Whether it's older sellers who only work in-person or younger sellers who only use digital channels, becoming "single siloed" is a mistake. To maximize success and income, salespeople must become proficient across all communication methods, from phone calls to emails to face-to-face meetings.
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A salesperson's primary defense against AI is their ability to engage in real-time, synchronous conversations. By defaulting to email and keeping clients at a "digital arm's length," reps are performing tasks that AI can easily automate, making their roles increasingly redundant.
Instead of defaulting to one method, sellers should strategically choose the communication channel (phone, video, in-person) that offers the highest probability of success for the lowest investment of time, energy, and money for any given situation.
Using phone, email, and social isn't merely about finding a channel that works; it's about becoming a known person. When a prospect has heard your voice on a voicemail and seen your face on LinkedIn, you are no longer an anonymous bot. This human connection dramatically increases the likelihood of a response, even if it's a polite 'no'.
As AI floods the market with templated outreach, the most critical challenge for sellers is a decline in fundamental interpersonal skills. The ability to connect with a prospect authentically, without a script, is the key differentiator that builds the trust required to close deals in an overly automated world.
Sales skills like handling objections are useless if you can't get in front of prospects. The primary bottleneck is securing meetings, not closing them. Therefore, 80% of sales enablement efforts should target this top-of-funnel challenge.
Sales is the ultimate human profession in the age of AI, but only if salespeople engage in real-time, synchronous conversations (phone, video, in-person). Relying on asynchronous methods like email is abdicating the human advantage to robots, which can perform those tasks better.
Traditional, one-off training events are obsolete because the sales environment now demands constant agility and speed. Many experienced salespeople are struggling because their established playbooks and skills were developed for a market that has fundamentally changed, making continuous learning essential for survival.
When you email a proposal, you forfeit the emotional connection built during the sales call and reduce your service to a price on a page. This invites commoditization and price shopping. Capitalize on the moment by being prepared to ask for the business and close the deal in person.
The common claim that "customers prefer email" is often a self-serving story to justify a salesperson's own reluctance to engage in direct conversation. This excuse stems from the emotional ease of keeping people at a distance, a behavior that ultimately weakens crucial human connections.
To combat 'special snowflake-itis'—the belief that one's business is too unique for standard principles—recognize there are only four ways to sell: in-person with a salesperson, online with a salesperson, in-person with self-checkout, and online with self-checkout. Business models can be applied universally across them.
