Sales 2.0

Relationships will be critical in the AI age

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Sales is not getting any easier. Buyers have become even better at screening out salespeople.

When the Internet arrived, buyers’ need to speak to a salesperson to get basic information was eliminated. Buyers could go online and get all the information they needed.

About a decade ago, certain subject matter experts came up with a solution to this problem. The solution was do more. If buyers were not inviting salespeople in, the best response was to ask to be invited in more often. Many salespeople becoming mass email marketers.

Buyers adapted to this onslaught of email with improved “defenses”. Email metrics have dropped dramatically over the last ten years. The most important metric, actual responses and people wanting to talk to you, is now super low for most cold emails.

Today we are in the age of generative AI. This new technology allows us to create content at a huge scale. Some people see this as a new way for salespeople to generate even more outbound email (and social media messages). I predict buyers will react with their own AI defenses to this fresh tsunami of unwanted outreach. What should you do then if you want to sell your stuff in the age of AI?

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Getting in the door in an AI world

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The #1 challenge for most salespeople, and small business owners, is getting enough meetings with prospects for their product or service.

Getting through the door to have conversations that may lead to business opportunities seems to be getting harder every day. Today’s big disruptor, AI, may potentially make this situation even worse (hard to believe as the situation seems so tough already!)

For many companies selling a high-end product or service, a meeting is a prerequisite to a sale. A lack of meetings means a lack of sales opportunities, which means a lack of sales and revenue.

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Cold email template (with AI help)

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How do you best approach someone if you don’t have any connections?

It’s far from ideal, and you will have a much better hit rate with a “social calling” approach, but sometimes “it is what it is” and you must go in cold.

Most people I know will opt for an email as the first attempt to reach somebody. I get it. Emails are free and you don’t get the same mental battering as having the phone hung up on you. Given that, let’s look at how you write a half-decent cold email.

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Getting to know your customer (AI version)

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It’s critical to know your customer. What do they care about? What’s on their top 5 list? What do they do about fixing those things? What alternatives do they have?
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One thing that bugs me is that 90% of the articles on this topic tell you to “look at your current customers and look for patterns amongst them, then use this information to figure out what your future customers will look like”.

OK, so this makes a bunch of sense…unless you are startup (or entering a completely new market.)
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If you’re just starting, you don’t have any customers!

You cannot analyze any patterns amongst zero customers. Even when you have a few customers, how do you find meaningful patterns amongst so few data points?

As the fog starts to clear on what generative AI can do, one of the things that is starting to stand out is using it to brainstorm. Getting to know your customer is a good application for generative AI systems in my estimation. When you are starting from scratch you can lean on AI to get your creative juices flowing.

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Off-Road vs On-Road Prospecting

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Prospecting is hard. There’s no need to make it even harder.

I’ve run dozens of experiments over the years on how to get through the door and start working with a new account. In every experiment, I’ve found that the number one factor that influences a successful outcome has been a human relationship.

The smartest piece of content has never beaten a warm introduction from another person. In my own experiments, I’ve found a referral of any kind (not necessarily from a client) to be 3.25 times more effective than a cold approach (based on time spent–it’s even more effective in terms of conversion rates.)

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