I had a conversation with a CEO today about sales. How it's changing and evolving. I would like to know your thoughts. During my time in sales I have seen a push toward automation with limited success. AI may change that eventually but it seems like newer generations are more cynical about corporations in general. I think the changes in Marketing have driven some of the most interesting growth in Sales (with companies like Marketo and Tableau for example). I have seen disagreement between old school sales (press the flesh, golf and dinner types) and new school (social selling and proactive analysis). What do you think?
If we’re talking about Textronix and all specialized equipment sales, I much rather prefer an applications engineer dual-role as a salesman. They understand the technical issues that I’m facing and can feedback into later generations of the product family. They are already a trusted contact for finding solutions and won’t face the same barrier to entry that old school salesman solve with golf or dinner.
CFO's dont care about feeds and speeds...
I think a combo of old school and new school are necessary. Automate a lot of the granular work, data entry, etc. still gotta meet people and understand their needs which require soft skills. Also I feel like sales is becoming more consultative- people understand what they are getting into so it’s a matter of answering questions and making sure things fit for the client.
Chorus.ai natural language processing
Really? Hmmm. I wonder what the liability is recording customers on these calls.
They actually email customers and let them know they are going to be recorded.