The term "personalization" has lost its meaning. AI makes it easy to scrape superficial facts (e.g., hobbies, city) to feign a connection, which buyers see through. True relevance comes from understanding a prospect's specific business challenges and context, not personal trivia.
Tools like CRMs, automation, and AI were built to optimize the seller's workflow and efficiency. This focus has led to high-volume, low-quality outreach that inundates and frustrates buyers, ultimately making the buying process more painful than it was a decade ago.
Salespeople talk about their own product because it's familiar, static, and requires less prep work. Discussing a buyer's specific business challenges is harder and takes more time. This human tendency to choose the easy path over the effective one is why most outreach fails.
Buyers now use AI tools like Claude as their first step for research, replacing what used to be a seller-led discovery call. They can identify options, compare pros and cons, and even decide against a purchase before a salesperson is ever aware of their interest.
In an uncertain market, buyers trust other buyers more than vendors. The most powerful sales asset is a well-told customer story. Yet, companies often bury these stories in complex systems while equipping reps with self-serving, feature-focused slides that buyers ignore.
An effective cold email praised by Demandbase's CMO started by referencing her public thought leadership, appealing to her ego. It then connected this insight to her recent product usage ('not waiting for the roadmap energy') before pitching a relevant next step, successfully earning a meeting.