3. Smartlead

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

Smartlead helps build out personalized email sequences, much like Close.com.

Key Features:

• Cold email automation and personalization
• Optimized email deliverability
• AI-driven lead identification

Measuring Results: AI for Tracking and Optimizing Outreach

To improve your sales strategy, you need to track the performance of your outreach efforts. AI tools offer detailed analytics on engagement metrics like email open rates, reply rates, and social interactions, allowing you to refine your approach and boost conversion rates.

AI Solutions for Measuring Outreach Success:

1. Letterdrop

Letterdrop helps you track historical engagement by individual accounts, as well as track your reply rates on LinkedIn.

This is good for understanding next steps with warm accounts.

2. Apollo.io

Apollo provides comprehensive analytics for email outreach, including open rates, reply rates, and click-through rates.

Key Features:

• Detailed email and LinkedIn performance tracking
• A/B testing for outreach optimization
• Automated diagnostics and reporting​

3. HubSpot Sales Hub

G2 Rating: 4.5/5

HubSpot’s Sales Hub tracks metrics across multiple channels, offering insights into email, calls, and meeting performance. Its integration with a CRM ensures that teams can track outreach effectiveness from a centralized platform.

Key Features:

• Multichannel engagement tracking
• CRM integration for unified reporting
• Pipeline management and forecasting

Bonus: Understanding Why Deals Don’t Close

A major blocker to selling today is that sellers don't know why deals were stalled or lost.

Before AI and automated workflows, sales teams had to manually track and aggregate data.

Today, you can use AI to identify objections slowing down deals.

AI tools for sales calls like Gong, Chorus, ‎Fathom, and Fireflies generate transcripts of calls, which allows you insight into:

• What are the top objections we faced amongst Closed/Lost deals?
• What feature were prospects interested in among Closed/Won deals?
• What competitor did we go up against most often last month?

AI Solutions for Analyzing Lost Deals:

1. Letterdrop

Letterdrop's AI can aggregate data from all your calls to answer specific questions.

‎Key Features

• Ask the AI specific questions about lost deals
• Groups common objections, themes, and questions together for you
• Opt into weekly reports of all the latest questions being asked in calls

2. Gong

G2 Rating: 4.8/5

Gong uses AI to analyze sales calls, providing insights into objections and deal blockers. It tracks interactions throughout the sales cycle, highlighting where deals break down and offering actionable recommendations to improve close rates.

Key Features:

• AI-driven analysis of sales conversations
• Objection and deal blocker tracking
• Recommendations for improving close rates

3. Apollo.io

Apollo’s AI analyzes engagement data across email and LinkedIn to identify where prospects disengage. It provides insights into deal progression and suggests adjustments to improve follow-ups and close more deals.

Key Features

• Deal progression and engagement analysis
• AI-driven recommendations for objection handling
• Detailed reporting on lost deals​

4. People.ai

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

People.ai leverages AI to provide insights into sales team performance and buyer intelligence. It tracks deal progression and highlights where reps need to adjust their strategy to prevent deals from stalling.

Key Features:

• Buyer intelligence through AI analysis
• Objection handling insights
• AI-driven recommendations for deal progression

Invest in Data-First AI Tooling

Don't fall behind in sales today. Integrate useful AI tools into your workflow that will help you work smarter, not harder, while maintaining that human touch.

If you want to automatically find, warm-up, and build a list of engaged leads, consider reaching out to us here at Letterdrop. We can get you started.