Time saved from AI-driven efficiencies must be consciously reallocated to strategic tasks that AI can't do, like deeper customer research or improving sales enablement. This compounds the value of the initial time saving, but only if that time is actively protected and reinvested.
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Contrary to the impulse to automate busywork, leaders should focus their initial AI efforts on their most critical strategic challenges. Parkinson's Law dictates that low-value tasks will always expand to fill available time. Go straight to the highest-leverage applications to see immediate, significant results.
Frame internal AI initiatives not as a way to replace employees, but to automate their chores. This frees them to move 'up the stack' to perform higher-value functions like client relations, creative strategy, and founder meetings, ultimately increasing overall output.
The true ROI of AI lies in reallocating the time and resources saved from automation towards accelerating growth and innovation. Instead of simply cutting staff, companies should use the efficiency gains to pursue new initiatives that increase demand for their products or services.
Focusing on AI for cost savings yields incremental gains. The transformative value comes from rethinking entire workflows to drive top-line growth. This is achieved by either delivering a service much faster or by expanding a high-touch service to a vastly larger audience ("do more").
Implement AI effectively by allocating 10% of your time to human-led strategy (ideation), delegating 80% to AI for repetitive execution (research, list building), and reserving the final 10% for human review and integration. This framework ensures human taste and vision remain central to the process.
The primary ROI of sales AI isn't just saved time, but the reallocation of that time. Evaluate and justify AI tools based on their ability to maximize Customer Facing Time (CFT), as this directly increases both the quantity and quality of customer interactions, leading to better performance.
Most view AI for efficiency, but its true power lies in handling routine tasks to free up human talent. This unlocks capacity for strategic, creative, and relationship-driven work that fuels innovation and growth, shifting the question from cost savings to new capabilities.
A tangible way to implement a "more human" AI strategy is to use automation to free up employee time from repetitive tasks. This saved time should then be deliberately reallocated to high-value, human-centric activities, such as providing personalized customer consultations, that technology cannot replicate.
The true ROI of AI isn't just efficiency; it's the opportunity to reallocate time from low-value tasks to uniquely human activities. Use the bandwidth gained to build deeper client relationships, foster community, and engage in creative work.
Adopt a 'more intelligent, more human' framework. For every process made more intelligent through AI automation, strategically reinvest the freed-up human capacity into higher-touch, more personalized customer activities. This creates a balanced system that enhances both efficiency and relationships.
