Everyday, we see new ways that AI helps us accomplish more in less time.
It helps us research our customers, prepare emails, actually do the outreach, plan calls, manage many of our responses, update CRM, understand our numbers, alert us to new opportunities, …….
It seems each day, we see parts of our jobs that AI can do better than us, freeing up our time, making us more productive. There are some strategic issues as we look at AI agents, there is the possibility that AI can actually replace us. Human beings won’t be necessary for certain types of transactions, but that’s another post.
AI offers tremendous potential in freeing us up from much many of the things that fill our days–either completely eliminating the need for us to do them, or reducing the time we spend on these things.
It’s stunning!
But, as a result of this, we face a very interesting challenge.
What do we do with the time that AI frees up?
As I ask people how they are reallocating their time, I ask, “Are you spending more time with your customers? Are you getting into higher quality conversations with them? Are you able to develop new relationships in your accounts or engage new accounts? Are you……”
Most of the time, the responses aren’t surprising, but they are disappointing.
They tend to be investing the time in doing more of the things they have always been doing. So while AI may be doing many of those things, freeing up time, too many sellers are using that time to do more of the same!
We still seem caught in the volume trap—regardless how much we do, how much more AI enables us to do, we are just doing more!
I seldom see people and managers posing the questions, “What can we now do that we weren’t investing enough time? What different things should we be doing?”
Or, more importantly, “Are we investing our time in doing the things AI can’t do?”
I struggle to understand how we capture the true power of AI if we don’t change what we do and how we do it.
We know AI cannot do a large number of things. It doesn’t have the context of a specific person, in a specific function, in a specific organization, facing all sorts of issues, at a moment of time. But if we are going to effectively engage our customers and prospects, we have to engage them where they are at now.
And AI, does not have the ability to recognize this across the individuals involved in the organization? Or to deal with how it shifts with each of them over time.
AI cannot connect with the human being displaying empathy and understanding of the situation.
AI cannot help a buying group reach and maintain consensus.
As AI helps us in the things it can do far better and far more effectively, wouldn’t it make more sense to focus our freed up time on the things that AI can’t do.
To help a customer through their buying processes, to achieve our own goals, we have to do all these things. We have to do the whole job, which means we fill in the blanks of the things AI can’t do.
Imagine what happens if we and AI complement each other. We let AI do what it does in helping us, we do what it can’t do. Imagine how much more we and the AI can accomplish.
Afterword: Below is a fun discussion between two AI agents talking about the post and how they would want sellers to be using the time AI frees up. Enjoy!
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