Quality vs. quantity in sales: how AI helps reps achieve more with less effort

The sales productivity dilemma: more activity or smarter selling?

Sales managers often fall into one of two traps when measuring productivity: focusing too much on activity metrics (calls made, emails sent) or spending excessive time on deal-by-deal coaching without scalable systems in place. 

Both approaches have flaws, and neither guarantees you better revenue outcomes. What we’re seeing is that the most effective and efficient sales teams aren’t necessarily working harder; they’re working smarter with AI.

During our recent webinar, we dived deeper into the subject of sales productivity with two expert guests – Mafalda Johannsen (Head of BD at UpCloud) and Nikita Balanov (Sales Consultant at Perform8 and Expansion Lead at FullEnrich) – and gathered their insights into how sales managers can leverage AI to enable their reps and transform sales workflows.

Watch the full webinar recording or check out our actionable digest below!

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1. The most common sales productivity problems

Sales teams often feel trapped in inefficiency, spending hours on tasks that don’t directly generate revenue. The core issues sales managers and reps face include:

• Manual prospecting, list building, and research: 45% of reps spend 10+ hours per week on manual tasks, reducing the time they can devote to actual selling.*
• Reps still spend just 33% of their time actively selling. The rest is consumed by admin work, CRM updates, and outreach prep.*
• Lack of direction & not knowing what works: 89% of reps admit they are “not very confident” when engaging with customers due to poor data and communication gaps.
• Lack of effective communication tools or personalization: 43% of reps cite this as a top reason for missing quota—too many teams rely on outdated, one-size-fits-all approaches.*
• Not enough time spent on high-value tasks: 42% of companies reported a decrease in win rates last year, and 69% of reps missed quota despite an average quota decrease of 19%.*
• Lack of consistency: 75% of sellers don’t follow a structured methodology, yet 72% say AI would improve their consistency by providing structured insights and workflows.*

“There are companies that love to put salespeople in meetings that don’t bring any value and could just be an email. That’s highly disruptive and not really worth it most of the time,” says Mafalda Johannsen. “AI can help by taking over tasks like list building and CRM cleanup, which are time-consuming and take reps away from selling.”

“Salespeople want to sell, but they’re buried under administrative tasks. AI is the fastest way to remove those blockers and get them back in front of customers,” adds Nikita Balanov.

*Sources: Salesroom State of B2B Sales Performance Report, Ebsta/Pavilion B2B Sales Benchmarks, HubSpot Sales Trends Report.

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2. The myth of "more activity = more sales"

Many sales managers believe that increasing outreach volume is the key to success. The assumption? If reps just send more emails, make more calls, and do more LinkedIn outreach, the numbers will take care of themselves. But the data tells a different story.

Mass outreach without personalization leads to lower engagement rates, more spam complaints, and burned-out reps. AI enables reps to focus on high-quality leads who are actually ready to engage, rather than prioritizing volume of outbound efforts.

“One of the biggest mistakes I see is managers pushing for more calls and more emails without considering quality. It’s about timing and relevance, not just volume,” says Nikita Balanov.

“AI isn’t here to replace human intuition. It’s here to make sure that intuition is backed by data. That’s what gets results,” adds Mafalda Johannsen.

How to apply this:

• Focus on quality leads over quantity: In their first week using Duo AI Copilot, one user attained a 1.1% interested rate over just 88 leads—outperforming the userbase average of 0.88% over 1,000 leads.
• Use AI-driven lead scoring to identify high-intent prospects rather than reaching out randomly.
• Analyze past successes with AI conversation intelligence to see what’s working (e.g., what subject lines and call scripts drive responses).

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3. AI-powered signal-based selling: reaching buyers at the right time

One of the biggest frustrations for sales reps is reaching out to leads who aren’t ready to buy. 

Instead of reps having to blindly guess when a prospect might be interested, AI helps surface real-time buying signals—like a funding announcement, leadership change, or website visit—that indicate when outreach is likely to be successful.

This pays off not only in better conversion rates, but also in building credibility and trust with a prospect that appreciates your attention to detail.

“Sales cycles aren’t linear anymore. If you’re reaching out at the wrong time, you’re not just missing a sale—you’re burning a lead. AI makes sure you hit the right moment,” says Nikita Balanov.

“Reaching out too early is just noise. Reaching out too late means you’ve already lost. AI helps pinpoint when a lead actually wants to talk,” adds Mafalda Johannsen.

How to apply this:

• Set up AI-triggered alerts to track key buying signals and notify reps when action is needed.
• Segment outreach based on intent – tailor messaging to match a prospect’s specific business changes.
• Combine automation with human follow-up – AI can assist with initial outreach, but reps should take over for deeper engagement.

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4. Why personalization at scale is the new superpower

Reps know personalization is key, but manual research and custom messaging take time. 

The result is they either personalize too little and get ignored, or spend too much time on one prospect and lose efficiency. It’s a lose-lose.

With AI, though, implementing sophistication personalized plays becomes easy and accessible for reps of pretty much any level of experience.

“AI can research a prospect in seconds; what used to take me an hour of searching, reading, and cross-checking. That’s a game changer,” says Mafalda Johannsen.

“Personalization used to mean sacrificing efficiency. Now, AI allows reps to scale meaningful conversations without cutting corners,” adds Nikita Balanov.

Step-by-step-example of AI-powered personalization:

1. AI scans prospect data: It pulls insights from LinkedIn activity, recent news mentions, and past interactions with your brand.
2. It crafts a personalized intro: Instead of “Hey {{First Name}}, I saw you work at {{Company}},” AI generates, “Saw your recent post about scaling sales teams—excited to chat about how we’ve helped others in {{Industry}} grow efficiently.”
3. It auto-adjusts the value prop: For a startup, it may highlight speed and cost-effectiveness; for an enterprise, it might focus on compliance and scalability.
4. It queues up the next steps: AI suggests when and how to follow up based on the prospect’s past engagement.

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5. Why AI is a copilot, not a replacement

There’s a misconception that AI is here to replace sales reps. In reality, the best results come from pairing AI with human expertise. AI handles data, automation, and timing, while reps bring the storytelling, emotional intelligence, and negotiation skills needed to close deals.

“Sales is still about people. AI just helps reps be in the right place at the right time with the right message,” says Nikita Balanov.

“The teams winning today aren’t just automating. They’re harmonizing AI and human intuition. AI helps scale efforts, but people still buy from people,” adds Mafalda Johannsen.

Both our guest speakers also highlighted why it’s important sellers don’t use AI as an excuse to cut corners or become “lazy” in their outbound..

"AI can surface a funding signal, but that doesn’t mean the work stops there. A great seller will go beyond the signal and actually read the funding report, understand how that impacts the company, and tailor their pitch accordingly,” explains Mafalda Johannsen. “AI is a copilot, not a replacement for real strategy."

“There’s a lot of work that goes into prompting before you can just copy-paste AI-generated emails without checking them. AI can guide you, but the best reps are in control of everything and know how to make sure everything’s set up to work in their favor,” adds Nikita Balanov.

Top sales teams use AI to automate the busywork, but they still bring their expertise, curiosity, and adaptability to the table. And, according to Gartner, this is the future of the industry:

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6. Unusual productivity tips from sales experts

Not all productivity advice is conventional! Some of the highest-performing sales reps have unique approaches that break the mold.

“Some of the best-performing reps I’ve worked with are completely chaotic about their CRM usage, and yet they consistently close the most deals. It’s because they focus on conversations and momentum rather than just data entry,” describes Nikita Balanov.

While CRM hygiene is important, forcing reps to be overly rigid in their process can actually slow them down. There’s definitely a case for balancing structure with flexibility and allowing top performers to operate in the way that works best for them.

“One thing I’ve noticed is that top reps don’t just work harder—they work at the right times. I’ve seen reps shift their outreach windows to when their leads are most active rather than sticking to traditional 9-to-5 schedules,” adds Mafalda Johannsen.

How to apply this:

• Allow for controlled chaos: Don’t force every rep into the same rigid CRM process—let them focus on what gets results.
• Optimize outreach windows: Use AI analytics to determine when leads are most responsive and adjust outreach accordingly.
• Encourage creative selling tactics: Some reps thrive with unconventional approaches—support their strengths while ensuring they align with overall sales goals.

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Final thoughts: the future of sales is AI-driven (but still human!)

The most successful sales teams aren’t choosing between quantity and quality—they’re using AI to achieve both. Sales managers who embrace AI-powered tools like Amplemarket’s AI Sales Copilot will see stronger pipeline generation, higher productivity, and better close rates.

Want to see it in action? Sign up for a free trial of Amplemarket’s AI sales copilot and start boosting your team’s productivity today.

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