Getting real work done · for sales professionals
Finishing real sales work with AI
A draft proposal is not the deliverable. The deliverable is a proposal the buyer can take to their approval committee. It needs correct pricing, the right scope, and terms the company can honor. Many reps use AI to start documents and then spend hours fixing structure and facts.
Getting real work done means using AI to reach a finished result. That result fits the buyer, passes internal review, and moves the deal forward. It includes knowing which parts of the work AI should not produce.
Where it comes up
A proposal for a multi-team rollout
Executive summary, scope, timeline, pricing, and terms. AI can structure the document and draft sections from your notes. Pricing and terms must come from the approved quote and contract templates.
An account plan for a key customer
A plan your manager reviews and the account team follows. AI can organize your notes and spot gaps. You decide the priorities and the people to engage.
A business case the buyer presents internally
Your champion needs a document to share with their finance team. AI can help write it in the buyer’s language. The figures must be the buyer’s own or clearly marked as estimates with stated assumptions.
What it looks like at each band
E1 · Foundational
Uses AI for first drafts of emails and documents, then finishes them mostly by hand. The final quality depends on manual effort more than on how AI was used. Sometimes sends documents that still contain generic or placeholder content.
E2 · Proficient
Uses AI to produce routine documents, such as recaps and short proposals, that need moderate editing and meet the buyer’s request. Knows which sections to write personally, such as pricing rationale.
E3 · Distinguished
Delivers complete, accurate work on complex documents, such as a multi-part proposal or an account plan. Uses AI for structure and drafting and personal judgment for scope, pricing approach, and deal strategy. The result reads as one consistent document.
E4 · Exceptional
Produces work that sets the standard for the team, including under end-of-quarter time pressure. Chooses on purpose which parts of a deal document AI drafts and which parts stay personal. Can show colleagues how a finished proposal or plan was built.
Common mistakes
Sending a proposal with generated pricing
A model can produce plausible prices, discounts, and terms that your company never approved. Take every figure and term from the approved quote.
A business case with invented returns
If the model supplies savings figures, they are guesses presented as facts. Use the buyer’s own numbers or label estimates and their assumptions clearly.
Letting AI decide the deal strategy
Ask for an account strategy without your own view and you get a textbook plan. Use AI to test your plan against what you know about the account.
A worked example
A proposal for a customer expanding from one department to three, due by the end of the week.
Ask AI to "write a proposal for expanding the account to three departments" and send the result after a quick read.
The document will contain generic benefits, possibly invented pricing, and a timeline nobody agreed. The buyer will either ask for corrections or take a wrong document to their committee.
Write the scope, the departments, the agreed timeline, and the buyer’s stated goals in rough notes. Generate the approved quote in the quoting system. Ask AI to draft the proposal in the company template from those notes and to list any gaps a buyer’s committee would question. Fill the gaps, paste the pricing from the quote, and read it once as the buyer’s finance lead would.
The facts, scope, and pricing come from the rep and approved systems. AI structures the document and finds gaps. The buyer receives a proposal they can act on.
The full study guide for this skill, for every role, is Getting real work done. The other five skills for sales professionals are on the AI skills for sales professionals page. A one-page summary is in the AI-assisted work checklist.
See where you stand
The free check grades getting real work done and the other five skills in about fifteen minutes. Nobody sees the grade but you.
Then build the skills and prove it. The three steps for sales professionals list the courses and templates that fit the work.