The AI Edge: Sales Strategies for Unleashing the Power of AI to Save Time, Sell More, and Crush the Competition (Jeb Blount)

Because the status quo is almost always perceived by stakeholders as the strongest alternative to change, you must make it your mission to eliminate “no decision” as an alternative by asking questions that bring the real situation to the surface and help stakeholders become aware of why the status quo is untenable. Here is an example of how AI can

poorly constructed prompt: [Write a cold outreach email for a client.] Even though your robot will do your bidding, the output will be generic, untargeted, and ineffective. It might even make you look sloppy. A well-constructed prompt: [You are a world-class copywriter. You are also a world-class expert in the oil and gas industry. Write a short sa

The hub-and-spoke system for in-person prospecting will help you squeeze the most productivity out of your sales day. Using this system, you will plan five in-person prospecting calls in advance around your scheduled appointments.

If you are more comfortable with a particular channel—especially an asynchronous channel—shake yourself out of that comfort zone. The interwoven, cross-channel approach is crucial to bending statistical probability in your favor that prospects engage.

As outlined in Jeb's 2022 book, Selling in a Crisis: 55 Ways to Stay Motivated and Increase Sales

The cadence is the order of your prospecting touches within the sequence, by channel. For example:

Before discovery conversations, learn everything possible about the organization and the people you are meeting with in advance. Leverage AI, social media, your CRM, and the internet to gather information about stakeholders and their organizations. This has five benefits:

AI's predictive lead-scoring capabilities help prioritize prospects based on their likelihood to convert, allowing salespeople to focus their efforts where they're most likely to pay off. This ensures that your multitouch sequences are not just well-crafted but also targeted at the prospects with the highest potential for success. With intent data

A big mistake that salespeople make is starting sequences with an asynchronous channel like email, rather than a synchronous channel like the phone, which gives them the best chance of actually talking with their prospects.