AI Prompting Guidelines
In the age of generative AI, professionals across industries are leveraging tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and others to boost productivity and creativity. A recent survey found 78% of organizations use AI in at least one business function, illustrating how widespread this trend has become. Below, we provide an industry-by-industry overview of how prompting can be applied, guidelines for effective prompts, and example prompts (with recommended AI tools, difficulty level, and expected outcomes).
Sales AI Prompting Guidelines
Industry Overview
Sales teams are tapping into AI prompting to draft outreach communications, prepare sales pitches, and even role-play customer interactions. While only about one-third of salespeople had begun using generative AI tools in 2024, a significant 61% believed these tools would help them better serve customers. With prompts, sales reps can generate personalized cold emails, brainstorm answers to objections, or outline call scripts—making their preparation more efficient and thorough.
Prompting Guidelines
- Personalize the Context: Include details about the prospect or client (industry, role, pain points) so the AI can tailor the message.
- Use Proven Frameworks: Incorporate sales frameworks in prompts (e.g., "use the AIDA model" or "start with a value proposition") to structure the output.
- Set the Tone: Specify a tone (e.g., friendly and helpful, or bold and confident) appropriate to the sales context and relationship stage.
- Be Clear on Next Steps: For emails or pitches, prompt the AI to include a clear next step or question to keep the conversation going.
- Role-Play for Training: When using AI for practice, explicitly state the scenario (e.g., difficult customer objection) and have the AI act as the customer so the salesperson can get realistic practice responses.
Example Prompts
"Draft a cold outreach email to a [Prospect Role] at a [Industry] company, introducing [Your Product] and how it can solve [Specific Problem]. Keep it concise and end with an invitation to talk."
"Act as a hesitant customer. I'm a sales rep for a software solution; you (the AI) express concerns about price and security. Provide the customer's questions or objections so I can practice responses."
"Create a follow-up email template after an initial sales call with a client, thanking them and summarizing their needs [list needs], and outlining next steps."
"Generate a list of 5 discovery call questions to understand a potential client's challenges in [Client's Industry] for [Problem Area]."
"Outline a sales call script for pitching [Product] to a small business owner, including an opening introduction, 3 key product benefits tailored to small business, and a closing question."