The future of sales and how AI will change - catch 6 sales leaders share their views and stories

This master episode of "Funnel Vision," hosted by Richard Bounds and Leo Rogers, delves into the transformative impact of AI on modern sales. The podcast features a diverse panel of guests, including Mike Slater (Operating Partner and CRO at The Carlyle Group), Helen Kelisky (Former UK & IMD at Google Cloud, ex-Salesforce & IBM), Gavin Kowalski (Author: MEDDPICC for Cloud Sales Training), Dan Wardle (Sales Coach, Founder Sales Club), and Erlend Asker (Business Coach/Director at ERA Consulting). The discussion kicks off by examining the biggest changes in sales over recent years, with Erlend Asker highlighting the significant shift from perpetual licensing to consumption-based selling, emphasizing the increased importance of customer success and annual recurring revenue. Dan Wardle points out a consistent sales challenge: companies investing heavily in technology and process changes but failing to enable their teams to effectively utilize these tools. He stresses the need for clarity on the skills required in the age of AI and empowering sales teams to leverage new technologies.

Helen Kelisky discusses the impact of AI on sales, noting its potential for higher productivity by automating grunt work like researching customers, companies, and individuals, as well as drafting difficult emails. This frees up sellers to focus more on strategic selling and adding value from the first moment of interaction. Paul Sullivan elaborates on practical examples of AI, suggesting that while it can handle repetitive tasks like generating basic sequences, its true power lies in leveraging rich data (product guides, persona profiles, brand tone of voice) to create highly targeted and effective communication. He emphasizes using AI to analyze successful deals and identify patterns to improve future outreach. The conversation also touches on ethical concerns surrounding AI, particularly data sovereignty and the use of AI to monitor salesperson performance. The guests generally agree that AI should be a tool for improvement and analysis, not a "beating stick" for performance management, and that a balance between data-driven insights and human judgment is crucial.

Looking ahead, the experts predict a continued evolution of sales roles. Gavin Kowalski foresees a future with fewer SDRs/BDRs, as AI automates many prospecting tasks, leading to more productive account executives who manage the full sales cycle from prospecting to upselling. Helen Kelisky believes that successful adoption of AI depends on a company's appetite for change, having clean data, and fostering a growth mindset. She cautions against making hasty decisions based solely on AI-generated data without thorough testing and understanding. Dan Wardle's top deal hack is to always go into a meeting with a hypothesis, backed by research, and use that as the central point of discussion to guide the conversation and uncover the client's true needs and challenges. He emphasizes guiding the client rather than just asking questions. The episode concludes with a humorous anecdote about an epic e-commerce launch where the technology proved itself by handling overwhelming demand, highlighting the importance of robust tech infrastructure in supporting sales success.