AI in sales
Is it time to bring AI into your prospecting?
In brief: AI helps you turn a target audience idea into search criteria, find out how large the prospect pool is and prepare the next steps faster. You can start with a single search or message draft, then let an AI assistant handle more steps in the same conversation. You set the pace: your first useful experiment does not require automating your entire sales process.
Want to try it now? Describe your target audience in plain language and see how many matching companies and contacts you can find. You only need an account when you want to download the data.
Spend less time choosing filters and more time selling
Prospecting often involves small but repetitive tasks. You consider suitable industries, try different employee ranges, check the size of a list and move data into the next tool. AI helps by preparing and connecting these steps without making you start from scratch each time.
With NordicContacts search, you describe your target audience in plain language instead of choosing filters. AI turns your description into search filters. For example, you could write that you are looking for Swedish manufacturing companies with 20–249 employees. You immediately see how many companies and contacts match your criteria and can refine your description based on the results.
Seeing the size of the prospect pool makes practical decisions easier. If it looks too broad for an initial test, you can narrow the criteria. If there are few matches, you can try a broader company size range. Defining your target audience becomes an iterative process based on actual search results, rather than guesswork before you build a list.
For example, Claude or ChatGPT can use NordicContacts through an MCP connection to help you define your target audience, find contact details, transfer data to your CRM and draft initial messages in the same conversation, provided the necessary connections and permissions are in place.
The benefit is not just speed. The same target audience description and goal carry through to the next tasks. You do not need to explain each step again in a different context. Instead, you can guide the assistant with more specific instructions and approve progress at suitable points.
Choose an approach that works for you
Manual work, individual AI tasks and automated workflows are not mutually exclusive. You can run searches yourself, ask for help with message drafts and later bring data transfers into the same workflow. The table shows how the division of work changes with each approach.
| Task | Manual work | AI for individual tasks | Automated workflow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defining the target audience | You define the audience and select the search criteria. | You describe the target audience and check the filters generated by AI. | The assistant builds the search through an MCP connection; you approve the criteria. |
| Checking the size of the prospect pool | You compile the companies and count them. | The search shows the count; you refine the criteria if needed. | The assistant checks the count; you choose the criteria. |
| Finding contact details | You find the people and their contact details. | You describe the roles and check the search results. | The assistant retrieves the details; you approve the people and contact channel. |
| Transferring data to your CRM | You export or enter the data into your CRM. | You export the data to Excel or through a CRM integration (guide). | The assistant transfers the data through a CRM connection; you review and approve it. |
| Initial messages | You write the messages. | AI drafts them; you edit and send them. | The assistant drafts them in the same conversation; you approve them and decide whether to send them. |
| Confirming company fit | You check whether the company is a good fit. | You check the fit with support from the search results. | You check the fit using background information compiled by the assistant. |
Here, automation means connecting steps, not handing every decision over to an assistant. For example, you can allow searches and message drafting while requiring your approval before any CRM transfer. This gives you the benefit of a longer workflow while keeping the decision points that matter to you.
How a maintenance software seller can use each approach
Consider a Finnish company selling maintenance software. Its goal is to find manufacturing companies in Sweden that have their own production facility. The target country, manufacturing industry and a size range of 20–249 employees provide suitable initial search criteria.
The NordicContacts database contains 1,551 Swedish manufacturing companies with 20–249 employees (as of October 2026). A production management contact is available for 715 of these companies. These figures describe the matching companies in the database, not the entire Swedish market or the contacts’ decision-making authority.
Build the process yourself with manual work
You look for companies, compile a list and establish which ones meet the size criteria. You then visit company websites to find information about production and identify suitable contacts. You write initial messages and transfer the data you select to your CRM.
This can be a natural approach if you already have a few named target companies. With a larger pool, however, the same steps repeat company by company. You can bring in AI at whichever point you notice yourself spending the most time.
Get straight to the prospect pool with a single search
You describe your target audience in plain language and check the filters generated by AI. You see the matching companies and can focus your own research on that group. Knowing that a production management contact is available at 715 companies helps you understand which companies have a contact in your target role.
Next, you check whether the companies that interest you have their own production operations. Once you have selected suitable companies and contacts, you can ask AI to draft an initial message.
Continue in the same conversation with an automated workflow
You give the assistant the same target audience description and first ask for the size of the prospect pool. You can then ask for production management contacts, preparation of the selected companies’ data for your CRM and drafts of initial messages. The assistant uses NordicContacts through an MCP connection, while you guide the process in the conversation.
You can ask the assistant to stop after presenting the company list, before taking any further action. Once you have confirmed that the companies have their own production operations and selected those worth pursuing, you give permission to proceed. The main difference from a single search is continuity: the same assistant helps move the agreed task from one step to the next.
Where to start
Start with a task whose results you can easily assess. Describing your target audience and checking the size of the prospect pool make a good first experiment: you can quickly see whether the generated search criteria reflect what you had in mind. Use a familiar customer profile the first time so you can easily compare the results with your own experience.
Then proceed in small steps:
- Try one search. Describe the country, industry, company size range and target role. Check how your description was translated into search criteria.
- Add one follow-up task. For example, ask for an initial message draft for a selected company and assess how much editing it needs.
- Connect familiar tasks. Once you trust the search results and drafts, try handling them with an AI assistant in the same conversation.
- Expand the workflow. Add steps such as CRM transfers once the connections, permissions and approval points are clear.
You remain responsible for confirming that the company has its own production operations and discussing its current needs with the customer. Make sure personal data is necessary and up to date, assess the applicable data protection and direct marketing requirements, and handle objections appropriately.
Making one step easier is enough of a goal for your first experiment. Once you see where AI helps you in practice, choosing the next step becomes easier. You can gradually build an approach that suits your sales work without changing everything at once. Describe your target audience or connect NordicContacts to your AI assistant.