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38 SMT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2025 and you shouldn't be surprised to learn that AI is an important part of this solution. The five most effective ways AI can assist EMS providers to supercharge their sales game are: AI-powered Lead Scoring: Finding the Needle in the Haystack Every sales team wrestles with leads. For EMS suppliers, where contracts can run into the millions of dollars and relationships take months to build, chasing the wrong prospect is painful and unproductive. AI-powered lead scoring changes the game by analyzing mountains of data to determine which prospects are worth your time. For example, AI can comb through a company's website visits, past RFQs, or even their LinkedIn activity to score their likelihood of signing a deal. It's not just about who's clicking on your site; it's about who's got the budget, the need, and the authority to say "yes" to your SMT line or box-build services. Take a typical EMS scenario: You've got an OEM looking for high-mix, low-volume production. AI tools (such as Salesforce Einstein, Microsoft Power BI, IBM Cognos, Amazon QuickSight, People.ai, and Clari) can analyze their behavior—maybe they downloaded your whitepaper on RoHS compli- ance or lingered on your prototyping page—and assign them a score. A high score is your cue to pick up the phone. A low score means to move on. If AI-driven tools can, say, cut lead qualifica- tion time by 30%, that's hours saved every week, letting reps focus on closing deals with OEMs that need their specific capabilities. You're probably burning time on dead ends if you're not using AI to sort your leads. Predictive Forecasting: Seeing Around Supply Chain Corners EMS folks know the electronics market is unpredictable. One day, you're drowning in demand for automotive-grade components; the next, it's all about IoT sensors. AI-driven predictive forecasting takes the guesswork out of this rollercoaster. By crunching historical sales data, market trends, and even global supply chain signals, AI can tell you what's coming, whether it's a surge in demand for 5G components or a shortage of passives. Knowing what's hot lets you get ahead of the curve. If AI predicts a spike in demand for EV bat- tery management systems, your team can target OEMs in that space before your competitors do. Contemporary CRM, ERP, and business intelligence tools are built to blend internal data with external signals like industry reports or even social media posts about market shifts. Personalized Pitches: Speaking the Client's Language For EMS providers, no two clients are alike. One OEM wants low-cost, high-volume pro- duction; another needs a partner for complex, high-reliability aerospace boards. Generic sales pitches are simply not useful. Generative AI can craft tailored proposals and presentations that hit the client's pain points dead-on. Imagine feeding AI your client's specs—say, they need a lead-free process for a consumer gadget—and it spits out a pitch deck highlighting your ISO 14001 certification and supply chain resilience. AI doesn't just save time; it makes your pitch feel like it was written for that one client, whether they're after quick-turn prototypes or full-scale production. In an industry where trust is everything, that type of personaliza- tion builds credibility. Conversational AI: Your 24/7 Sales Assistant EMS clients often have technical ques- tions: "What's your DFM process?" "Can you han- dle 0201 components?" "What's your lead time for a 10,000-unit run?"—and they want answers now. If your sales team is off the clock, you're losing ground. Conversational AI, like chatbots or virtual assistants, can handle these queries in real time to qualify leads and even schedule follow-ups. Picture this: A design engineer from an OEM lands on your website at 2 a.m., poking around for information on your testing capabilities. Since a chatbot is enabled, it can jump in, answer their questions about ICT or functional testing, and ask a few qualifying questions. By morning, your sales team has a hot lead with a detailed profile, ready for a call. For the EMS company, where technical details can make or break a deal, having an AI that speaks the language of solder paste and BOMs can be a game-changer. 2 3 4 1