Podcast

Generative AI and Sales – The Perfect Pair 

In this episode of The Altify Podcast, titled “Generative AI in Sales – The Perfect Pair,” we explore the transformative impact of generative AI on the sales landscape. Drawing insights from Altify’s e-book, “Not Just Another Sales Robot,” we delve into how AI is reshaping sales by augmenting, not replacing, human capabilities. Discover how AI excels at data crunching and content generation, freeing up time for sellers to focus on building genuine relationships and strategizing. We tackle the common fears of AI replacing jobs and highlight the irreplaceable human skills that drive successful sales. Want to learn more? Download the full Not Just Another Sales Robot eBook this conversation is based around for additional insights into the future of selling.

Episode Transcript

Jeremy: Welcome to the Deep Dive. I’m Jeremy, your host.

Sarah: And I’m Sarah. It’s great to be here.

J: And, uh, today we’re doing something a bit special, coming to you from the Altify podcast.

S: That’s right.

J: We’re diving into a topic that’s…Well, it’s absolutely critical for anyone in sales right now.

S: Mm-hmm. Generative AI.

J: Exactly, how generative AI is reshaping the landscape. And we’re drawing our insights today from a really fantastic new resource. It’s chapter two of Altify’s Not Just Another Sales Robot eBook. The chapter’s actually titled Generative AI and Sales: The Perfect Pair.

S: A very fitting title.

J: It is, yeah. And when we talk about generative AI, just to be clear, we mean AI that can, you know, create new stuff, text, images, code.

S: Not just analyze what’s already there.

J: Precisely. And this chapter, it really digs into the unique synergy, the partnership that’s forming between this advanced AI and, well, us, human sellers.

S: Yeah, it’s less about replacement.

J: Much less. It’s more about what AI can achieve with us.

S: Augmentation.

J: Yes. It’s a huge shift. Honestly, probably one of the biggest transformations in sales since, gosh, the dot-com era. And just quickly, for anyone wanting the full picture, you can grab the whole Not Just Another Sales Robot eBook. It’s available via the link in the show description, or just head over to altify.com.

Unpacking the changes facing sellers in the era of AI

J: Okay, let’s unpack this. In an era of buzzing with AI, sales is undergoing one of the biggest transformations we’ve seen since the dot-com era.

S: It really is an exciting time. And what’s fascinating here, I think, is how this chapter tackles the common fears around AI head-on. It doesn’t ignore that robot-replacement worry that’s out there. It leans into it. But it also paints this really clear picture of, frankly, a unparalleled opportunity for sellers. So, our mission today, really, is to pull out the most important insights from this chapter. We want to clarify what generative AI’s actual role is in sales, and maybe more importantly, point out where that human element… well, where it remains irreplaceable.

J: Absolutely critical.

Because for you listening, understanding this balance, it isn’t just about, you know, surviving. It’s about how you can actually thrive, how you lead in this evolving sales world.

J:And it is evolving fast. Yeah. You know, historically, sales teams, maybe they’ve been seen as a bit slower sometimes to jump on digital transformation.

S: There’s been some lag, yeah.

J: And th- the chapter points to a few reasons, things like, um, resistance to change, maybe not having a clear strategy for the tech. Or just not fully grasping how quickly customer expectations are shifting.

J: Yeah, exactly. Like, “Hey, what we do works. Why change it?” But generative AI, it’s different. It’s not just another tool. It feels more like an accelerant.

S: That’s a good word for it.

J: It’s pushing sales, I don’t know, several decades into the future, almost overnight. And here’s the interesting part, why sales is such fertile ground for this AI. It’s the data. We generate just incredible amounts of data every day. Phone calls, emails, video chats, CRM notes, all those nuances.

S: Right, all that, uh, unstructured data, information that isn’t just neat rows and columns.

J: Exactly, and that’s precisely what generative AI loves. It can take it, learn from it- Hm. … find the patterns.

S: And actually work with it to create something new. It’s like a goldmine for the AI. Precisely.

S: Yeah. And that connects directly to the practical benefit for sellers on the ground. Before AI like this, just imagine a seller trying to wade through all that stuff. Call recordings, email chains, just to get a handle on an account or prep for a big meeting.

S: That manual slog took hours of sellers’ time, hours they weren’t, you know, actually selling. So, the huge advantage here is removing those hours, giving that time back to the seller.

J: Time to do what sellers do best.

Which is?

J: Selling things. Building relationships.

S: Becoming trusted advisors- … especially to those key strategic customers. So, if we connect this to the bigger picture, it’s about shifting the focus, moving away from those mundane, almost robotic tasks- Uh-huh. … toward the high-value human stuff, the strategy, the connection.

Overcoming the fear factor

J: That makes perfect sense. But okay, we do need to talk about the elephant in the room. The fear factor. Yeah. Because whenever AI comes up, especially at work, there’s this, this fear about jobs, AI replacing people.

S: It’s real. The chapter mentions that Pew Research study.

J: Finding more than half of all workers fear being replaced by AI.

S: More than half. That’s significant.

J: It is. And look, it’s a legitimate concern. It’s totally natural to feel worried when a technology this powerful comes along. But for sellers to really get the most out of generative AI, there needs to be a mindset shift. They need to see it less as this, uh, existential threat and more as a tool, a co-pilot maybe. Something to accelerate their productivity and enhance their skills.

S: Especially in sales, where that human touch, it’s just vital for success.

J: It really is. AI is here to empower, not, you know, kick people out.

AI – the alien intelligence?

S: Exactly. And the chapter brings in a great perspective here from Steven Pinker. He’s a professor at Harvard. And he basically says viewing human intelligence as something to be replaced, that’s just the wrong way to frame AI’s impact.

J: Interesting. So, how does he see it?

S: He sees AI as, uh, a specific kind of intelligence, hyper-powerful at a particular kind of computation.

J: Okay, so very good at certain types of thinking.

S: Precisely. It’s not trying to be human intelligence. It’s designed to augment certain areas where computation shines.

J: Which raises an important question, then.

S: What is AI really good at, and maybe more critically, what is it not good at, especially compared to us?

J:That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Let’s start with AI’s strengths. What can it do exceptionally well?

S: Well, we’ve known for ages computers are better at crunching complex math, right, or playing chess.

J: Right. Logic games, massive calculation.

S: But generative AI takes that leap. Now it can research and summarize that research much, much faster than we can.

J: The speed and scale are incredible. Yeah, analyzing these huge datasets, finding patterns we might miss or take forever to find.

J:So, practically, in sales- maybe summarizing a year’s worth of customer emails instantly.

S: Exactly. Or pulling key points from analyst reports on a prospect’s industry.

J: Or even drafting a personalized follow-up email based on meeting notes.

S: Tools like ChatGPT are perfect examples. They’re trained on just vast amounts of text so they can write about almost anything, sounding like, well, like a knowledgeable professor, as the chapter puts it.

J: Yeah, it’s not just retrieving info. It’s generating new, coherent text.It’s pretty amazing. Synthesizing complexity, drafting sophisticated stuff, brainstorming, all incredibly fast.

J:Here’s where it gets really interesting though.

S: It is impressive, absolutely. But …and this is the crucial bit Pinker highlights, he calls AI an alien intelligence. Capable of astonishing things, yes. But not like the human mind works.

J: Alien intelligence, I like that framing.

S: Yeah. He points out, you know, humans don’t need to process … What was it? Half a trillion words of text.

J: Which is like 15,000 years of reading.

S: Right. Just to learn to speak or solve problems. Our minds work differently. We learn from fewer examples. We use experience, emotion, intuition.

J: Things AI doesn’t really have.

S: Exactly. Which leads directly to AI’s big limitation, seeing the big picture, understanding context. That’s where it falls short.

J: So, it’s great with the data points, but not the whole story?

S: Pretty much. We can’t rely on AI to just get the big picture inherently.

J: Why not? What’s missing?

S: Well, these language models, they’re basically prediction machines. They analyze patterns and data, and guess what words should come next. They do it so well, it looks like understanding, like they grasp the subject.

J: But it’s pattern matching, not true comprehension.

S: Right. It doesn’t understand the why behind the data or human motivations or the strategic implications. It’s a master of patterns, not meaning.

J: Got it.

S: But, you know, just ’cause human minds and AI minds are different, that doesn’t mean there can’t be interplay between the two. They can work together. Okay.

J: That distinction is huge. Pattern matching versus real understanding. Especially in sales. So, if AI handles the data, the patterns, the content generation, what’s left? What are those uniquely human strengths AI can’t touch?

Strengths that set the human seller apart

S: Particularly in those complex high-stakes deals.

J: Yeah. And the chapter is really clear here. It says when it comes to these types of sales, it’s relationships that win deals and drive revenue time and time again.

S: Relationships. Right. The human connection.

J: Exactly. AI can give you all the data insights, market position, pain points, you name it. But it can’t sit across from a client and really get who the key players are personally.

S: Understand their unspoken worries, their career goals the office politics.

J: No way. Building that genuine trust, that empathy- understanding what really motivates people, and then helping them achieve those goals, that’s where sellers just blow AI out of the water.

S: It’s about feeling, connection, not just facts. And let’s dig into that a bit more. Those specific human skills- AI just can’t replicate. Okay. AI can give you a perfectly worded answer, right? But the model doesn’t actually understand the information like a person does. Humans, though, especially good sellers, they get the why.

J: They understand the context.

S: The whole situation around the account, the people, their problems, those very human, sometimes messy motivations.

J: It’s reading the room, essentially.

Yeah. And a seller can take all that fuzzy qualitative stuff, the goals, the pressures, the initiatives and map it out. The chapter calls it an insight map.

J: Okay. Like a strategic overview?

S: Exactly. And then they can use AI almost like a smart assistant to turn those human insights into concrete, actionable steps, guiding the AI.

J: So, the human provides the strategy, the AI helps execute?

S: Precisely. And here’s another big one. Finding novel solutions, solving problems buyers didn’t even realize they had, seeing a need before it’s articulated.

J: Ah, the creative leap.

S: Right. AI analyzes what’s there. It extrapolates based on its training data, connects existing dots. But the source uses this great quote, “True genius, however, is not hitting the target that no one else can hit. It’s hitting the target no one else can see.”

J: Wow. That’s powerful.

S: And that, that’s the seller’s domain, pure human insight and creativity.

J: That really clarifies the roles.

Why AI and sellers are the perfect pair

S: So, what does this all mean for you, the sales professional, thinking about how you work?

J:Well, it means we’re really looking at this symbiotic thing, right? A perfect pair, like the chapter title says.

S: Yes. Augmentation not replacement. That’s the core message.

J: Generative AI is brilliant at the grunt work. The mundane stuff, the repetitive process.

S: Sifting through data, summarizing quickly.

J: Drafting those first versions of emails or proposals. It’s like the ultimate tireless assistant handling all that cognitive load of processing.

S: Taking that off the seller’s plate.

J: Exactly. And what does that do? It frees up the seller’s most valuable asset.

S: Time.

J: Time. Time to focus laser sharp on what only humans can do.

S: Strategizing.

J: Building those real relationships. Solving those tricky ambiguous problems. Yeah, the stuff that needs empathy, judgment, intuition, creative sparks.

S: So, AI streamlines the analytical, the transactional.

J: While relationship-centric selling stays firmly in the seller’s court enhanced by AI. Definitely more efficient, more powerful maybe. But not replaced.

S: Never replaced.

J: That authentic human connection, it actually becomes more valuable in an AI world, doesn’t it? It- It’s the differentiator.

S: Mm. Absolutely.

J: So, what does this all mean for your approach to sales moving forward?

S: It means this technology, generative AI, it’s an incredibly powerful tool. A gift almost. Like the chapter says, “Prometheus has brought us fire. Now it’s our turn to put it to work.”

J: We have to learn how to use it effectively.

S: Right. And the key differentiator, now more than ever, it’s gonna be those genuine relationships. AI can personalize at scale, predict needs, draft emails. But it can’t replicate the trust, the empathy, the rapport that a great seller builds over time, that deep understanding.

J: It can’t build true loyalty.

S: Exactly. So, this deep dive, looking at chapter two of Not Just Another Sales Robot, it just makes it crystal clear. AI gives a massive advantage to sellers who learn to wield its power effectively and blend it seamlessly with their own innate human skills. It’s about using tech to elevate what makes us uniquely human and effective in sales.

J: What a fantastic journey through that chapter. So, just to recap the big takeaways. We saw that even if sales was maybe a bit slow on past tech waves, generative AI is a game changer thriving on all of that unstructured sales data. Right.

S: The calls, the emails.

J: We tackled the fear of replacement head-on, remembering Pinker’s idea of AI as this alien intelligence that augment us, not replaces us.

S: Key distinction.

J: We saw AI excels at data crunching, patterns, content generation. But lacks that big picture understanding, the context, the human element.

S: The why.

J: Which is precisely where you, the seller, become absolutely essential. Your ability to build relationships, understand motivations, see those unseen targets.

S: That’s the human genus.

J: The perfect pair is AI handling the mundane, freeing you to amplify those unique human strengths. Relationship-centric selling becomes even more critical.

S: More powerful.

J: So, here’s something to think about. As generative AI keeps evolving, keeps pushing those boundaries, what unique human skill, what connection will you consciously nurture and develop to really stand out, connect deeper, and create that unparalleled value for your customers?

S: That’s a really powerful question to reflect on. A great place to leave it for today. Thank you so much for joining us on this deep dive into generative AI and sales.

J: Yeah. Thanks, everyone.

S: We really hope this look into chapter two of Altify’s Not Just Another Sales Robot ebook gave you some clarity, maybe sparked some ideas.

J: And hopefully some excitement for what’s next in sales.

S: Absolutely. And remember, you can get the full book with lots more insights. Just head to altify.com or use the link in the show description. We look forward to our next deep dive with you.