How to Sell and Compete with AI in 2024

2024 is going to be a BIG year for those in sales. And I have my popcorn ready. New records will be set, and some folks will have the best year of their careers.

How can I make this brave prediction?

It’s because we are in an inflection year. (Not to be confused with an election year.) The landscape of how we buy is changing rapidly, which can mean only one thing for savvy sellers: opportunity.

If you want to be in the winner’s circle this year, you need to focus on three key areas.

Curious + Adaptable Mindset:

This year belongs to individuals and companies who understand the power of adaptability and curiosity to serve their customers better and get more yeses. Curiosity without adaptability is just an exercise in intellectual futility. You need both to enact action.

Much like Lego did in the early 2000s, Lego was facing near bankruptcy, but a few key leaders realized that it didn’t have to be that way. They took the time to study how kids played with toys as it had changed from when Lego was first invented. Lego turned into a champion for the importance of play. They focused on core products and used licensing deals to keep the brand relevant.

Lego’s revenue last year was four billion dollars.

Another example is Ducati. They were originally a manufacturer of vacuum tubes and radio components, but Ducati shifted to motorcycles post-World War II. Despite financial struggles, they have become a leading name in high-performance motorcycles, known for innovation and design.

In the b2b world, Corning Corning has continually diversified its product range. When the demand for one product decreased (like glass for cathode-ray tube televisions), Corning had already been investing in new technologies like fiber optic cables and gorilla glass for smartphones. Their ability to foresee market changes and adapt accordingly is a hallmark of their success.

The big picture here is that companies and individuals who have the courage to change how something has always been done – and to be intentional in the new direction they chose – will be the winners.

Audience:

By early 2024, more Gen Zs will be working full-time than Baby Boomers. While millennials still make up the biggest part of the workforce now, think about what an inflection point that alone is. Whom you sell to is bound to change, and how you sell to them must follow. Just ask Stanley.

Let’s add to this what we know based on LinkedIn’s data, as they have the best career path data on the planet. What they find is that every four years, around 40% of members change their industry, seniority, function, company size, and company. For anyone in B2B sales, this means new potential clients with changing levels of influence in their organizations.

Let’s combine those two things alone.

A newer, younger, and much tech-savvy workforce combined with folks moving industries and roles more rapidly than ever before.

This means who you’ve been selling to for years, perhaps even decades, will soon be someone different.

Whether your organization embraces AI fully or takes a more conservative approach, you need to know that your prospects are using it.

The pace of technology is rewiring our brains to try more new things and to try them faster than before. If you are in sales and have new products, that’s the best thing anyone could tell you today.

Just look at this chart –

Information and knowledge will become incredibly commonplace. The internet has made information accessible. AI will make it applicable.

Since the beginning of time, human beings have had two assets – intelligence and human connection. While AI gets smarter, it can never replace human connection. The empathy. The boots on the ground. For any good salesperson, this will become an even stronger superpower.

AI can have expertise, but it can’t provide experience.

Collaboration:

Cross-functional collaboration between teams has never been as important as it is today.

Do you know the fastest way to improve close ratios?

Better lead quality. And that’s marketing’s realm.

Bain did a study where they found that buyers make a list of vendors for consideration before starting the search process. Fully 80%–90% of respondents, depending on what they are buying, have a set of vendors in mind before they do any research.

94% of prospective buyers are fully or somewhat informed before contacting a vendor representative.

As importantly, 90% of them will choose a vendor from the day one list.

Tell me when most people THINK marketing begins…after intent is shown.

90% of marketing dollars are spent on who is in the market to buy NOW.

But we already know that 95% of your target market isn’t in the market to buy now. No matter what you do. Only 5% is. (That’s the 95-5 rule)

This means you have to get in front of the 95% before they get to DAY 1.

You have to market at day zero when they aren’t thinking about your service or product at all.

84% want relevant content at each stage without relying on calls with sales.

Meeting with reps makes up only 17% of today’s buying process.

And that number DROPS is only 5% to 6% if they are looking at competitors.

In a world where so much research gets done before sales ever enters the picture, marketing has an opportunity to make sure your brand has a seat at the table, and sales has an opportunity to make prospects (who are becoming fast friends with AI) feel truly heard and understood.

While easier said than done, companies and leaders who embrace the curious and adaptable mindset will be the firms of tomorrow.

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