Implementing Sales Workflows That AI Can Actually Improve

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: Thank you so much. Welcome to another episode of the AI and Sales Brief. It's uh, a sub brand of the Sales Game Changers podcast, of course. I'm Fred diamond with the Institute for Effective Professional Selling and I'm very excited about this show. On a regular basis I bring on Tom Snyder and Zev Wexler to talk about how selling professionals can best utilize AI. AI to grow their business, to grow their sales and to be more effective. If you're watching this on YouTube, thanks. Give us a thumbs up. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, please give us a five star review. You can read the complete transcription on sales game changerspodcast.com Tom and Z, it's great to see you again and uh, there's so much going on. And Zev, you like to talk frequently about how things are changing so dramatically in the AI world. And you know, I look at your post every single day about new developments and new solutions coming and the tools that are out there. So uh, we're going to get deep on the show ask answering a very specific sales question. Gentlemen, first off, how you guys doing today? Tom?

Speaker C: Good.

Speaker B: How are you doing? Excited about what's going on with AI and selling effectiveness. You know, we have a great solution at the ieps Selling Essentials Marketplace from, from, from you guys. And uh, very excited about what that offers selling professionals.

Speaker C: Yeah, I think the key to that is there is everyone's senses, even if they're not aware of the death of the chaos in the way that sales organizations are trying to embrace AI and they're finding out that that chaos can actually make performance go backwards. We have recognized through the ieps the power that lies in marrying together sales best practice, the real sales best practice with the power of AI done correctly. And if you think about where that's happening, our research would say it's hard to find 1% of the corporations who are doing those things correctly. The results are incredible. I won't even quote it because you won't believe me, but just trust me, the results are incredible. Accelerant given from AI the implementation and adoption of best practice unstoppable.

Speaker B: So here's what I'm going to do, as I do whenever I bring you guys on, I'm just going to throw out a pretty pertinent question and uh, I want to get your expertise again, Zev and Tom. So let's talk today. Um, you both have said that workflow is an essential starting point for corporate adoption of effective AI. What do you mean by workflow and why is it important. Tom, why don't you kick us off?

Speaker C: Yeah, I will. And this is really, uh, something that I'm going to rely on my brother, uh, Zeph to do. So when we say workflow, just yesterday I asked an executive, uh, what do you mean by the word workflow? Deer in the headlights. It's one of those words in business that people think they know, but they don't really. And so when we're talking about workflow, as Zev has taught me, as the starting point for a corporate wide done correctly implementation of AI, it's really mapping out the processes that are involved, taking something from a suspect to a renewable customer, and all of the things that go through that process. Uh, the unfortunate thing is that our research would say more than 99.0percent of corporations have a workflow that is suboptimal, does not conform to best practice, and then they blame the salespeople. So with that in mind, uh, my, my viewpoint is if we can start with the best practice workflow ideas and then Zev can customize that to the corporation, then we're golden. Zev. That's all I have to say on that.

Speaker A: Uh, I'll start with a little higher and then I'll go lower. You're diplomatic. So AI does not solve bad data and exposes it. And even more so, AI doesn't solve bad sales, it exposes it. So if you're putting an amplifier on a process that is not correct, you're not doing yourself any favors. You're literally shooting yourself in the leg. So I've worked with so many companies that wanted to automate sales. Now most companies just throw tools at salespeople and say, here you have copilot, you have whatever it is, use it. But if the workflow, what we just talked about is not exact to how you uncover opportunities, how you prospect, how you then move those opportunities up the funnel, and how you close them, then right now you just accelerated a process that doesn't work, and you expose yourself, your salespeople, and your entire organization. So when I look at a company, I want their workflow to be complete working order, and then I can accelerate it. And that's why working with Tom is such a fresh breath of air. Because if you're not having the right process, AI is just going to expose you. And AI can make everything faster. But again, you don't want to drive faster if you don't know how to drive. That's how you get into accidents. So what we are doing is first we define the process. AI is not for technical Aspirations or getting some fun things out. AI is there to solve problems. What are, uh, the problems? You're not getting enough prospects, you're not qualifying them correctly. What is the problem? Identify it, put a workflow together, understand how you qualify it, and then AI can solve your problem. But if you're just using it for doing faster things that are wrong, AI is not going to help you. You're going to spend a lot of money and then you're going to say, oh, AI doesn't work for sales.

Speaker B: Yeah. You know, it reminds me of the sports, uh, analogy. If you're a bad free throw shooter, you know, shooting 200 free throws after practice badly is not going to make you better. So we keep seeing this time and time again. Tom, any final thoughts on what Dev just said?

Speaker C: Yeah, you know, the only final thought I have is, is, is this idea that I wish we could get across how compelling this is. Because the delta between AI done poorly on an a suboptimal workflow and AI done correctly on an optimizing workflow is hard to exaggerate. I know that the world believes they've heard these kind of messages many times. This one happens to be absolutely incalculable as to the results you can get.

Speaker B: Absolutely.

Speaker A: And let me add something, Fred. All of us use email, right? No salesperson doesn't have a computer. AI is that and way more. So all of us are going to use this eventually and most of us are just using it wrong. So AI is like your, um, Tom Snyder, your incredible sales coach. It's also your follow up assistant. It's also the person that hears every single word in a meeting and it's your consultant to move things forward. And it's doing it all for you in a percentage. You still have to make decisions. So AI is so many things and most people use it for one vector. Oh, AI is just doing things quicker. For me on the follow up, AI is helping me with research. No, AI can help you with everything as long as you let the artificial intelligence know what is the right process, what is the right intelligence, what is the content? And then you have a helper at every stage of the way. I'm a salesperson at heart and we like uh, being optimistic and seeing, oh, this guy wants to talk to me. Oh, this is going to close. AI keeps you in check. From the research to the actual best habits to the prospecting to the follow up to the closing. It's like having five different professional assistance experts to help you get what you need, which is to close more deals.

Speaker B: Absolutely. And it's so complex because. Not just complex, but there's so much to consider, so many tools, so many thoughts being thrown out there. If you're listening to the show today, reach out to me, Fred Diamond, Tom Snyder, or Zev Wexler. We can help you clarify your mission and truly get to great sales results. Once again. Thanks, Tom Snyder. Thanks, Zev Wexler. My name is Fred Diamond. This is the sales and AI Brief Sales Game Changers podcast.