Podcasts about BDR

Imagine doubling your close rate and cutting your sales cycle in half. That's not a hypothetical. It's exactly what Pieter Leenhouts and his team did at Tax Guard, a Cogency Global company that sells to banks and financial institutions. Pieter walked me through exactly how they pulled it off, and it wasn't magic. It was math, structure, and a relentless focus on the front end of the pipeline.Why Their Sales Cycle Was So Long To Begin WithTax Guard's solution was new to the financial institutions they sold to, so reps had to spend real time educating buyers before those buyers even understood why they needed it.That education requirement, combined with deals that stalled out with the wrong contacts, created a long sales cycle and a lower close rate.Fixing it started with the pipeline itself, not with pushing reps to work harder.Give Every Rep the Right Size Pipeline, Not Just More DealsPieter's team found that around 120 opportunities was the right pipeline size for most of their account executives, though the number flexes based on how efficient a rep is.Instead of leaving reps to self source every opportunity, the team loads a portion of that pipeline for them, so reps spend more time working real opportunities and less time hunting for net new business.Their market of five to ten thousand financial institutions is well defined, which makes it possible to plan pipeline size with real precision instead of guessing.Split the Pipeline: 70 Percent Pre-Handraiser, 30 Percent Post-HandraiserOf those 120 opportunities, about 70 percent sit in the pre-handraiser stage, where reps are still working to connect with people.The remaining 30 percent sit in the post-handraiser stage, where there's already an active, ongoing conversation with the customer.That split keeps reps focused on outreach without starving the deals that are already moving.Marketing and Sales Load the Pipeline TogetherPieter is careful to point out that loading the pipeline isn't a sales-only effort. It's a collaboration between sales leadership and marketing leadership.Marketing helps identify and prioritize which accounts and departments actually fit where Tax Guard's solution applies.That partnership is part of why the team can hand reps a healthier mix of fast cycle and slow cycle opportunities instead of leaving it to chance.Why They Kept AEs on the Full Buyer Journey Instead of Handing Off to BDRsBecause their solution requires ongoing education, Pieter's team decided against using BDRs or SDRs to book appointments and hand off to AEs.The same person a buyer starts talking to needs to stay with them as a trusted advisor through the entire education process.Pieter is clear that this only makes sense because of how complex and unfamiliar their solution is. A more transactional sale can absolutely work with a BDR handoff.The Cadence: 17 Touches Over 70 DaysEach opportunity in the pipeline follows a defined cadence, roughly 17 touches over 70 days, with three to five contacts tied to each account.That structure turns follow-up into a math exercise. Once you know the number of opportunities, steps, and contacts, you know almost exactly how many activities a rep needs to complete each day.The cadence isn't automated. Reps still show up and do the work themselves, which keeps the process personal instead of robotic.Personalization Is What Makes the Math WorkPieter gets five to six hundred pitches a day himself, so he knows exactly what gets ignored: generic, unpersonalized outreach.His team uses AI to gather background information quickly, but the personal touch, referencing where someone went to school or what they care about, still has to come from the rep.That combination of structure and personalization is what actually breaks through the noise instead of just adding to it.How They Catch Reps Who Are Gaming Activity NumbersTo catch reps who rack up huge activity numbers without real substance, like hanging up before voicemail or blasting the same email to everyone, Pieter's team looks past raw activity totals.They review call recordings and email engagement to see whether real conversations are actually happening, not just whether the activity got logged.The goal isn't to catch people doing something wrong. It's to find the reps who are getting real engagement and figure out what they're doing differently so the whole team can replicate it.Weekly and Monthly Rhythms Keep the Team AccountableEvery rep gets a weekly one on one that covers both big strategic issues, like what's happening in the market or with competitors, and specific opportunities that need a plan to close.Once a month, Pieter's team reviews the front end metrics as a group: how many people are in cadence, how many emails are opening, how many real conversations are happening.They also track Net Promoter Score to measure how the sales experience actually felt to the buyer, not just whether a deal closed.Their Tech Stack: Salesforce, Gong, Gong Flows, and DelightedSalesforce is their core CRM, and Pieter says most of what makes it powerful is what gets plugged into it.Gong records and analyzes sales conversations, which lets the team track things like how often pricing objections come up and coach reps faster than they could otherwise.Gong Flows adds structured outreach sequences with AI built in, and Delighted measures NPS so the team can see how the buying experience felt from the customer's side.The Numbers Pieter's Team Watches Every WeekClose rate and pipeline velocity are the two headline numbers Pieter checks first, since they show whether the whole system is working.Underneath those, his team tracks how long deals sit in each of their seven pipeline stages, with alerts when something sits too long.They also watch the quality of the opportunities reps are given and how well each rep prospects into the right people, since strong activity numbers mean nothing if they aren't pointed at the right accounts."Activities create opportunities, opportunities create sales. The only thing we control is our activity level." — Pieter LeenhoutsResourcesConnect with Pieter Leenhouts on LinkedIn.Learn more about Tax Guard, a Cogency Global company.Keep track of your sales activity and boost your results with the Prospect Pro sales tool.Step up your sales game with Sales Mastermind. Get accountability, stay motivated, and tackle the blockers keeping you from hitting your goals.Visit Blue Mango Studios for help creating podcast production content.Join our LinkedIn cohort and learn to prospect the right way.Sponsorship OffersThis episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.CreditsAs one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast,

Summary In this insightful interview, Christina Brady, CEO of Luster, discusses how AI is transforming sales enablement and customer experience by focusing on human performance optimization rather than replacement. She shares real-world success stories, debunks common misconceptions about AI, and explores the strategic deployment of AI tools in revenue teams.   Key  topics AI for revenue intelligence and enablement Impact of AI on customer experience Success stories of AI implementation in sales Common misconceptions about AI in business Strategic deployment and risks of AI tools   Chapters 00:00 Introduction and guest credibility 00:27 AI as a tool for optimizing human performance 01:20 AI in entertainment and sports: the spectacle vs. utility 02:36 AI's role in customer experience transformation 05:28 Case study: Improving discovery skills with AI diagnostics 09:24 Measuring proficiency and addressing revenue leaks 12:38 Predictive AI for skill development and error prevention 16:43 Misconceptions about building and deploying AI 20:55 Emerging AI technologies and their potential 23:50 Ideal customer profile and closing remarks The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this episode, Drew Sechrist, CEO of Connect the Dots, discusses how relationship-driven sales strategies are revolutionized by AI and relationship intelligence technology. Topics include leveraging existing relationships for sales, the impact of AI on customer experience, and future trends in AI and sales automation.   Key  topics Relationship-driven sales strategies Impact of AI on customer experience Leveraging existing relationships for sales success   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Connect the Dots and AI in Sales 05:03 Transforming Customer Experience with AI 09:36 Leveraging Relationships in Sales 13:56 The Psychology of Influencers 21:11 AI's Role in Connect the Dots 26:46 Misconceptions About AI and Job Displacement 31:21 Emerging Technologies in Sales The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this episode, Francis Brero, VP of AI Strategy at HG Insights, shares insights on how AI is transforming sales, the importance of quality data, and practical strategies for leveraging AI effectively in sales processes.   Key  topics The role of high-quality data in AI-driven sales Transforming customer experience with AI Balancing automation and personalization in sales Success stories of AI implementation in sales Future trends and ethical considerations in AI   Chapters 00:00 The Value of Data in AI 02:02 Customer Expectations in the AI Era 04:24 Leveraging AI for Sales Success 08:16 Misconceptions About AI in Sales 11:47 Balancing Automation and Personalization 15:35 The Evolution of HG Insights 20:18 Innovations in AI Technology 22:26 Ethical Considerations in AI 25:19 Getting Started with AI The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Should you choose a high tax break or high investment growth? Nate Reineke and Chelsea Jones break down a common dilemma for high-earning physicians: deciding between a Cash Balance Plan and a traditional taxable brokerage account. Chelsea explains the mathematical "break-even point,” why the potentially lower growth rates of cash balance plans often favor physicians in their mid-to-late 30s and 40s who are in top tax brackets, while Nate highlights the value of brokerage accounts for early retirement flexibility.We also answer your colleagues' questions.Asking for a friend: How do I help my parents with managing their finances when I am a novice myself?A Urologist in California says, “I want to help my children either buy a house or get started with a new family. Considering gifting them somewhere around $100k. How should I invest the money?”A Neurologist in Oklahoma asks, “We currently work at a university where we receive a generous retirement match and have access to a non-gov 457(b). We have the option to switch to the physician group where we receive 457f contributions, a similar match, a non-gov 457b and the option for a mega BDR. Should we switch?”A Double Doc family in Virginia questions, “We have about 12 months of living expenses set aside for our emergency fund. Is this too much?”Are you ready to turn worries about taxes and investing into a plan for college and retirement? If you're evaluating your options and want to learn more, visit physicianfamily.com and click 'Get Started' or you can ask a question of your own by emailing podcast@physicianfamily.com.See marketing disclosures at physicianfamily.com/disclosures

Will AI agents replace the human enterprise seller? Nathan Rader and TJ Williams are weighing in on that debate, and not as outside observers. Early in their careers, both sold enterprise software at IBM, Oracle, and Google. Nathan later led go-to-market at a string of growth-stage startups including Parsable, HighRadius, and Karat, while TJ went on to lead sales organizations at Dropbox and Degreed. Today, they're each confronting AI's impact firsthand — Nathan as Chief Revenue Officer of Oro Labs, and TJ as an Operating Partner at Brighton Park Capital, leading the firm's go-to-market advisory practice.In this episode, host Usman Rabbani sits down with Nathan and TJ to discuss how enterprise sales is evolving as AI agents take on more of the work traditionally done by sellers. Together, they trace the arc from Lotus Notes to AI-native GTM stacks, and what separates the shift in tooling from the shift in what actually wins deals. Their conversation spans where human judgment remains irreplaceable in the sales process, why efficiency gains from AI haven't yet translated into top-line growth, what happens to the talent pipeline as entry-level SDR and BDR roles disappear, and what will separate great go-to-market organizations once every competitor has access to the same tools.TJ expands on several of these themes in his recent thought piece, How to Build a Sales Team That Wins in an AI World, which makes the case for investing in the SDR pipeline rather than gutting it, and for hiring sellers who treat AI tools as a core part of the job rather than a threat to it.For anyone building, leading, or investing in a go-to-market organization, this episode offers a grounded, experience-driven view of where AI is genuinely changing enterprise sales, and where the fundamentals still hold true. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

summary   In this episode, Chad Burmeister interviews Jonathan Grzybowski, CMO and co-founder of PENGIE, about the transformative impact of AI on sales, content creation, and customer experience. They explore how AI enhances efficiency, maintains human connection, and the future of augmented intelligence in business. key topics   AI's impact on sales and marketing Balancing AI automation with human touch AI-driven content creation and optimization Future of augmented intelligence in business Chapters   00:00 Introduction to AI in Sales and Parenting 02:35 The Impact of AI on Job Replacement 05:24 Customer Experience Transformation through AI 08:27 Optimizing Content Creation and Distribution 11:12 Success Stories: Real-World Applications of AI 13:49 The Future of AI in Business 16:56 Balancing AI Automation with Human Touch 19:44 Skills for Sales Professionals in an AI World The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

In a world where 21,883 software companies are all chasing the same narrow pool of buyers, automation isn't a competitive edge — it's the noise. Neal Goyal, who has closed $41M in software revenue with 81% of it sourced from LinkedIn, makes a compelling case for slowing down to speed up. This episode breaks down why trust is the only moat that can't be replicated, how LinkedIn is actually a stage where your ideal buyers are sitting in the audience, and why the kindergarten rules you already know — give before you ask, show up for others first — are the most powerful GTM strategy available right now. If you're over-automating and under-relating, this one is a wake-up call.Key Takeaways[0:00] — The counterintuitive edge: doing things that don't scale is the most powerful thing you can do in a world where everyone has the same automation tools[6:09] — The ecommerce SaaS explosion: from 5,000 to 21,883 software companies chasing the same TAM — and why that kills trust by default[8:47] — You're not competing against direct mail competitors; you're competing for the finite bandwidth of a 3–5 person marketing team[13:33] — Why 100% inbound pipeline is a "cancer" — it feels great but attracts everyone, not the right ones[16:46] — 81% of $41M in closed revenue sourced from LinkedIn — what the first 8–9 months of posting with zero engagement actually looked like[18:48] — The theater analogy: your buyers are in the seats, but only 1 in 100 sellers ever gets on stage[21:15] — The lurker phenomenon: LinkedIn engagement is low because it's public and professional — and that's exactly why the relationship value is high[21:18] — Why your LinkedIn connect request is like asking for someone's phone number at a bar — and what to do instead[26:37] — The bank account model: you can't make a withdrawal from an account you never opened. Deposits (engagement, value) must come before asks (connection requests, pitches)[32:47] — Email as a trust eroder by default — and why "who sent it" matters infinitely more than any subject line[34:45] — "Relationships beat algorithms" — why building rapport on LinkedIn before hitting the inbox changes the open rate entirely[36:46] — How to get organizational buy-in for a long-game strategy: lead from the front, be the best BDR on your own team[40:38] — What to do when your target prospect isn't posting on LinkedIn: write about them, spotlight their work, and watch what happens[44:09] — The founder question almost nobody is asking: where is your moat beyond technology? Care at scale is the answerTweetable Quotes"Automation takes away the most valuable skills we learned in kindergarten — give to others before you ask for anything in return." — Neal Goyal"Trust doesn't scale. That's exactly why it works." — Jeff Mains"You're not competing against direct mail companies. You're competing for the limited bandwidth of a 3-person marketing team alongside 21,000 other software vendors." — Neal Goyal"Nobody remembers who liked their post. They remember who left a comment that showed you actually read it." — Jeff Mains"Every cold pitch you send is a withdrawal from an account you never opened." — Jeff Mains"Only 1 in 100 sellers posts on LinkedIn — but your buyers are there 7, 8, 9 times a day. That IS the stage." — Neal Goyal"If you post 3 times a week, you move to the top 1% of content creators on LinkedIn. That's how low the bar is — and how big the opportunity is." — Neal Goyal"Care is going to be the thing that stands out above everything we talk about with AI. If you can demonstrate it, you're going to win." — Neal GoyalSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Do the things that don't scale — on purpose. When everyone has access to the same AI tools, the same sequences, and the same targeting data, doing what everyone else is doing makes you invisible. Genuine human attention is rare enough that when a prospect receives it, it stops them cold. That's your competitive edge.2. Trust is the only moat automation can't replicate. With the software landscape growing 4–5x in a few years and churn becoming a top threat, the relationship you build before the sale is what keeps the customer after it. The companies that invest in their customers the way they invest in prospects will win the retention wars ahead.3. LinkedIn is a stage, not a social app — and almost no one is using it that way. Your buyers are on LinkedIn every day. Only 1 in 100 sellers posts. If you post three times a week, you're in the top 1% of creators on a billion-person platform. Stop thinking about it as a channel and start thinking about it as the most accessible stage you'll ever have.4. Deposits before withdrawals — always. The bank account model isn't a metaphor, it's a system. Comment authentically on your prospects' posts before sending a connection request. Connect before pitching. Build before asking. This sequence flips connect acceptance rates by 3–5x and transforms cold email into warm email.5. Lead from the front to change a team's culture. Philosophy alone doesn't move teams. Results do. When Neal steps into a new org, he operates like an IC first — showing, not just telling. When the team sees the long game producing pipeline, they buy in. You can't coach trust-building from the sidelines.6. You're not competing against your category — you're competing for attention. Whether you're at seed stage or Series C, the real battle is for a limited-bandwidth buyer with 3–5 people on their team and 21,000 vendors in their inbox. The question isn't "are we better than our direct competitors?" It's "are we worth their attention right now, and are we earning it?"Guest Resourceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/nealgoyal/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel'Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/https://jeffmains.com/books/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

 Summary   In this episode, Rob from Neurometric AI discusses the evolution of AI, cost optimization through small models, harness engineering, and ethical considerations. Gain insights into practical AI applications, cost-saving strategies, and the future of AI in business and customer experience.   Key  topics   Cost optimization with small models Harness engineering and model customization AI evolution and misconceptions Impact of AI on customer experience Ethical considerations in AI use     Chapters   00:00 Introduction to Neurometric AI and AI Evolution 02:41 Cost Optimization in AI Inference 05:40 Enhancing Customer Experience with AI 08:43 Case Study: E-commerce Document Analysis 11:34 AI Misconceptions and Model Capabilities 14:24 The Human-AI Relationship in Sales 16:56 Emerging Trends: Harness Engineering 19:56 Ethical Considerations in AI 22:49 Advice for Aspiring AI Professionals   The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this episode, Chad Burmeister interviews Jean-Marc Chanoine, Chief Sales Officer at Templafy, about AI transformation, its impact on sales and organizations, and responsible AI practices. They explore how AI is revolutionizing content creation, sales processes, and the future skills sales professionals need to thrive. Key topics AI transformation in sales Content automation and quality Responsible AI and ethical considerations Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in Sales 01:30 Customer Experience Transformation with AI 05:14 Creating Effective Sales Presentations 08:39 Measuring AI Impact on Sales 13:19 Misconceptions About AI 17:47 The Role of Human Responsibility in AI 29:43 Skills for the AI-Augmented Sales Professional   The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this episode of the AI for Sales podcast, host Chad Burmeister interviews Sharon Gai, an expert in AI innovation. Sharon shares her journey from B2B sales to leading AI product rollouts at Alibaba. The conversation explores how AI is transforming customer experiences, the importance of future-proofing jobs in an AI-driven economy, and common misconceptions about AI. Sharon emphasizes the need for ethical considerations in AI and discusses emerging technologies that are reshaping the landscape. Finally, she highlights the essential skills sales professionals need to thrive in an AI-augmented future.Takeaways Sharon Gai's journey in AI began in B2B sales. AI has transformed customer experiences significantly. The concept of 'agentic commerce' is emerging with AI. Future-proofing jobs is essential in an AI-driven economy. Misconceptions about AI include the belief that everyone will be replaced. AI lacks emotional intelligence and loyalty. Sales professionals must demonstrate care and motivation. Emerging technologies like HeyGen are changing sales outreach. Ethics in AI requires collective responsibility from all stakeholders. AI can enhance human capabilities but cannot replace them. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI and Sharon's Journey 06:31 Transforming Customer Experience with AI 11:14 Future-Proofing in an AI-Driven Economy 19:31 Misconceptions and Realities of AI 26:33 Emerging Technologies in AI 30:47 Ethics and Responsibility in AI 33:50 Skills for Thriving in an AI-Augmented Future The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this episode, Dr. Noah St. John discusses how understanding the caveman brain can unlock success in sales, leadership, and personal growth. He shares practical tools like the caveman calculator and quiz, and emphasizes the importance of taming the caveman in the age of AI. Key Topics The caveman brain and its impact on decision-making AI's role in transforming customer experience Tools like the caveman calculator and quiz The importance of taming the caveman, not fighting it Inner game vs. outer game in success The role of mindset in leveraging AI effectively Case studies of clients who increased revenue by taming their caveman brain The concept of invisible costs and how to measure them Practical steps to improve conversion rates and revenue The future of AI and human collaboration in business Takeaways Most people are unaware of how their caveman brain sabotages their success. AI is a magnifier; it can amplify both good and bad habits. Taming the caveman brain is essential for maximizing AI's potential. Understanding your caveman type can provide insights into your behavior. Focusing on conversions rather than just leads drives revenue growth. The 'invisible brake' often prevents people from reaching their goals. Practical tools like the caveman calculator can reveal hidden costs. Success involves mastering both inner and outer game. AI is a powerful tool, but human insight and mindset are crucial. Changing core beliefs can lead to significant financial and personal breakthroughs. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Augmented Intelligence 01:34 The Impact of AI on Customer Experience 04:10 Understanding the Caveman Brain 11:31 Taming the Caveman for Success 15:04 The Importance of Completing Your Past 17:53 Inner Game vs. Outer Game in AI 21:50 The Shift in Mindset for Value Creation 27:25 Conversions: The Key to Revenue 30:37 Next Steps with Dr. Noah St. John The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth.Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Bruce Bignell talks to Michael Maximoff, Chief Growth Officer at BelkinsCold outreach used to build the pipeline on its own. Michael Maximoff, co-founder of Belkins, explains why it doesn't any more - and why he's moved his BDR function out of sales and into marketing.Belkins is an omnichannel appointment-setting agency Michael started in 2016, now around 200 people and 200 clients, ranked 4th out of roughly 10,000 firms globally on Clutch. He's run the Predictable Revenue playbook for a decade and watched cost per meeting climb from about $200 to $750.In this conversation: why the SDR-to-AE handoff isn't customer-centric, what changes when BDRs can send case studies and webinar invites instead of "let's book a call", how to pay marketing and sales on the same outcome, the $200,000 targeting mistake that churned 20% of new clients, and why the first system any business should buy is a CRM with a properly maintained pipeline.--⚡️Try Pipedrive for FREE - extended 30day trial ⚡️

According to research by IBM, just 16% of AI initiatives have achieved scale. Why? Because few organizations have the structure and data to support long-term AI investments. So, how do you build an AI-ready system? Riley Rogers: Welcome to the Win/Win Podcast. I’m your host, Riley Rogers. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. Here to discuss this topic is Rich Weymer, Senior Director of Go-To-Market Strategy and Transformation at Yubico. Thank you so much for joining us today, Rich. I’m super excited to have you here to dig into all the expertise that you’re gonna bring to the table. As we’re kicking off, I’d love if you could just tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and your role. Rich Weymer: Yeah. First off, thanks for having me. A repeat customer with Highspot, so excited to get invited to this, as we’ve worked with your organization for some time now. Like you said, Rich Weymer. I’ve spent time pretty much so in tech for most of my professional career in one form or fashion, from my earlier career days at Microsoft working in consumer goods, where I’ve worked on video games, your Office products, all your devices, through where I’m at today in the security world. RR: Well, amazing, and bravo, tech veteran. Not easy. RW: Yeah. It looks a lot different today than it did when I started, that’s for sure. RR: And I think that is exactly what we’re gonna talk about today. But before we go into where the world of tech has been to where we are today, I’d love if you could give us a little bit of foundational context for folks who might not be familiar with Yubico. Could you give us a little walkthrough of who your company is, what you do, who you serve? RW: Yeah. So Yubico does phishing resistance hardware MFA, which basically means we ship you a little bitty key that helps control access to all your online portals and logins and everything along those lines. RR: As somebody who is password challenged, I certainly see the value of that one. I wish we had a wonderful little bitty key that got me set up for success every single day. One thing that I think you set up early on is that Yubico, and pretty much every other organization in the industry, is moving fast, and it has to. Security in this day and age is harder than ever. And when it comes to working in a fast-moving organization, teams like yours also have to move fast. I’d guess that that pace of change is part of the reason why you have a really forward-looking approach to enablement and to go-to-market strategy. So why do you think it’s important to think critically about how technology can transform traditional workflows, processes that you’re accustomed to, things like that? RW: Again, to your point, things are moving so fast right now. That’s the biggest underlying factor that organizations really need to think through. Decisions that you’re making today are almost obsolete by the time you’re done signing the paperwork on whatever decisions or procurement you’re going through. So you need to be really thoughtful about the foundations that you’re building, the integrations that you’re gonna lean on, and the partners that you’re gonna select that are gonna be around for the long run. Measure twice, cut once, and also understand that there’s different types of decisions that you’re gonna be making. I use the analogy of a hat, a haircut, or a tattoo. What type of decision are you making when you’re thinking about your technologies? If it’s a hat, you can switch it in and out real quick. If it’s a haircut, maybe it takes a little bit of time to unwind. And those tattoos are the ones that you just can’t change. They’re gonna be– They’re– You’re gonna live with them forever. So you really gotta just understand the lens that you’re making the decisions through, as well as having an industry understanding of where things are heading. And as you look at your partners, thinking, “Hey, at the pace at which innovation is happening, is this someone that’s gonna be relevant six months, 12 months, 18 months from now?” RR: I have not heard that decision-making framework before, hat, haircut, tattoo. RW: It’s an easy one, yeah. A lot of organizations think everything’s a tattoo. So you make every decision like it’s the last decision you’re ever gonna make in that space. And it’s right for a lot of things, but framing it goes a long way, especially when you’re trying to move fast. Being able to categorize those decisions pretty quickly goes a long way. RR: Yeah. And it helps you avoid the problem of when everything’s important, nothing is. You mentioned systems, data, processes, having the right tools in place to move quickly. So with that perspective in mind, how are you thinking about layering on AI? RW: I think about it every day and night, in every meeting I’m sitting in, and every conversation I’m having, and every free minute when I’m thinking about work. The big thing is automation and AI for the sake of AI, and automation for the sake of automation, it really doesn’t mean anything unless you have a strong foundation and an understanding of your data. So to me, it all just boils down to a strong foundational data set and understanding what to measure and what moves your business, and then building around that first and foremost before you do anything else. RR: What do you need in that foundation before you can start building AI on top of it in order for those initiatives to be successful? RW: If I were to think through how I structure this, there’s no shortage of ways to measure the business, but landing on one that’s influential and helps you adjust the dials as you go is really important. So the way I operate is through the lens of sales velocity, which is a time-tested mathematical problem to give you a temperature check on how the business is doing. It’ll let you know whether you’re going up, down, left, right, staying center, or whatever it is. But where organizations stop is they stop at the top four measurements, which, if you think of sales velocity, is open opportunities, average deal size, win rate, and then you divide that by your deal cycle length. That gives you a daily throughput, which tells you part of the story because you can help understand your forecasting. When you take your close one business, you can use that to forecast days left in the quarter, what those numbers would look like. But where it gets really powerful, and what I think a lot of organizations haven’t spent the time to do, is go deeper on the leveling of those metrics. So if you think through the process lines, L1 is your executive metric. That’s the all-up number. Your L2s are your leadership numbers, where your managers need to understand those. But your L3, four, five, six, and you can keep going down the rabbit hole, really start impacting how your frontline folks operate. One of the things we’ll talk about today is AI Role Play, and when we think of it, we look at diagnosing issues in our win rates, and we think, “How is our competitive wins doing? What are we, we get very, very granular in how we look at those.” And then we can actually start layering on recommendations and automation. So we do that across probably close to 100 different metrics through the various layers that are our leading indicators. And this really helps us when we think through automation of where we go from here, ’cause once we understand those, we know how are we doing against certain competitors? Are we getting the right amount of MQLs? Are we talking about the right things? Do we get caught up in legal, security? We can understand all those different variables of the business, and then we can take a proactive approach to coaching where we need to coach, and then adjusting the business where we need to adjust the business. And you can’t really do that unless you have that entire foundation laid out and actually understand what all those levers are. So to me, taking the time to do that is really just beyond critical. RR: Yeah. Yeah. You know what you need to do, and you can start driving really aggressively against it, which I– it sounds like you alluded to an example there with AI Role Play, you’re doing the work to do. In that, you’re beginning to layer some of these new technologies, new tools on top of that foundation. What were some of those first use cases that you prioritized, and why did you start where you did? RW: I think the first win you always wanna go for is really a practical application of any new technology and how that can move the needle for the business. So when I think of practical applications, I think of AI Role Play as being a very early one. As an enablement team and a training team, how many times have people walked through certification programs, the one-on-ones with managers, all the Role Plays, all the back and forth and the headaches and the objectivity that goes into those exercises. That’s just a quick win that you can pick up and take care of almost all of that. The time saving alone and the cost of having a manager do these one-on-ones time and time again, it just drains an organization when every organization right now is trying to be lean, mean, focused on sales efficiency. So anything we can do to give back and level the team up, I think is just a no-brainer. So AI Role Play is a huge one for us. We looked at a lot of different places. We tried a lot of different things, and we landed on the Highspot implementation of that because it’s important to be able to do that stuff, but also it has to be within the context of everything you’re doing and all the content and everything that you do have. It can’t be this standalone siloed thing that happens in the background. We need to bring it to the forefront. Yeah, those are the really practical first-step wins that I’ve been excited about. RR: Yeah, and that’s such a good example of mapping it back to those foundational levers. The path there is very clear, I think. RW: Yeah, absolutely. Think of a competitive– your competitive intelligence programs. You do all this work understanding your competitors. Now you can understand when a seller of yours struggles with insert competitor X, Y, or Z. You can identify those trainings, you can recommend the trainings, you can verify they’ve been through them, and then if that’s not working, then you can escalate to coaching and go a little bit deeper from there. So the foundation of the data will help you identify that stuff, and then you start applying the technologies. That’s how you go fix the gap. And then you can monitor it and just keep it going, almost near real time, which is incredible. A lot of the time, organizations are really spending most of their time hearing yesterday’s weather. And when I mean that, I think of, you do a QBR, you go through a quarter, you spend 30 days doing the QBR. At the end of the QBR, you find the problems, you take 30 more days to figure out what the underlying problems are, then you spend 120 days fixing those problems. Then you’re six months removed from what the problem was, and now you got a whole new set of problems that you’re not even keeping up with the business. So being able to identify these things, move quickly, and make recommendations really fast is incredible in the amount of time it buys back an organization to execute, and that you’re focused on the right things at the right time. RR: I’d be curious to hear a little bit about, you mentioned a handful of teams there in some of the early AI Role Play rollout and piloting. How did you start thinking about who you wanted to test this with, the kinds of pilots you wanted to build, and how has that going so far? RW: We tested globally as a global organization. We tried US-based, EMEA, APJ folks. We took a look at various groups from various geographical regions because adoption’s an uptick, and accountability is different at the global scale. The use cases really were tied around what’s our biggest blind spots, and what do we not know, and how do we validate that? As a group that has a BDR team, an SDR team as an example, if you have sellers that don’t wanna work with their BDRs ’cause they’re not confident that their BDRs are competent, then here’s a great way to say, “Hey, actually, we’ve already been them– we’ve taken them through the ringer. We’ve seen that they’re able to demonstrate this stuff, and honestly, we’re building scenarios that are harder for them to get through than you actually deal with, with customers.” So we can stress test the teams, and then sellers don’t respond to customers with ABC answers. They have to be able to be versed in these conversations, so being able to do that was a huge unlock for us, because folks aren’t practicing with their paycheck. Well, the worst place you wanna go figure this stuff out is in front of a customer, so give someone a very safe space to go practice and cut their teeth, and they will just accelerate if they get behind it and really try this stuff out. So yeah, find the high ROI cases, double down on those, share that experience, be vocal about it, and make sure others feel it. Then yeah, that’s how you just get that adoption and the needle moving. RR: Something that I feel like is not as spoken about when it comes to training, Role Plays, et cetera, all of that stuff, is now you have this trust between your counterparts, and you have more of this connective tissue purely because of that, which is really interesting, and I’ve not, I don’t think, heard anyone speak to that element of it before. So curious if you could give me a little bit more of a sense of what that has done for you guys. RW: Yeah. And, as I mentioned, I’ve– I’m five-ish years into the security business, and this is just a business built on trust. So we have to gain the trust of our customers. It’s important in any sales cycle. It’s a hundredfold more important when you’re talking about the security of your organization. So I think intrinsically our– the businesses are highly trust-driven with the folks that they work with, even internally. So, if you think through customer journeys, from trusting they’re landing the right messaging and marketing, to the right message that BDRs are delivering, our sellers deliver it, talking about the right things and delivering the proposals towards the outcomes that the customers are expecting, to how your account team then goes and manages that account or gets ready for renewals. There has to be that thread of trust across those because each one sets one up for failure if not done correctly. And having a verified way of saying, “Hey, I can trust that my coworkers that are working upstream for me are doing the right things and they are competent,” that’s only gonna make you deliver and do better in your particular role, and it’s gonna want you to step your game up, too. RR: Sometimes I feel like folks present a strategy the way it’s working out for them, and I have a thoughtful response to it. But in this case, the only thing I have to say is that’s so cool. It’s really, really cool to see all the different ways that this can show up for an organization beyond what we expect. RW: If you were to turn the clock back two years, AI-based Role Play, that was beyond the bleeding edge. There wasn’t even an edge. It was so far out of the realm. But these things come up quickly, and you wanna be able to jump on ’em and move on ’em. Again, it’s just moving so fast that you have to have that trust and have a team around you that’s willing to build on the successes you’ve had in a past life. So it does take time to get to that point. It doesn’t happen overnight. It gets quicker, that’s the thing, ’cause now, if you think through how you go through a launch in a past life, go back two years: you spin up the marketing machine, they come up with the slides, you host a call, you do a webinar, you send the field out, say, “Go figure it out.” If you’re lucky, you did Role Plays with the managers, you had a competency test, you sat down, maybe you brought some external resources in to actually manage this. And now with technology, you can scope it, build it, deploy it, have everybody through it in a few weeks, and you can actually verify that people can do these things, where in a past life, just none of that existed. You can build trust faster and move quicker today because the technologies enable that stuff. It’s not the, I’ve got a six-month sales cycle, so I don’t know what my sales look like, or I don’t know how well things are going until six months down the line when you’re actually seeing the end-of-line conversions. You just move so much faster right now. It’s, yeah, really exciting. RR: Okay. So we’ve touched on, I think, a lot of some of the granular detail, and I think gotten a picture of what work at Yubico looks like right now. And I think it has been what sounds like a busy few months to get to this point. So since making some of these changes, being really thoughtful about building out your foundation, starting to layer in those early AI use cases, what impact have you seen on things like seller efficiency, time savings, productivity, anything like that? RW: We are cutting so much time out of the administrative burden of our team. It’s hard to put an exact number on it, but we’re looking at reducing sales cycles by upwards of 25% this year. Where if you think through a longer sales cycle on the security side, where things can take six, seven, eight months, if you can carve out a month back on those processes, it unlocks a lot of organizational capacity. So we are heavy on how we are doing that this year, and sales efficiency is one of our big topics for this year. And ideally, in a perfect world, you have the right team that, as you give efficiency time back and give them time to focus on selling, they go out and sell more. You can cut their day down to two hours a day, but what are they gonna do with the rest of the hours of those days to actually go get after it? So we’re cutting time out of their workload, making things easier on them, and then how are we surfacing the latest and greatest new opportunities and more guidance to them, to be a little bit more honed on where to go and focus on the stuff that technology’s not replacing right now, which is the human interaction and the conversations you have to have with your buyers. So that’s our goal today, it’s just every single day, how do we chip away, chip away, chip away? And I think we’re doing a pretty, pretty solid job of that right now. And things that take hours, three, four, five hours to do, you can do in a button click these days. So on a 40-hour week, if that’s all you work, that would be nice. But if you’re doing 40 hours a week and you’re cutting four or five hours out, 10%, 12% of your week is a huge give back on a timing perspective. So we are, yeah, really excited about all that work right now. RR: You mentioned that 25% reduction, which you said, “That’s a solid, that’s solid progress.” I would call that more than solid progress, but that’s just me. Would you say that part of that or some of that could be attributed to that improved ability to practice those conversations and show up better when you’re actually having them live? RW: Absolutely. There’s the process side of house, which is where we can carve a lot of time out, but the competency within that process goes a long way. Just the basics. Can you get somebody to set that follow-up call? Don’t let the customer off the call until you have a next step booked. Even just little things like that, that you get off the call and then it takes you a couple days to schedule that next meeting. You just get rid of coaching that stuff out. Those basics that every seller always knows about, that adds up when you’re thinking enterprise-wide. That goes a long way. So again, foundational data, even just looking at the basics and doing really good at the basics and training people to that, you’re gonna find time back. RR: To my earlier point about a lot of people are excited but don’t quite know what to do, that’s a very specific example of what can you coach to meaningfully? How can you use Role Play to help you train away those bad behaviors that decrease your velocity, decrease your momentum, and in turn cause that chain reaction down the line? So with all this work in mind, what do you think the future of go-to-market, of enablement, looks like at Yubico? What’s next? RW: Ooh, that’s the multi-multi-multi-million dollar question. Someone who’s been around tech for a while, you see patterns in where things are going. I challenge everybody that I talk to about some form of initiative, or obviously a lot of AI discussions today. But if you challenge things from a first-principles perspective, why are you even doing these things? And I think that is a question that organizations need to ask themselves, is why are you doing this, and why are you doing it this way? Does that even make sense in tomorrow’s world of where things are heading? It’s how are you driving decisions? How are you recommending actions? And how are you actually activating on the data and the information that you have? I think that’s where go-to-market goes. It becomes less understanding and reading yesterday’s weather, as I say, and it takes that data and makes it actionable and pushes us forward versus just catches us up, which is also very, very exciting because the things that we thought were out of reach six months ago are in reach now. RR: For people listening who might be, with that last sentence, feeling a little bit inspired but also uncertain, like, oh gosh, how do I keep pace? What would you say to leaders in tech and in other spaces who feel pressured to do AI, perform the thing, layer it into their programs where they can, but aren’t sure where to start? What would you– What advice would you give them, having done it yourself? RW: Start. That’s the key. It sounds silly, but everybody kinda has this not really sure where to start, and that’s okay. I think you just gotta start. First and foremost, you have to just dabble a little bit, get your feet wet, and it all starts to come clear. If you’re thinking through the models that are out there, ask it questions, use it to teach you what you don’t know and where to go. But really it’s your thought partner in how you use these things. You have questions? Ask it questions. You get stuck? Ask it why you’re stuck. Ask it wh– it can do a lot of the things that I think would really surprise people, that will help them head down the right direction. And again, we’re– I say it jokingly, we’re not protein folding. It’s not that crazy, the stuff that we’re doing. You’ll see that there’s a lot of people that have been successful, and you can go a long way just asking the right questions. Don’t be afraid. Do things in a smart way. Make sure your identities are locked down. Shout out, Yubico. Make sure that you’re working with your security teams and doing the right things, and you’ve got access controls in place, of course. But just start. That’s the biggest thing I could tell people, is just start. You’d be amazed how far you can go. RR: Very inspirational to close with. And also, I think a bitter truth sometimes. It’s very much the best way to learn is by doing. RW: Yeah, 100%. I always get the, “Rich, what should I do?” I’m like, “Well, just ask the question.” Just literally just start. Just start. Just get in there and do it, and get going. And really the other thing I would say, on the starting point, is try and build a system where you give people the guardrails to be successful, get the benefits of AI, but also don’t get in the way and stifle innovation. You wanna empower people to go figure things out. Give them the chance to start as well. If you’re a leader in one of these organizations, empower the folks on the front lines to do these things, because this technology is just peeling out those middle layers. The closer you sit to the customers, the more impactful work you’re gonna be able to do. So get your frontline people working on this stuff. RR: I have to say, I think I said it a couple times, but some really interesting, very actionable things, I think, you shared today. So I really appreciate you taking the time to give us some of those recommendations on how to get started with AI, what’s working for you with AI Role Play, all of the goodness on how to not be scared to get started. RW: Thank you again for having me. This has been a lot of fun. RR: Yeah. To our audience, thank you for listening to this episode of the Win/Win Podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize go-to-market success with Highspot.

summary In this episode, James Stephan-Usypchuk, AI deal architect and founder of Solutions, shares insights on how AI is transforming deal sourcing, growth strategies, and the importance of creativity in AI development. Discover how AI can be leveraged ethically to drive strategic growth and innovation. key topics AI-driven deal origination and sourcing Growth engine systems and strategic scaling Ethical considerations in AI development Personalization and automation in sales and marketing Future trends in AI and entrepreneurship takeaways AI can originate thousands of off-market deals in a short period. Personalization in AI messaging enhances engagement and response rates. Ethical AI development is crucial to maintain trust and privacy. AI can be a magnet for the right opportunities when tuned properly. Creativity and innovation are essential for AI to solve new problems. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Background 01:16 Solutions' History and Focus 02:01 Evolution of AI in Business 03:15 AI in Deal Sourcing and Growth 04:18 How Ecliptica Uses AI for Growth 05:51 Investment and Capital Strategies 07:14 Success Stories in AI Deal Origination 10:02 Targeting the Right Opportunities 12:55 Balancing Automation and Personalization 15:41 The Role of Human Touch in AI 18:20 AI in Investor and Market Analysis 20:57 Advice for Future AI Innovators The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

**AI for Sales Podcast: Unlocking Customer Expectations and Human Trust with John Hetherington**Join us in this episode as John Hetherington, AI strategist and technology leader from Calgary, shares insights into how AI is transforming customer experience, the importance of human touch, and the future of AI-driven workflows. Discover practical advice on balancing automation with personal interactions and learn about emerging AI tools shaping sales strategies. Main topics include: How AI elevates customer expectations and enhances experiences The role of personal storytelling and individualism in sales success Using AI to streamline processes and identify new opportunities Addressing misconceptions and ethical considerations of AI Balancing automation with human relationship building The future of agentic AI and workflow management tools Developing skills for prompt engineering and AI mastery Timestamps: 00:00 - Welcome & introduction to John Hetherington and AI for Sales 00:29 - John's background: from UK to helping CFOs and CIOs accelerate growth 01:33 - The journey of sales roles from BDR to leadership 02:47 - Impact of AI on customer experience and expectations 03:29 - Raising the bar in customer service through AI 04:23 - Moving beyond information to insights and personalized experiences 05:09 - The importance of personal stories and individualism in sales 05:50 - Success stories and ROI examples of AI in customer engagement 06:33 - How AI saves time but requires strategic application 07:02 - AI's role in collaborative planning and customer empowerment 08:03 - Using AI for rapid research and list-building in government and public sector projects 08:56 - Risks of AI-driven outreach flooding inboxes and maintaining quality 09:47 - Common misconceptions about AI's impact on jobs and tasks 10:06 - The real question: how humans can leverage AI to do better work 11:17 - Repositioning sales and marketing as value sharing, not just selling 12:04 - Balancing personal touch with AI-driven automation 14:25 - Trust building through face-to-face and meaningful interactions 15:55 - Relationship nurturing and long-term engagement 18:23 - Falling in love with the customer's problem rather than the solution 20:40 - Emotional decision-making in high-stakes, personalized sales 21:07 - Emerging AI trends: agentic AI and workflow orchestration 22:55 - Practical first steps: choosing one AI tool and learning it deeply 23:49 - Developing skills in prompt engineering and asking the right questions 24:52 - Treating AI as a new team member: training, supervising, and inspecting 25:38 - Final advice for mastering AI and maintaining human trust Twitter Stay tuned for more insights on integrating AI into sales and customer success strategies! The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

summary In this episode, Ken Rapp, CEO of Bluestream, shares insights on how AI is transforming customer engagement through product care and ownership. Discover how AI-driven personalized experiences can reduce churn, increase loyalty, and create new job opportunities. key topics AI's impact on customer experience Personalized product care and ownership Churn prediction and customer retention Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction 01:47 Ken Rapp's Journey into AI and Product Care 03:47 Transforming Customer Experience with AI 06:20 Real-World Examples of AI in Customer Support 08:29 AI in Wellness and Consumer Products 10:17 Reducing Churn and Increasing Repeat Sales 10:46 Ken Rapp's Background and Entry into AI 11:58 AI's Role in Wellness and Beauty Products 13:25 Misconceptions and Opportunities in AI 14:21 AI's Impact on Jobs and Skills Needed 17:25 Emerging AI Technologies to Watch 19:02 Predicting Employee Turnover and Customer Behavior 20:06 Skills for Professionals in the AI Era 21:46 Closing Remarks and Resources The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

SaaStr 866: Agents Didn't Kill Sales. They Just Exposed It with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin For ten years, social selling meant monitoring LinkedIn for prospects and dropping "Great job!" comments and hoping someone took a meeting. Everyone knew it was hollow. Nobody said it out loud. Then an agent booked 682 qualified inbound meetings without lowering the bar once, and another agent saw a prospect complain about a product online, analyzed their account, and solved the problem in real time. That's not something a human social seller could ever do. Agents didn't end sales. They just made it impossible to pretend the hollow parts were working. In this closing AMA, Jason Lemkin takes questions from the floor on what's actually changing in sales, GTM, and company building in the agentic era, and what to do about it. You'll learn: Why the inbound BDR role should go extinct and what replaces it What agents can do in social selling that humans never could, and what that means for your team structure Why your sales team needs to be product experts now, not relationship managers, and how to tell the difference How to find your GTM engineer without posting a job description that attracts nobody Why it's an inertia grab not a land grab, and what that means for which vendors you commit to today What Jason actually looks for when investing right now (hint: one thing)

What if the same psychology that threat actors use to manipulate their targets is the same psychology that marketers use to earn your trust?  In this episode, Ron sits down with Antu Buck, Senior Director of Customer Marketing & Community at Gigamon, who spent two decades building trust between vendors and the practitioners who use their tools.  Antu walks us through the three pillars she's built her career around, and makes the case that advocacy shouldn't be an afterthought, but the very first marketing move a company invests in. The conversation lands on something the community doesn't talk about enough: customer marketing is hard to put a number on, so it consistently loses the budget fight to demand gen.  Impactful Moments 00:00 - Introduction 02:15 - Myth Buster: "I don't fall for marketing tactics" 04:15 - Meet Antu Buck, Senior Director of Customer Marketing & Community at Gigamon 06:45 - From cold-calling BDR to customer marketing leader 09:40 - Antu's three pillars: advocacy, community, lifecycle management 13:05 - Why customer advocacy is the most underrated pillar 14:40 - The problem with chasing the CISO 16:40 - From transactional selling to relationship building 17:20 - The cold call that became a lifelong champion 20:20 - Are threat actors borrowing tactics from sales and marketing? 23:00 - Why AI tools are off-limits with customer data 27:50 - Why customer marketing loses the budget fight Links Antu Buck on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antu-buck/ –  Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com Become a sponsor of the show: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

Summary In this episode, Chad Burmeister interviews David Kilzer, an engineer with 50 years of experience in automating operations. They discuss the transformative impact of AI on sales and customer experience, the misconceptions surrounding AI, and the ethical considerations that come with its implementation. David emphasizes the importance of an open mindset for leveraging AI effectively and shares insights on the future of AI in various industries. The conversation also touches on the skills needed to thrive in an AI-driven world and concludes with David's work in helping engineers and salespeople collaborate on innovative solutions. Takeaways AI enhances the customer experience by enabling detailed research before conversations. Salespeople must value the time of their clients and present solutions effectively. AI levels the playing field for smaller firms against larger consulting firms. Humans possess the unique ability to imagine beyond AI's capabilities. Misconceptions about AI taking jobs stem from a lack of understanding of its role. AI can help automate dangerous and dull jobs, enhancing productivity. The future of AI is optimistic, with potential improvements in quality of life. Different AI tools excel in various areas, necessitating a tailored approach. Ethical considerations in AI require transparency in decision-making processes. An open mindset is crucial for leveraging AI to its fullest potential. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in Sales and Engineering 02:16 AI Transforming Customer Experience 08:59 The Future of AI in Business 10:40 Misconceptions About AI 13:55 AI's Impact on Workforce Dynamics 17:37 Emerging AI Technologies 20:21 Ethical Considerations in AI 23:50 Skill Sets for the Future of Work The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Most outbound motions are built the same way: build a big list, blast everyone, hope something converts. It doesn't work anymore — and Regan and Luigibreak down exactly why.In this episode, they unpack the modern outbound motion they're building at CoachPilot — how they monitor 2,200 companies in real time, narrow their active prospect list down to 292 trigger-based targets, and why a cold call with no meeting booked is never actually a failed attempt.This is one of the most tactical episodes Revenue Leaders has recorded — no frameworks, no theory, just the exact system they're running right now.What you'll learn:→ Why blasting your full ICP list is the fastest way to destroy your conversion rate→ How to use firmographic and technographic filters to find your top 50 in-market prospects→ The trigger-based prospecting system that monitors 2,200 companies and surfaces 292 active targets→ Why a failed cold call is still a win — and how to extract value from every touch→ The relationship funnel that runs parallel to your outbound motion and closes deals before the first call→ The human-nonhuman touch framework that builds trust invisibly over months→ Why AI-generated outreach is getting easier to spot — and the one tell that kills credibility instantly→ The manual step you should never automate no matter how good your tools get→ Why outbound will always be the dominant lead channel even in a world of inbound and events→ How to build a trigger waterfall specific to your industry and ICPIf you're an AE, BDR, or sales leader and your outbound isn't converting — this is the episode that changes how you prospect.

The Future of Human Connection in the Digital Age In this episode, Sunil Rao discusses the evolving landscape of digital communication and what truly remains valuable in a world headed toward automation. Discover how genuine human interactions will continue to be essential despite technological advances. Key Topics The impending decline of traditional email and phone calls as communication tools The increasing commoditization and affordability of digital touchpoints Why human connections remain irreplaceable in business and personal relationships The surprising resilience of sales roles amid automation The importance of authentic conversations and eye contact in building trust Predictions for the future of digital communication and human interaction Timestamps: 00:00 - The diminishing viability of email and automated phone calls 00:24 - The commoditization of digital touchpoints and their impact 00:45 - Why human connections are more important than ever 01:10 - The unexpected longevity of sales roles despite automation 01:35 - The value of eye contact and genuine conversations 02:00 - Future trends in communication technology and human interaction 02:30 - How to focus on authentic engagement in a tech-driven world The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

According to Corporate Visions, 74% of buyers say they faced too many competing options in their last major purchase decision, and instead of selecting a vendor, they just checked out entirely, gave up, and moved on. So, how do you create a buying experience that makes those decisions feel easy? Riley Rogers: Hi, and welcome to the Win/Win Podcast. I’m your host, Riley Rogers. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. Here to discuss this are senior enablement program manager Lisa Monahan and account executive Madison Leatham from Pluralsight. Thank you guys for joining us. I’m super excited to talk through this topic with you. I’d love to just hear a little bit about yourself, background, and role. So Lisa, wanna kick us off? Lisa Monahan: Yeah, absolutely. My name’s Lisa Monahan. I live in the suburbs of Austin, Texas, and I’ve been at Pluralsight two and a half years, and I’ve been in enablement for, I guess that’s coming up on four years now. I currently serve our go-to-market tech stack from a strategy and execution standpoint, and that is where I learned about everything I know and love about Highspot. So big Highspot fangirl here. Happy to be here. RR: Amazing. We’re happy to have you here. Madison, can you tell me a little bit about you? Madison Leatham: Yeah, of course. Happy to. I am based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and I am an account executive on the public sector team here at Pluralsight. I started out as a BDR on the public sector team, eventually moved into a manager role, where I led the same team that I started on as a BDR, as well as our team in Australia, and then more recently became an account executive supporting our higher education partnerships specifically. RR: I can’t wait to dig into all of this wonderful work and experience that you guys have, and then all the complexity and challenges that kind of come with that. So Lisa, I’d love if you could set the stage for us: who Pluralsight is, what you do, who you serve, all that goodness. LM: Absolutely. And Madison, I’m gonna ask you to keep me honest, ’cause I’d love from a seller’s perspective how you would change my pitch. But we are an online learning and workforce development platform serving businesses and individuals alike with on-demand courses, hands-on labs, and skill assessments that help bridge the skill gaps in areas like AI, cybersecurity, and software development, and so on. RR: With that context in mind, I think I’d like to jump into what that world of work kind of looks like today. So Madison, from a sales perspective — BDR and AE roles, managerial roles, helping BDRs succeed — you’ve kind of seen it all. When we look at where we are today versus where things were when you started, what’s changed most about selling over the last few years, and where do you see sellers still struggling the most? ML: So just to talk about both sides of it, starting with prospecting, there’s definitely more of an expectation of personalization and effort. The spray and pray tactics just don’t work. People are a lot more risk-averse. They’re just more busy. You have to do something different to really cut through the noise, prove that you’ve done your homework, and that you deserve their time just based on the research that you’ve done. So finding ways to do something different is always a challenge. It takes more time. I think personally prospecting and getting your foot in the door is really the hardest it’s ever been. And on the selling side, this might not be really new news, but they say it takes a lot more people to decide on purchasing a product nowadays. You’ll see different studies saying different things, but they all just show how the buying group has jumped up in numbers, so there’s a lot more need for collaboration on both sides of the fence for communicating the value to different stakeholders that might have different goals. And then I’d say multi-threading, getting in front of decision-makers is just consistently one of the most challenging aspects. Sometimes it’s tricky because you wanna keep the relationship strong with your main point of contact, not overstep, but you wanna make sure that the value is still being communicated and the pain points are still being properly uncovered and discussed. And you kind of lose control of that when you’re just relying on one person. So I really see that across all the AEs I’ve talked to, all the AEs on my team, that need to multi-thread and how tricky it can be to communicate that value across different stakeholders and throughout the buying group. RR: So it sounds like there are a lot of challenges out there, and it’s a fine line to walk when it comes to balancing your initial point of contact and then doing all of the work that makes a deal successful. Thinking specifically about the AE challenges that now you in this new role are facing, in your day-to-day, some of these things that we talked about, what would you say is most difficult for you when you’re working deals and trying to keep things moving forward? ML: Just visibility into what matters to those fringe stakeholders. So when I say fringe stakeholders, the ones that you know have some sway, but you don’t have that direct contact with. Maybe they join one call, and they were off camera. And then just trying to figure out how do their goals align with the solution? How can I make sure it’s not just that game of telephone, that everyone understands the vision of the solution and the implementation of the solution so that we can really start to focus on aligning the logistics and next steps. So I’d say it’s just being able to get clear communication and more visibility and more people involved to really get those discussions, give them a little bit more oomph and value with each person that has some sway in the deal. RR: Yeah, because if you can’t find those fringe stakeholders, you’ll kind of go sideways, and you lose the momentum that you spent all that time building. One thing that’s funny here, Lisa, are you taking notes? LM: I am. This is on the fly, and I’m like: “Oh, this is so interesting to learn.” RR: You’re sitting here taking notes, hearing these challenges, and being like, “Hmm, how do these fit into my programs? How can I support this?” So when you’re hearing challenges like this from the field, how do you start thinking about solving them? LM: So it’s about making sure that the field is empowered with the tools that can really help them do that deep, intelligent research so that they can speak to the needs and the pain points of these accounts. It can’t just be this very generic as you said at the start of the call spray and pray. It can’t be that anymore, and we know that to be a fact. So it’s ensuring that they have the tools available to them, but also knowing all the different ways that those tools can work with them, not against them, so that it can be simplified. One of the biggest things I care about is reducing tool swivel, making sure that it’s easy for them to get as much done in one place without feeling exhausted by having to go from Gemini to LinkedIn Sales Navigator to Highspot. So trying to make sure it’s as simplified as possible. RR: Having that conversation of swivel chairing has changed so much over the last year. Now there are so many different AI tools that you can layer in, and somehow it seems like the number of tools has shot up. So making it simple is almost harder than ever and a bigger priority than ever. Today, what are you prioritizing, Lisa, to help sellers break through? What’s new? What are you working on to help them cut through that noise and engage buyers effectively? LM: Definitely AI at every step right now, because as you just mentioned, every tool that we use has some level of AI, and making sure that they understand which one is the best one to use in what workflow, in what step: prospecting, outreach, anything like that. So really working hard. And as you said, it feels like the functionality is changing so much right now that I feel like every half day, my strategy of how we’re going to market with AI for our sellers changes. RR: Yeah, and I love that point of utilizing a tool to its fullest. You invest in these things, you need them to work for you. And one of the things that over the years you’ve spoken extensively about is using Digital Rooms as part of the way of simplifying the buyer journey, making it easier to engage your buyers, and then, to your earlier point, Madison, track what’s interesting to them, track who’s in there. So Lisa, with that being a key part of your strategy, can you walk us through why you leaned into that approach? LM: When I was previously at SAP Concur, Digital Rooms were such a huge part of their strategy that they had an entire team dedicated to that. And so when I was there supporting Highspot, I actually didn’t have an opportunity to touch it. It felt like this really powerful feature that seemed unattainable to me. And then when I came to Pluralsight and I was rolling it out here, I had to very quickly learn Digital Rooms, and I have to admit, I was intimidated because of the way that it was handled at my previous employer. But once I came here, I was like, “Oh, it’s actually super easy.” Digital Rooms are very easy to use. It takes just a few minutes to customize one. And what I think is really important about Digital Rooms is what Madison was saying earlier, we don’t have a lot of opportunities to break through and stand out right now. You can send a link to something, you can add an attachment to an email, but being able to build out this very personalized space like a Digital Room, and share highly specific material that reflects the conversations that you’ve had with these accounts, that to me is a huge selling point and why Digital Rooms are so important to have in the seller workflow right now. RR: I would be curious, Madison, because you’ve been here, you’ve traveled through the BDR to AE journey, and trialed all of these different processes at different stages of the sales cycle. From your experience hearing about this Digital Room strategy and thinking about how it shows up in your day-to-day, what kind of changed for you when you started using Digital Rooms? Did you notice a difference in some of those challenges that you talked about earlier? ML: I’ve used it on both the BDR level and the AE level, and it was really cool to see BDRs start to really lean into this because you’re really bringing that research to the prospect. You’re distilling down what aspects of the solution might be the most impactful, and then you put it in a Digital Room, you wrap it in a bow, and then you send it out. And it was cool to have the BDRs get involved with this because when you come in as a BDR, you’re typically newer in sales, newer to the product, and you’re still learning the best way to pitch it. So that was a little bonus from leveraging the Digital Rooms, getting the BDRs to start to really read the one-pagers, learn about the different capabilities so that they could use that in their pitches. And then, yeah, it’s a good way to stand out. If you’ve mentioned that you’ve made a custom Digital Room for someone, it could really pique some curiosity, and it also shows that you put in that work. And so I really think that this changed the mindset as well to really recognize that we need to deliver value even in those initial touch points, and that just gave us a way to do that. And then as an AE, to pivot: I always make a Digital Room for my primary contact. Even if it’s just a quick conversation, a really small team, no matter what, I’ll say it’s for them to reference and also for them to share out with their team. So I think it’s an easy ask for them to just share a link internally, and then all the relevant resources are there on their end. I’ll add custom content as well, any slide decks or proposals, so that it’s not just on my contact’s shoulders to consolidate all the information and try to share it out or create a business case. Everything is right there for them to really just be better at doing that internal selling. Because that’s what it comes down to: how well can you communicate the value to your main point of contact so that they can do it to the fringe stakeholders? RR: I love the story of selling as a game of telephone because you have enablement that needs to help your BDRs be successful, and this Digital Room helps them learn the ropes. And Lisa, I’m assuming you’ve built templates that kind of already explain that narrative. So as a BDR sending that out, they’re also getting enabled a little bit. And then on the other side, you have you as an AE working with a point of contact, telling them a story that maybe as it goes through the works internally gets a little garbled, but now you have control over the fact that it doesn’t. I like that it’s a solution to that very tangled web. I would be curious: you spoke about the alignment element. How are you using things like engagement data, the buyer signals that come out of a Digital Room, to shape what you do next? ML: Good question. In the BDR role, we could track to see if the Digital Room was being viewed. A lot of the times in BDR, you can go a long period of time just sending things into the abyss and not knowing if people are even seeing them or reading them. So with the Digital Room, sending a link instead of that radio silence, you’re able to at least see if they’re clicking into the Digital Room, and then see if there are specific things that they are clicking on within it, which could help guide other outreach. That’s really valuable. On the AE side, from sending out a Digital Room, I can see what’s being downloaded and what’s being viewed, so I can leverage that when prepping for upcoming calls as well. It’s really great information to see what’s getting the attention, and it can help guide my prep. RR: One thing that comes up as you’re talking about these different use case: I’d be curious how you, especially as a solo enabler building this a little bit from the ground up, identified what those Digital Room templates specific teams needed, and then how you started thinking about building a structure that is useful to both your teams and the people that they’re engaging with. LM: That’s a great question. I started with the existing teams that already had it: our pre-sales team. Because of the full relaunch of Highspot, a lot of things were out of our brand scope. So I started with the team that was already using it, rebuilt their templates to reflect the brand standards, and then began working with sellers to understand what they wanted in these new templates. So, aligning very quickly around a simple, easy-to-use quick Digital Room, but then a full one where they could add demos and one-pagers, sections pre-built for all of that. But they would be plugging all that in based on the conversations they’ve had with their accounts. Also, preloading customer stories in there so that it didn’t just go out there with nothing, it already came included with how we’ve helped other customers as well. As it’s evolved, I have a really strong connection with the entire field, and they always come to me when there’s a need for a new template. But that’s how I worked with them. I worked with product marketing to make sure that all of our solutions were in line, that it aligned with brand guidelines, and then it’s just been an ever-evolving process since then. RR: So it really is a very cross-functional process. You’ve got the right message, the right content, it’s structured in the way that sellers like and would use, and then ultimately it drives that engagement that Madison, you’re using to continue progressing your deal. I think that’s one of the things that’s kind of hard sometimes when people are thinking about getting started with Digital Rooms: “Okay, I have a blank Smart Page. What do I put on here? What is useful?” So I think that’s really helpful information. Kind of switching gears a little bit, Madison, can you share a specific example, maybe a recent deal where you used a Digital Room to move a conversation forward, deepen a relationship, or catch a risk, where it was really key and you were like, “Oh, I’m glad I have this”? ML: Yes. Just for some background, we have a solution package called AI Academy, which is this end-to-end program for AI literacy across the organization. It’s not always what we start on when entering into the conversation (our core product might be the point of focus) but I will always put a one-pager on AI Academy in the Digital Room, even if it wasn’t part of that initial conversation. So I actually have an upcoming call with a customer for a follow-up on a deal focused on our core product. And I saw that they had clicked on the AI Academy one-pager in the Digital Room several times, so I know I’m going to prep some questions around their AI goals, make sure I get my pitch perfect for AI Academy, make sure that’s really sharp, and then determine if that solution would be a fit for them during this call. And that was all guided by them clicking on that one-pager so many times, and I would get a notification every time in my email that they had clicked on it, which is always a good dopamine hit. And then another example is a pricing model that we’ll share over a deck during a call, and I had put it in a Digital Room. It was custom to this prospect, and I noticed it was downloaded from the Digital Room, and I got sent that email. I reached out right away right after I got that email I sent a tailored follow-up email, and they were like, “Oh my gosh, you’re a mind reader.” So that was fun. I let them think that. RR: Yeah. It’s a fine balance between “Ah, this helped me fuel my strategy,” and “I feel a little creepy,” but that’s okay. I love those examples, particularly that first one with that cross-sell element, where you would never have known that interest was there otherwise. And so it’s very helpful for you to deepen that relationship, go a little bit further with the opportunity and where you thought it might take you. So that’s super cool to hear. And Lisa, I hope good for you to hear, too, just seeing all the different minute ways that this shows up in a specific deal. I know you see the impact in the usage data, in the adoption data, but here it is in a specific deal, how well it works. Looking across this time where you came in, started rebuilding to now, what impact have you seen across the business since rolling Digital Rooms out, and what are you looking at to tell that it’s working? LM: Well, metrics aside, I’m able to tell that if I ever had to step out for a business month, Madison would be able to run all my Highspot trainings on my behalf and sell Digital Rooms so that’s an impact right there that makes me feel better. But from the start of me entering Pluralsight and relaunching Highspot, we’ve seen an 81% increase in creation of external shares. We’ve also seen a 147% increase in external view time in that same time period, and we’re averaging about 17 views per external share. So the uptick has been massive, and people are engaging with the content that we’re sharing. And also, I continually hear feedback from sellers they come to me and say, “Look at what I built.” A side note from all of that: the fact that I have people who are championing the use of Digital Rooms even when I’m not in the room shows me that it’s had an impact. RR: Yeah, that it’s not behavior change you’re driving. It’s a useful strategy that you’ve handed over and they’ve just run with. I love that 147% increase in buyer view time stat, not only because that’s great for the business, but also because it speaks to one of the challenges you mentioned at the very top, Madison: earning attention. You’re asking for people’s time. You need to put the work in to show that “I’m not wasting your time. I’m giving you something valuable.” And that engagement has shot up so much tells you that your buyers are feeling that, they’re seeing, “This is something built for me, and it’s worth my time to engage,” which is always what you’re looking for. And Lisa, to the point of solving the hard problems and giving sellers what they need, sounds like you’ve done it. I would love to hear a little bit about how you did it. As we’re kind of closing out, I want to hear from both of you on some of the really actionable things that listeners can take away and start doing. So when you were spearheading this rollout and reinforcement process of Digital Rooms, what was your approach? LM: I began working initially with a person who was, at the time, overseeing Digital Rooms for the pre-sales team. I wanted to understand what ownership looked like, what the structure she already had in place looked like, and how we could work together as opposed to me just taking this away from her. So she’s still an avid contributor to Digital Rooms for her org. And beyond that, it was working to very closely align new templates with the branding and making sure that it reflected the Pluralsight that we want to go to market with. That was probably the biggest one. But then I would say the Highspot relaunch in 2024 was a three-phase process: the content side showing them the new structure, the second part was pitching, and the grand finale was Digital Rooms. And that was a full live training where I walked everyone through. And I would say that beyond just that grand finale of showing everyone what Digital Rooms were and how to build them, it was the support mechanism on the back end that I think has made them so successful, and that would include this Digital Rooms Play I’ve built. I think it’s probably the most viewed Play on Highspot at this time, where it has an overview of what Digital Rooms are, why they’re different from pitches, how they’re different from pitches, use cases for different roles, and then showing them different use cases even beyond that. So if I’m a CSM, I can share events with them, I can share renewals and pricing and everything there as well. But I would say I also have a biweekly office hours for Highspot, where I allow people to just come in and ask any questions and that has been widely, widely used. And the final thing is that Highspot and Digital Rooms have a full hour dedicated to it in all revenue onboarding cohorts. Everyone gets an hour with me, and I spend 10 or 15 minutes showing them the platform, but then I stop sharing my screen and re-engage everybody eye to eye. And I tell them a story similar to what Madison said, I engage them by saying, “When was the last time as a seller you sent a really important pitch or pricing documentation over to someone as an attachment via email, and you have no idea what happened to it after you hit send?” And that’s how I get their interest, and I begin to deliver the value of what you can get by using Digital Rooms, the analytics that are a game changer. So that’s how I position it in revenue onboarding and make sure that it’s sticky with them. Then we go through the process of building one. They all have one after that training is over, and then they know all the support mechanisms that exist on the back end after that. Just continual support. RR: Having seen said Digital Rooms Play, I have to plus one that strategy. It’s beautiful, and I don’t know if anyone can build as nice a Smart Page. But what I would say is that it is very challenging, I think, to be a rep and be handed a Digital Room and told — even with a template — “Figure it out.” But having such a structured process of what it can look like, what it can do for you, and how you really get there is so helpful, and I imagine a very useful tactic that anybody starting to launch Digital Rooms or thinking about launching Digital Rooms should put in practice. So plus one-ing that. LM: Yeah. And if I may add, I make sure that even in all the trainings I’m like, “This is yours. This is your jumping off point. Take it, make it whatever you need it to be. I’m here for support, but this is your jumping off point.” Because I don’t know the best thing that works for my accounts at the end of the day. My sellers need to be able to be very adaptable and creative, and I don’t wanna take that juice from them because that may be the thing that makes or breaks their usage of this feature. RR: And because you’ve given them the skills and you’ve really built that foundation, you know that when you give them the keys to the castle, they’re gonna do the right thing with it. One last thing on the topic of launching. When you look back at this process, was there anything that you were like, “This worked really well,” and anything that you were like, “Maybe I would’ve done that differently”? LM: The relaunch happened in four months. That was a full content audit of the entire platform burning everything down, rebuilding it, and also learning Digital Rooms. So I wish I’d had maybe even just one more week to get a little bit more comfortable ahead of that Digital Rooms training. That’s just a personal one. But even to this day, I wish I had more people contributing to the templates, because I don’t ever wanna feel like I’m the gatekeeper there, but I kind of by accident have become. So ideally in the future, I would love to make sure that I have other parties, even our product marketing team, involved in creating those so that there’s more proactive, not reactive, template creation. As opposed to, “Oh, we just launched a new solution, I need to get a new template made,” it could already be ready to go with the new solution launch as well. RR: So it’s giving yourself the right amount of time, creating thoughtfully, bringing in all the people who can inform them, make them as good as possible. That’s great advice. As we’re thinking about building, Madison, as somebody who’s always in the weeds with these, and to your point, you make one for every main stakeholder in every deal, you probably know better than most what a good Digital Room looks like versus a not-so-good one. So when you’re talking to new BDRs or other sellers who are just getting started with Digital Rooms, what do you share as what good looks like? ML: Well, first, I am very grateful that Lisa gave us all keys to the castle. I’m trying to make sure that I don’t abuse those, because I do love just being able to play around with it as much as I possibly can. What I can share, and I’m always looking to improve how I’m doing it as well, some things that I will always do: I’ll always put the logo of the organization at the top of the Digital Room. That’s a given. It really doesn’t take very long, and I like that personal touch with every single one. And then I group sections together so it’s not an overwhelming dump of resources. And I’ll make sure to put my bio at the top just a quick note that sounds pretty personal, but is something that I can easily swap out names on so I’m not spending a lot of time crafting a different message for every single Digital Room. I’ll put my scheduling link at the top, and then just for the sake of time, because I do wanna send a Digital Room out to every single person I talk to I’ll just copy the last Digital Room I created and edit it a little bit to customize. I just think that it’s more important to be consistent with it than to take a lot of time to build it out super custom. So find a way that works for you where it seems really custom, but it’s more or less just copied and pasted with a few things changed, because you wanna be able to get them out. You don’t wanna drop that part of your process. And then it’s nice that as the deal progresses, you can always edit and add along the way it adds a reason to reach out, another touch point. Even today I told someone, “Hey, I just added this one-pager to the Digital Room. I think that you might find this interesting in your conversations” don’t forget to have them internally and tell people about Pluralsight. So that’s always helpful too it can continuously evolve as a deal evolves. RR: Yeah. That’s such a good approach copy the previous one because it saves you so much time. But then you strike a good balance between keeping your deal progressing, still giving attention to all of the other million things on your to-do list, but also giving that gesture of, as a buyer, my time and my attention to give you something more custom. And I also like the point that as the deal progresses, as the conversation continues, it’s gonna become more and more customized, and so that thing that began perhaps a little bit copy and paste is eventually going to become something tailored and 100% unique to this buyer. Great tips there that anyone starting with Digital Rooms can use for their very first one. That is Digital Rooms packaged up in one big life cycle from the enablement to sales perspective, how you built it, how it shows up in the field. That’s incredible. The Pluralsight team never fails to amaze us. You guys are doing such incredible work, and I love hearing how it shows up for you, Madison, because Lisa, we’ve heard the journey the last two years, and seeing the conclusion of it is so cool. Thank you both so much for joining me and telling me a little bit more about it. It was so fun to hear about what’s hard, what you’re figuring out, and how it’s working for you guys. LM: Thank you so much for having us. ML: Yeah, it was great. RR: To our listeners, thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Win/Win Podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize go-to-market success with Highspot.

Summary In this episode of the AI for Sales podcast, Chad Burmeister speaks with Hussain Al-Sharafa, founder and CEO of Revic AI, about the evolving landscape of sales productivity through AI. They discuss the importance of understanding customer pain points, the role of context over mere signals, and how AI can streamline sales processes. Hussein shares insights on integrating AI into existing workflows, the future of AI in sales, and emerging tools that enhance productivity. The conversation emphasizes the need for sales teams to focus on the right accounts and leverage AI to improve efficiency and effectiveness in their strategies. Takeaways Sellers win when they understand a customer's pain and priorities deeply. Context beats signals; understanding the why is crucial. Sales productivity is about doing less but doing it right. AI can synthesize data points to provide actionable insights. More activity does not equate to better results in sales. Sales teams should focus on accounts where they have a competitive edge. Integrating AI into existing workflows enhances sales efficiency. The future of sales will rely on understanding customer context. AI can help salespeople return to their core job: talking to customers. Emerging AI tools are transforming how sales teams operate. Chapters 00:00 Understanding Sales in 2026 02:04 The Core Principles of Revic AI 05:36 Aligning Revenue Strategy and Execution 09:36 The Role of AI in Sales Productivity 13:13 Delivering Insights to Sales Teams 16:53 AI Misconceptions and the Future of Work 20:36 The Evolution of AI in Sales 24:22 Innovations in AI Tools and Technologies The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this episode, Chad Burmeister speaks with Josh Hill, VP of HR at Tier 11 and co-founder of Super Hired and Super Trained, about the transformative role of AI in recruitment and employee experience. They discuss how AI can enhance the hiring process, the importance of understanding employee needs, and the necessity of a human-led approach in AI interactions. Josh emphasizes the need for a bespoke recruitment process that considers the unique context of both candidates and companies, and the importance of building trust in AI technologies. Takeaways AI enhances employee experience by providing insights into their needs. Recruitment should focus on first principles to understand candidates better. AI can be a powerful tool but must be used intentionally. The recruitment process is often flawed due to surface-level data. Candidates need to feel valued and engaged during the hiring process. Human connection is essential in AI-driven recruitment. Trust in AI is crucial for effective candidate interactions. Recruiters are evolving into multifaceted roles, including career coaching. Understanding emotional nuances is key to successful hiring. The future of recruitment lies in innovative, human-led technologies. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in Sales and HR 02:47 The Role of AI in Enhancing Employee Experience 05:29 AI as a Tool for Recruitment and Discovery 08:34 The Importance of First Principles in Hiring 10:46 Challenges in Traditional Recruitment Processes 13:33 Innovative Approaches to Candidate Engagement 16:36 The Human Element in AI-Driven Recruitment 19:19 Building Trust and Value in AI Interactions 22:04 Future Technologies in Recruitment 24:43 Conclusion and Key Takeaways The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

What happens to all those leads marketing works so hard to generate? More often than not, they go cold. According to Nishi Seth, Industry & Solutions Marketing Lead for Google Cloud APAC, this isn't a niche problem. It's one of the most persistent challenges across B2B, regardless of company size or sophistication. In this episode, Shahin sits down with Nishi to unpack the real reasons leads stall between marketing and sales, from qualification gaps to missing context, and what it actually takes to fix them. Nishi shares battle-tested lessons from scaling Google Cloud's marketing-to-sales motion across APAC, including how AI is transforming BDR productivity right now. Guest Introduction Nishi Seth is the Industry & Solutions Marketing Lead for Google Cloud APAC at Google, with over 20 years of experience across cloud technology, financial services, and travel. She has held senior marketing roles at American Express and British Airways, and is a recognised B2B marketing leader across the Asia-Pacific region. Key Topics Why leads go cold: the two root causes (qualification gaps and context gaps) and why even the most sophisticated B2B organisations struggle with themThe three pillars of an optimised marketing-to-sales handover: lead quality, context, and a continuous review and feedback loopWhy BDRs are the critical bridge between marketing and sales, and how to assess whether your BDR function is actually workingHow MQL definitions should evolve over time: Google Cloud's journey from basic demographic scoring to 48+ real-time intent signals, including account-level qualificationWhat providing context to BDRs really means: enablement calls, campaign-specific opening scripts, and cadences tailored to how each lead engagedThe key metrics that reveal handover health: SAL acceptance rates, SAL-to-SQL conversion, number of outreach touches, and lead velocityHow AI is changing BDR productivity: using automation for low-intent lead follow-up, real-time AI assistants during live sales calls, and AI-powered account research at scaleNishi's rapid-fire take: "strong opinions, loosely held," using AI to boost your own marketing productivity, and why simplifying complexity in B2B is what excites her most Resources & Links Google Cloud — Nishi's base for all real-world examples discussed, from MQL definition evolution to AI-powered BDR toolingGoogle Gemini — Nishi's go-to research tool in place of following influencers; she also used it to prepare for this episode Contact & Credits Host: Shahin Hoda Guest: Nishi Seth Produced by: Shahin Hoda and Alexander Hipwell Edited by: Alexander Hipwell Music by: Breakmaster Cylinder APAC's B2B Growth Podcast is Presented by xGrowth

Summary In this episode of the AI for Sales podcast, Chad Burmeister interviews Mark Walker, CEO of Nue, discussing the transformative impact of AI on sales processes, customer experiences, and the evolution of CPQ systems. They explore the role of agentic AI, ethical considerations in AI deployment, and the skills necessary for professionals in the AI landscape. Mark shares insights on how AI is reshaping customer behavior, enhancing self-service capabilities, and the importance of balancing technology with human interaction. Takeaways AI is changing customer behavior and expectations. Generative AI allows for more sophisticated self-service environments. CPQ is evolving into a broader revenue lifecycle management process. Agentic AI can perform tasks traditionally done by humans, often more efficiently. Building trust with customers takes time and meaningful interaction. Security is a top priority when implementing AI solutions. Understanding and utilizing AI tools is essential for modern professionals. Ethical considerations are crucial in AI deployment. AI can enhance communication and summarization in team settings. The landscape of AI is rapidly evolving, requiring continuous learning and adaptation. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in Sales 01:12 AI's Impact on Customer Experience 04:11 Case Studies in AI Deployment 06:43 Understanding CPQ and Its Evolution 10:03 The Role of Agentic AI 13:24 Balancing AI and Human Interaction 17:30 Ethical Considerations in AI 19:53 Skills for the Future of AI The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Most people think revenue leadership begins after product-market fit. Rob Witmer joined Onyx Security before there was a finished product, before the company emerged from stealth, and before the market fully understood the problem they were solving.In this episode, Rob shares what revenue leadership looks like when you're employee number 11 and the first go-to-market hire. We unpack how he approached the first 30, 60, and 90 days, why experienced sales leaders can create leverage long before a company reaches its first million dollars in revenue, and how close alignment between product and go-to-market execution accelerated Onyx's growth.Rob explains how the team validated market demand for AI-agent security, how they handled customer objections when the category was still emerging, and why transparency became a competitive advantage when selling as an early-stage company. He also shares the characteristics he looks for when hiring early-stage sellers, why recruiting is one of the most important responsibilities in revenue leadership, and how speed and low-friction execution became core principles inside Onyx.The conversation also explores the realities of scaling a cybersecurity company in a rapidly changing market, the influence of Israeli startup culture on execution speed, and why outcomes matter more than features when communicating value to customers.The Cyber Go-To-Market Talk is the show for cybersecurity sales leaders, founders, CROs, and go-to-market operators looking to improve cyber sales performance and build more predictable revenue growth. Hosted by Andrew Monaghan, founder of Unstoppable.do, covering cyber sales leadership, revenue leadership, sales onboarding, forecasting, pipeline generation, and cybersecurity go-to-market execution.About the guest: Rob Witmer is in his 26th year in software, roughly 20 of them as an individual contributor before moving into leadership. He was Onyx Security's first go-to-market hire, joining as employee 11 while the company was still in stealth.Notable quotes:"I was the first BDR, the first sales rep, the first operations guy, I was the first product manager.""Microsoft did more for AI agents than anyone else out there.""We want to be known as the easiest company to do business with."Chapters (approx.):00:00 — Joining Onyx as employee 1103:31 — Why early CISO reactions were humbling07:07 — How Microsoft flipped the agent market16:33 — Why hire an experienced sales leader this early22:44 — The three traits to look for28:49 — Differentiating in the noisiest market35:14 — Tim Youngblood and the people process Support the showThe Cyber Go-To-Market Talk is the show for cybersecurity sales leaders, founders, CROs, and go-to-market operators looking to improve cyber sales performance and build more predictable revenue growth. Hosted by Andrew Monaghan, founder of Unstoppable.do, covering cyber sales leadership, revenue leadership, sales onboarding, forecasting, pipeline generation, and cybersecurity go-to-market execution.Follow me on LinkedIn for regular posts about growing your cybersecurity startupWant to grow your revenue faster? Check out my cybersecurity sales consulting and trainingNeed ideas about how to grow your pipeline? Sign up for my newsletter.

Comment vous démarquer face à vos concurrents quand le produit, la promesse et le prix sont similaires ?J'ai invité Julia Thor, account executive chez 360 Learning qui a démarré comme BDR pendant près de 3 ans, avant de passer account executive il y a un an. Elle atteint ses objectifs depuis le début et signe des deals complexes même dans un contexte difficile.Dans cet épisode, elle partage les compétences qui font la différence dans son closing :1. La capacité à identifier les vrais problèmes d'un prospect : quand on vend une plateforme, la tentation est de tout montrer pour impressionner. Julia fait l'inverse : elle écoute les calls de qualification des BDR avant chaque démo, identifie les vrais pains du prospect, pour faire une démo chirurgicale.2. L'authenticité : à compétences et produits similaires, ce qui fait souvent la différence, c'est la qualité de la relation qu'on construit. Julia raconte un deal qu'elle a signé où sa capacité à construire de bonnes relations avec ses prospects lui a permis de récupérer des informations décisives, impossibles à obtenir autrement, qui ont fait basculer le deal en sa faveur.Ce que vous allez apprendre :Pourquoi passer par la case BDR permet de faire partie des meilleurs commerciaux ?Comment écouter les calls de qualification des BDR pour faire une démo de qualité ?La méthode pour faire une démo chirurgicaleComment relancer un prospect sans le braquer ?Pourquoi l'authenticité crée un niveau de confiance que les méthodes de vente seules ne permettent pas ?Comment s'adapter à son interlocuteur sans perdre sa personnalité ?Le bon équilibre entre rationalité (méthode) et émotionnel (relation) dans la venteUn épisode pour les account executives, les Heads of sales et les fondateurs qui veulent se démarquer dans leurs conversations.▬▬▬▬▬Où retrouver Julia Thor - LinkedIn : ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-thor/Où me retrouver - LinkedIn : ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/laetitiafall/⁠Formation Closing OS : ⁠https://formation.vendue.fr/⁠▬▬▬▬▬Soutenez l'émission ❤Abonnez-vous

AI agents are not just changing sales tools. They are changing the job of the seller.In this episode, John sits down with Kris Billmaier, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Agentforce Sales and Growth Products at Salesforce, to talk about Agentforce, headless software, AI-native sales workflows, and what happens when sellers start managing teams of agents.If you are in sales, sales leadership, enablement, or GTM strategy, this episode gives you a practical look at where humans still matter, how agents can support pipeline and qualification, and why AI adoption needs clear use cases, measurement, and training.Want to stay ahead of where sales are heading next? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.What You'll LearnWhy product-led growth is moving toward agent-led growthHow Salesforce is thinking about headless software and conversation-first AIWhy AI-first SaaS is not just a front-end feature or branding exerciseHow agents are changing SDR and BDR work at SalesforceWhy successful AI adoption starts with a narrow use case and a real training planWhat sellers need to become as agent teams take on more busy workKris Billmaier is Executive Vice President and General Manager of Agentforce Sales and Growth Products at Salesforce, where he leads the product strategy and vision for Agentforce Sales. With more than 20 years of experience across productivity software, search, and enterprise technology, Kris has launched category-defining products, scaled startups, and is now building a future where agents and sellers work together to grow revenue.Connect with Kris Billmaier:Website: https://www.salesforce.com/ap/Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisbillmaier/John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.Connect with John Barrows:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrowsCheck out John's Membership: https://go.jbarrows.com/Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

Summary In this engaging conversation, Chad Burmeister and Steve Brown explore the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on various aspects of life and work. They discuss the concept of augmented intelligence, the empowering nature of AI, and how it is reshaping customer experiences. The dialogue delves into the emergence of AI agents as digital employees, the importance of adapting to new technologies, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI deployment. Steve emphasizes the need for individuals to invest in their own AI skills and humanity to remain relevant in the evolving job landscape. The conversation concludes with a call for broader discussions on the future of AI and its governance. Takeaways AI should be viewed as augmented intelligence, not a replacement. AI empowers individuals to perform tasks more efficiently. There's an ongoing arms race between buyers and sellers using AI. AI agents can serve as digital employees for various tasks. Individuals need to adapt and become managers of AI tools. Investing in AI skills is crucial for job security. Human skills like negotiation and relationship-building remain vital. AI can enhance creativity and decision-making capabilities. Collaboration between humans and AI can lead to innovative solutions. Ethical governance in AI deployment is essential for a positive future. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI and Augmented Intelligence 01:35 Empowering Technology: The Transformation of Customer Experience 04:00 Navigating AI Technologies: Finding the Right Tools 07:22 The Rise of AI Agents: Your Digital Employees 10:08 Becoming the CEO of You: Embracing AI in the Workforce 11:16 Types of AI Agents: Offload, Elevate, and Extend 12:53 Real-World Examples of AI Collaboration 16:09 Addressing Fears: AI and Job Security 20:31 Ethics and Governance in AI Deployment 23:30 The Future of AI: Conversations We Need to Have The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this episode of the AI for Sales podcast, Chad Burmeister interviews Tal Peretz, CEO of OnFire.ai, a contextual AI platform that helps technology companies decode real-time market signals to drive revenue growth. They discuss the importance of context in AI and sales, the transformation of customer experience through personalized outreach, and the effectiveness of phone communication. Tal shares insights on leveraging technology for success at conferences, the role of marketing and sales in AI solutions, and common misconceptions about AI. The conversation also touches on maintaining the human touch in AI sales and emerging AI technologies, along with ethical considerations in AI deployment. Takeaways OnFire.ai focuses on contextual AI to drive revenue growth. Context is essential for effective sales outreach. Phone communication remains the most effective channel for sales. Personalized outreach significantly improves conversion rates. AI should empower sales teams, not replace them. Data quality is more important than the AI model itself. Sales and marketing must work together for successful AI implementation. Emerging AI technologies are transforming customer interactions. Ethical considerations in AI deployment are crucial. Maintaining a human touch in AI-driven sales is essential. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to OnFire.ai and Tal Peretz 03:04 The Importance of Context in AI and Sales 05:45 Transforming Customer Experience with Contextual Outreach 08:34 Effective Communication: From Email to Phone Calls 11:40 Success Stories: Leveraging Contextual Signals 14:06 The Role of Marketing in AI-Driven Sales 16:53 AI Misconceptions and the Importance of Data 19:53 Maintaining the Human Touch in AI 22:39 Future of AI Technologies and Ethical Considerations The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

80% of deals require at least 5 follow ups. 44% of salespeople quit after the first attempt.That gap is where your pipeline is bleeding — and most reps don't even know it's happening.In this episode, Dave and Regan break down the follow up epidemic, why sequences die after touch two, and the exact multi-channel framework that closes deals other reps have already abandoned.What you'll learn:→ Why following up once already puts you ahead of 44% of your competitors→ The 18-touch multi-channel sequence that gets responses (email + LinkedIn + call + SMS)→ Why the "7-minute deal" in your CRM is actually a 12-month relationship in disguise→ How to build a follow up cadence that doesn't feel like a template to the buyer→ The two parallel tracks top sellers run — outreach cadence AND relationship building→ How to follow up on a live deal without creating scarcity or desperation→ The jab jab hook follow up ratio that mirrors how social media serves content→ How to write a breakup email that actually keeps the door open→ Why a weak pipeline is the real reason reps push deals too hard too fastIf you're an AE or BDR and your follow ups are going silent after touch two or three — this conversation is for you.

Chad's been a part of something big in Texas, and he's ready to pull the curtain back and dive into the details. Banded Drake Ranch. 750 acres just north of Paris, Texas — 90 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth, right on the edge of the Oklahoma panhandle. Flooded corn, natural marsh, flooded timber, rice, millet, and the Red River. This is part one of a series, and Chad starts from the ground up. From the huntable areas (All 14 of them) to the main marsh, the LP, the Triangle, the Super Slew, the Timber, the Crescent, the Park, the Wood Duck Hole, the Inner Band, the Outer Band, and more. Every inch of this property has been thought through by Matt Roseman. The blinds, the water levels, the food sources, the roosts, the loafing areas. Nothing is ever wasted, and nothing is ever random. There are 19 total memberships, and a few are left. Hunt Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays, storm days, and holidays. Bring a guest. Pass it down to your kids. This is a duck club built for the long haul. This episode is presented by Nutrien Ag Solutions; the team keeping BDR's soil, crops, and water management dialed in from the ground up. We will have more episodes coming on the amenities, the lodging, corporate events, and what's on the horizon. But for now, go to TheBandedDrakeRanch.com and get your questions answered! this episode is presented by Nutrien Ag Solutions, and brought to you by Banded Drake Ranch, Federal Black Cloud Ammunition, Benelli Shotguns, Greenhead Gear Decoys, Corning Ford, Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels, and Hi-Viz Sights.

Owner.com is approaching $100M ARR selling to independent restaurants and their GTM team is producing numbers that shouldn't be possible. $150K AEs closing $2M+ ARR per year. Outbound BDRs generating $100K in closed-won ARR per BDR per month. 4X the ARR per rep compared to direct competitors. None of that happens by accident.  In this session, Kyle Norton, CRO at Owner.com, breaks down the exact AI-driven GTM playbook that got them there, including 5 decisions he believes every SaaS company needs to make right now before the gap between AI-native and AI-curious companies becomes impossible to close. What you'll learn: 1. Centralized vs. decentralized AI: why letting a thousand flowers bloom is probably killing your results 2. Build vs. buy: the 5-question framework (hint: buy your infrastructure, build your intelligence) 3. The AI sophistication ladder — Levels 0 through 4, where most companies are stuck, and exactly how to move up 4. The "5 P" prioritization framework for deciding which AI projects to tackle first 5. Agentic vs. assistive: how to think about human-in-the-loop and why chaining too many generative steps is the #1 cause of AI slop 6. Why your personal compounding AI stack is your most underrated competitive asset This isn't theory. This is what $100M ARR in a notoriously difficult SMB market actually looks like when you go all-in on applied AI.

This is episode 844. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. This is the second episode of AI and Sales Brief, a new sub-brand of the Sales Game Changers Podcast. Watch the video of this podcast on YouTube here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! Today's show featured an interview with AI expert Zeev Wexler CEO at Wexler, and sales expert Tom Snyder, Founder of Funnel Clarity. Find Zeev on LinkedIn. Find Tom on LinkedIn. ZEEV'S TIP: "The goal of AI is not to send one hundred times more emails that failed before. The goal is to send the same number of emails and make them ten times more effective." TOM'S TIP: "Before something enters the top of my funnel, it should have at least the initial evidence needed to qualify it. The standard should not be that someone answered the phone for the BDR, agreed to see a demo, and then did not show up."

In this episode, Jason and Paul Salamanca from Cymon AI, talk about how his BDR booked 7 meetings in a single day, the outbound motion two BDRs use to generate 30 to 40 meetings a month, his AI maturity model for sales orgs, and the coaching layer that ties it all together. Check out more free content and get help with outbound at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://outboundsquad.com.⁠

Summary In this episode of the AI for Sales podcast, Chad Burmeister engages in a deep conversation with David Arsarnow about the intersection of technology and human connection. They explore how AI is transforming the customer experience, the misconceptions surrounding AI in sales, and the importance of maintaining human empathy in an increasingly automated world. David shares insights on how AI can empower sales teams, enhance buyer experiences, and the ethical considerations that come with using AI technology. The discussion emphasizes the need for transparency and authenticity in AI interactions, as well as the potential for AI to augment human capabilities rather than replace them. Takeaways AI is reshaping the customer experience by increasing speed and relevance. Customers expect immediate responses and personalized interactions. AI can engage prospects in real-time and predict intent. AI can replace repetitive tasks, allowing humans to focus on meaningful interactions. Transparency in AI interactions builds trust with customers. AI should handle speed and consistency, while humans manage relationships. Misconceptions about AI replacing jobs can be addressed by focusing on empowerment. Ethical considerations in AI usage are crucial for long-term trust. AI can help identify and overcome common objections in sales. Training and understanding AI can lead to better outcomes in business. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI and Human Connection 02:46 Transforming the Buyer Experience with AI 05:45 Augmentation in Sales: Enhancing Human Skills 08:14 AI-Driven Growth Engines in Sales 11:29 Misconceptions and Realities of AI in Sales 14:05 Balancing AI and Human Interaction 17:12 The Future of AI Tools and Technologies 19:59 Ethics and Transparency in AI 22:35 From Unconscious Incompetence to Mastery with AI The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

This episode is the final installment in a three-part miniseries on ABM and go-to-market strategy, and it is extremely practical. My guest is Rehan Mirza, Chief Growth Officer at Verifiable, a credentialing automation platform that has lived through every stage of the ABM journey, from cold outbound blasting to sophisticated, intent-driven orchestration across a complex enterprise sales motion.Rehan tells the story of how Verifiable evolved its ICP from fast-moving digital health startups to regional health plans with hundreds of thousands of providers, and why that shift forced a complete rethink of how marketing, BDR, and alliances teams operate together. He talks candidly about the early lesson that volume-based outbound erodes trust, especially in healthcare, and how that shaped a completely different philosophy built around delivering value before making an ask.If you are a healthcare technology marketer working through how to make ABM actually function inside your organization, this episode gives you a clear, honest view of what it takes. Rehan has the scars to prove it.Key Topics: "(00:00:00)" Introduction and the Sway Health Podcast of the Year Award"(00:03:00)" Bridging the gap between AI activity and revenue results"(00:05:00)" Defining credentialing and Verifiable's origin story"(00:07:00)" Transitioning from a free proof of concept to a Salesforce-integrated platform"(00:09:00)" Shifting from cold outbound to intent-based lead orchestration"(00:10:00)" Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) evolution: From digital health to major payers"(00:14:00)" Moving up-market and the role of hyper-focus in ABM"(00:15:00)" Rethinking attribution: Why 70 to 80 percent overlap is the goal"(00:18:00)" Moving from pipeline generation to pipeline acceleration"(00:22:00)" The CORE framework: Conversion, Orchestration, Resonance, and Ecosystems"(00:23:00)" Using AI SDRs as a channel rather than a replacement for humans"(00:25:00)" Lessons learned: Why volume-based "spamming" erodes trust in healthcare"(00:28:00)" Closing summary and key takeaways for ABM successIf you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.Follow me on LinkedIn.Subscribe to The Healthtech Marketing Show on Spotify or watch us on YouTube for more insights into marketing, AI, ABM, buyer journeys, and beyond!Thank you to our presenting sponsor, HealthcareNOW, 24/7 expert shows, interviews, and podcasts, powering healthcare leaders with innovation, policy, and strategy insights.

Summary In this episode, Jon Benson shares his pioneering journey with AI since 2010, exploring how AI is transforming copywriting, content creation, and business automation. Discover how AI tools can be harnessed to clone yourself, create high-converting sales content rapidly, and stay ahead in the evolving digital landscape. Key topics Early AI adoption and pattern recognition in copywriting Cloning systems and AI-driven content creation The impact of AI on marketing and sales processes Misconceptions about AI replacing jobs Future trends in AI and business automation Chapters 00:00 The Journey into AI 02:49 The Value of AI in Content Creation 05:40 Transforming Ideas into Products 08:26 The Role of AI in Marketing 11:34 The Future of AI and Copywriting 14:26 Misconceptions About AI 20:31 The Impact of AI on Jobs 21:39 Embracing AI for Career Growth 23:19 The Role of Creativity in AI 25:47 Balancing Automation with Human Touch 27:05 Understanding AI Beyond Chatbots 29:16 Writing with Personal Values in AI 30:38 The Evolution of AI in Marketing 32:58 The Future of Programming and AI resources: youcloned.ai - https://youcloned.ai Buyer Profile Tool - https://thebuyerprofile.com guest links: Website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Summary In this conversation, Chad Burmeister and Nikki Barua explore the evolving relationship between humans and AI in the workplace, particularly in sales and customer experience. They discuss how AI is transforming workflows, enhancing customer interactions, and the importance of continuous reinvention in adapting to new technologies. Nikki emphasizes the need for individuals to develop skills that complement AI, focusing on creativity and original thinking, while also addressing the ethical implications of AI adoption. Takeaways AI enhances customer experience by reducing friction. Sales workflows are being reinvented through AI. Human and AI collaboration can increase efficiency. Adopting a mindset of continuous reinvention is crucial. Learning how to learn is the most important skill today. AI can help businesses do more with less. The future of work will involve hybrid teams of humans and machines. Ethical considerations in AI adoption are essential. Original thinking is what sets individuals apart in the workforce. Empowering the next generation requires a focus on creativity and adaptability. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI and Human Collaboration 03:01 Transforming Customer Experience with AI 05:34 Reinventing Sales Workflows 08:36 Building Effective Human-Agentic Workflows 11:29 Navigating the Future of Work 14:14 The Role of Ethics in AI 17:03 Advice for Recent Graduates 19:39 Continuous Reinvention in the Workforce The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

#353 | Tara (CMO, Optimizely), Julia (Director of AI Adoption, Optimizely), Lily (CMO, Three Play Media), Pejman (CMO, Menlo Security), and Kevin (CMO, CompTIA) join Dave for a live Exit Five session on how real marketing teams are actually using AI right now. Lily shows how she replaced two BDR headcount with a HubSpot prospecting agent and went from an 18% to 46% response rate on inbound leads. Julia walks through how Optimizely's marketing team embedded AI agents directly into their content workflow, from briefing to brand voice checking to traffic monitoring, without anyone having to leave the platform. Pejman shares the framework his team uses to map workflows and find the highest-ROI AI opportunities, plus a custom brand tone tool that turns hours of manual review into minutes. And Kevin talks through what it actually looks like to lead an AI culture change on a small team with limited resources.Timestamps(00:00) - - Intro (06:55) - - Guest intros: Tara, Julia, Lily, Pejman, and Kevin (12:04) - - Tara on why AI adoption needs an internal owner and how to govern it without squashing enthusiasm (15:02) - - Lily: why their first AI initiative failed and what they did differently (17:15) - - How Lovable kicked off team-wide AI excitement at Three Play Media (19:37) - - Lily's HubSpot prospecting agent: 18% to 46% response rate on inbound leads (23:19) - - Julia: embedding AI agents into Optimizely's content workflow (31:20) - - Using AI to monitor content performance and auto-assign optimization work (33:24) - - Pejman: mapping workflows to find the highest-ROI AI opportunities (35:55) - - Building a brand tone checker that scores and rewrites content against brand guidelines (39:55) - - Kevin: making AI a mandate on a small team and building a culture of learning (44:06) - - Group Q&A: optimizing spend vs. shipping faster, budget shifts, and new KPIs Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by:Knak - A no-code, campaign creation platform that lets you go from idea to on-brand email and landing pages in minutes, using AI where it actually matters. Learn more at knak.com/exitfive, or check out the MCP server by clicking this link. Vector - A contact-level ads platform that lets you build audiences from actual people on your site, clicking your ads, and checking out your competitors. Learn more at vector.co, and get on the waitlist for their new MCP server by clicking here. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you.***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

Most BDR teams are struggling right now. Connect rates are dropping, email is getting ignored, and reps are rushing to get out of the role as fast as possible. Lauren Reeves is doing the opposite, and her team is booking more meetings every single quarter.In this episode, John sits down with Lauren Reeves, BDR manager at Swap Commerce and one of the most vocal advocates for the SDR and BDR profession in Europe. Lauren built her team from 6 to 40, incentivized her reps to build real personal brands on LinkedIn, and created a culture where people actually want to stay in the seat long enough to get good at it. She shares exactly what is working right now on email, on the phone, and on social, and what is quietly killing results for most teams that are copying the playbook from five years ago.If you lead a BDR or SDR team, or you are in the role of trying to figure out how to stand out and build a career in sales, this conversation will give you the most practical and honest take on what it actually takes to win right now. Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.What You'll LearnThe hiring question Lauren asks in every interviewWhy Lauren tells every candidate upfront: I do not work with dicksWhy good BDRs should stay in the seat for at least 18 monthsWhy the no promotion before a year policy creates better salespeopleWhat is actually working right now in emailWhy the phone still convertsHow Lauren pays her reps to post on LinkedInWhat BDRs should post on LinkedInWhy costly quarterly targets work better than monthly pressureHow to spot it in an interview and how to coach it on the floorLauren Reeves is a sales leader and outbound specialist with 7 years of experience in the BDR/SDR space, known for developing high-performing business development teams. She began her career as a BDR before moving into management, where she focuses on building ambitious, growth-driven sales professionals and creating environments centered on learning, collaboration, and success. Lauren has driven significant outbound revenue growth, scaled teams across regions, and earned recognition as a top sales manager and leader in the industry.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelaurenreeves/John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.Connect with John Barrows:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrowsCheck out John's Membership: https://go.jbarrows.com/Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

Summary In this episode of the AI for Sales podcast, Chad Burmeister interviews Carlos Corredor, CEO of Condor, about the intersection of AI and marketing. They discuss how AI can enhance customer engagement, the importance of quality touch points, and the misconceptions surrounding AI. Carlos emphasizes the need for human oversight in AI processes and the importance of finding the right audience for marketing messages. They also touch on emerging technologies, the ethical implications of AI, and the skills necessary for success in the evolving landscape of AI-driven marketing. Takeaways Marketing can drive revenue, not just incur costs. Quality touch points enhance customer engagement. The increase in touch points often sacrifices quality. AI is a tool, not a magic solution. Effort and resources are needed for effective AI use. Human oversight is crucial in AI applications. Finding the right audience is key to marketing success. AI governance requires collaboration across sectors. Skills in AI are essential for future marketing roles. Industry expertise enhances AI effectiveness. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in Sales 02:37 The Role of AI in Customer Engagement 05:33 Challenges of Personalization in Marketing 08:23 Misconceptions About AI 11:09 Balancing Automation and Human Touch 14:48 Emerging Technologies in Marketing 18:38 Ethics and Governance in AI 22:36 Skills for Success in AI Marketing The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Clif Holland shares a father-and-son motorcycle adventure that took an unexpected turn shortly after arriving at Big Bend National Park. After a 700-mile ride to reach the start of their backcountry route, the decision to explore before staging their gear set the tone for what followed. Riding a heavily loaded BMW R1200GS on remote backroads, Clif quickly found himself facing the challenges of sand, weight distribution, and the limited margin for error on big adventure bikes, which led to DEEP TROUBLE. We talk about backcountry riding and the importance of preparation, training, and testing your setup before tackling routes like the BDR.

Summary In this episode of the AI for Sales podcast, Chad Burmeister speaks with AJ Cassata, Co-Founder & CEO of Revenue Boost, about the transformative role of AI in sales and lead generation. They discuss how AI enhances customer outreach, the importance of personalization, and the tools that can help businesses scale their efforts. AJ shares success stories from his agency, addresses common misconceptions about AI, and emphasizes the need for a human touch in the sales process. The conversation also touches on emerging technologies, ethical considerations, and practical advice for integrating AI into daily routines. Takeaways AI is becoming essential for businesses, similar to having a website in 2000. AI enhances the personalization of outreach, leading to better engagement. Using AI allows for sending thousands of tailored emails efficiently. AI is a tool that complements human effort, not a replacement. Effective outreach requires a balance of automation and personal touch. Sample size testing is crucial for ensuring email quality. Content marketing and social media presence are vital for lead generation agencies. Ethical use of AI is a shared responsibility between users and companies. Emerging technologies like AI agents are the next frontier in automation. Daily practice with AI tools can uncover new possibilities in business and life. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in Sales 02:35 Revenue Boost: Transforming Lead Generation 05:19 AI's Impact on Customer Outreach 09:05 Success Stories: AI in Action 11:22 Finding Customers: Strategies and Tools 14:58 Misconceptions About AI 19:05 Balancing Automation with Personal Touch 21:52 Emerging Technologies in AI 24:03 Ethics and Responsibility in AI 26:38 Skills for the Future: Embracing AI The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Embracing Change: The Future of AI in Business Summary In this conversation, Theo Satloff discusses the necessity for companies to adapt to rapid changes in technology, particularly with the rise of AI tools. He emphasizes the importance of embracing change as an exciting opportunity rather than a threat, and encourages individuals to actively engage with AI technologies to enhance their skills and understanding. Takeaways Classic companies are failing to adapt to change. Things are moving quickly in the tech world. Embrace change as an exciting opportunity. Spend time experimenting with AI tools. Engage with ChatGPT to understand its capabilities. Explore different ways to prompt AI for better responses. Utilize resources like YouTube to learn new skills. Continuous learning is essential in a fast-paced environment. AI tools can enhance productivity and creativity. Adaptation is key to staying relevant in business. Chapters 00:00 - Welcome and episode overview: How AI is transforming sales and customer experience 01:11 - The declining costs of software production and AI commoditization 02:22 - Tools like V0, Lovable, and their impact on scaling human expertise 03:36 - How AI has shifted customer perceptions of service quality 05:03 - Enhancing online shopping through AI-driven personalization 07:02 - Bridging the gap between brick-and-mortar and online conversion rates 08:58 - Creating AI personas from expert knowledge to improve sales and support 10:06 - The potential future of physical AI booths in stores 12:12 - Strategies for increasing online conversion rates from 1% to 10%+ 14:11 - Contribution of AI to revenue growth for brands 15:39 - Managing AI-generated content quality and avoiding "AI slop" 16:58 - Challenges with hallucinations in large language models and controlling AI output 18:38 - The importance of high-quality, curated data in AI systems 20:28 - Balancing automation with human touch in retail environments 22:41 - Utilizing AI for complex product advice without losing human empathy 24:47 - Exciting emerging tech like Cursor that empowers non-coders to build with AI 27:44 - Voice cloning advancements and implications for digital assistants like Alexa 29:59 - Ethical considerations: transparency and collaboration between humans and AI 34:12 - Skills CEOs should focus on to stay ahead in AI-driven markets 37:03 - Final thoughts: adopting AI to turn browsers into buyers The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

Episode SummaryIn this episode, Adam Mikeal, CISO at Texas A&M University, and Tim Paikoff from Axonius break down how consolidating fragmented security data into a single view changed the way A&M tracks assets, validates policy, and tells cybersecurity's ROI story to leadership — and why AI's data access model is now keeping CISOs up at night.FeaturingAdam Mikeal is Chief Information Security Officer at Texas A&M University - responsible for securing the university's full asset environment, with an unconventional path through history, classics, and computer-human interaction before landing in cybersecurity leadership.Tim Paikoff runs the SLED team at Axonius - building the State, Local, and Education practice from a two-person team to a full sales, SC, BDR, and marketing operation over four years.Timestamps(1:38) Adam's unconventional path - from history and classics to Chief Information Security Officer(4:00) The data problem - why the right question can't be answered from inside a single security tool(5:00) The spaces between - why Axonius can see what individual tools never could(7:00) Higher ed's unique exposure - student device sprawl and the identity lifecycle nightmare(10:00) Texas A&M's four core security metrics - patching, vulnerability remediation, inventory accuracy, agent health(14:00) Intel chip vulnerability response - how having data at your fingertips changes incident speed(15:00) Active directory migrations in real time - watching two lines cross on a chart(17:00) The Log4j gap - 194 instances still in production seven months after "cleanup"(22:00) AI and the new front line - why prompt injection is the threat no contract can fixListen now: YouTube x Apple x SpotifyWhenever you're ready, there are 3 ways you can connect with TechTables:1.

Discover how AI-powered voice agents are transforming customer service and sales, empowering enterprises to deliver smarter, more personalized interactions at scale. Alex Levin, CEO of Regal, shares insights into the evolution of voice AI, real-world success stories, and the ethical landscape shaping this revolutionary technology. Key Topics: The shift from email and digital channels to voice AI for customer engagement How AI agents reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction Real-world case studies in healthcare and banking using AI-powered contact centers The impact of AI on jobs in contact centers: challenges and opportunities Future trends: managing AI-human collaboration and ethical considerations The importance of skill development for sales and customer service teams in the AI era Emerging AI tools and technologies driving efficiency and innovation Regulatory and ethical responsibilities of businesses deploying AI solutions Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: The rise of voice AI in enterprise customer engagement 00:31 - Alex Levin's background and the origins of Regal 01:20 - The decline of email outreach and the potential of voice communication 02:12 - Combining AI with CRM systems for personalized customer interactions 03:08 - Use cases across sales, customer service, and operations 03:48 - How AI improves customer experience by reducing wait times and repetition 05:14 - Companies leading in customer service that adopt AI agents 05:43 - Success stories from healthcare and banking sectors 07:19 - Healthcare contact center transformations during peak season 08:42 - How AI aids asset management and revenue growth in banking 10:05 - The growing importance of voice and AI in human collaboration 10:43 - Addressing concerns about job displacement and new job opportunities 13:39 - The evolution of contact center jobs and new roles in AI management 14:41 - The impact of COVID-19 on digital sales channels and future opportunities 15:00 - Internal AI adoption: marketing, sales, and engineering 16:37 - The future of enterprise software management via AI 17:40 - Voice interfaces and the evolution of human-computer communication 18:40 - The training required for effective AI interaction 19:02 - Ethical considerations in AI deployment and regulation 20:20 - The role of companies in establishing ethical standards over government regulation 21:17 - Advice for sales teams on integrating AI tools into daily workflows 22:19 - Skills needed for future-ready sales and customer service professionals 23:17 - Managing expectations and human-AI collaboration 24:15 - Leveraging AI for high-volume outreach and efficiency 25:08 - Legal considerations around AI-driven cold calling and permissions 25:28 - The importance of ethical AI use and personal data security 26:00 - How to connect with Alex Levin and learn more about Regal Resources & Links: Regal.ai Hello at Regal.ai Connect with Alex Levin: LinkedIn Twitter The AI for Sales Podcast is brought to you by BDR.ai, Nooks.ai, and ZoomInfo—the go-to-market intelligence platform that accelerates revenue growth. Skip the forms and website hunting—Chad will connect you directly with the right person at any of these companies.

What happens when you spend 15 years chasing money and status, sacrifice everything to get there, and then finally hit the goal and feel absolutely nothing?Scott Barker went from door-to-door sales to becoming the youngest director at a $4 billion software company, to co-founding his own venture fund. By every scoreboard our industry uses, he won. Then he stepped down, sold his house, sold everything in it, and spent the last year traveling the world looking for better questions.This is one of the most honest conversations we've had on this show and Trey and Micah get personal too. If you're a high performer who hasn't hit the wall yet, this one's especially for you.In this episode:00:00 — Intro03:00 — Scott's background: BDR to venture fund founder05:30 — The first cracks: alcoholism, Adderall, sleeping pills, and the perform-escape-sleep loop10:00 — The lie high performers tell themselves ("just one more crazy quarter")14:00 — What the universe does when you stop listening to your body16:00 — Hitting the $50M goal and feeling nothing — the moment everything changed21:00 — Trey's story: panic attacks, a health scare, and quitting his job23:00 — Selling everything and traveling the world: what Scott found27:00 — Why slowing down is now a competitive strategy31:00 — What to say to the person who's never hit the wall yet35:00 — The 48-hour attention audit and why silence is a superpower44:00 — Optimization is dead. Integration is the new game.52:00 — What 10 days of silent meditation actually teaches you58:00 — Micah's "free agent" framework: why enough is a strategyFind Scott Barker:The Wake Up Call — podcast & SubstackLinkedIn: Scott BarkerIf this episode hit home, the best thing you can do is leave us a review and share it with one person in your life who needs to hear it. It helps more people find the show.