If Or When Will ML, AI Make Our Selling Jobs Redundant?

ChatGPT is the latest leap towards HAL, 'replicant' or Skynet human-beating-machine to scare those of us who had thought our working future secure.

In beta mode right now, apparently, you've likely been hit with clickbait for its uncanny ability to write blog posts, poetry or lyrics, even student essays and code, better than any actual real-life person.

Except that they're not. Well, not yet better, at any rate.

If not fully fallen down, then I've certainly taken an enduring dip into their AI rabbit-hole.

By way of easing ourselves in, here's what it recommended for the ideal cold call approach;

When making a cold call to someone you don't know, it's important to be concise, clear, and make a strong first impression. Here's a simple formula that can help you make a compelling introduction:

Start with your name and company: "Hi, this is [Your Name] from [Company Name]."

Provide a brief and relevant statement that piques their interest: "I noticed that your company [relevant information about their company or recent project], and I wanted to share with you how our [product/service] can help [what you can do for them].

Ask if they have a moment to chat: "Do you have a few minutes to chat about how our solution can benefit your company?"

By following this formula, you can make a strong first impression and create a compelling reason for the person to continue the conversation with you. Remember, the key to a successful cold call is to be clear, concise, and add value to the person you're speaking to.

Well, that is not best practice. But is most likely the most widely blogged intro template. Still, if it piques your interest, then let's crack on.

Appreciating their kindly 'limitations' warning as screenshot above, context circled my current speciality; video calls that sell.

My over-riding impression was being served up what amounted to a Buzzfeed-style listicle. The kind of output an intern tasked with delivering a tidbit of corporate blog-filler might cobble together after a quick web-scan. Not necessarily 'wrong'. Yet definitely on its own misleading, not least by glaring omission. Certainly not nearing any 'best', cutting-edge insightful A* grade content which meaningfully pushes forward the reader's knowledge.

Wherein may lie the next barrier. For as serviceable as the 'chat' was, how does it actually know which instructions - of all the squillions available to it online - are really the ones that make the difference?

How will it "learn" to connect otherwise unconnected ideas, themes and constructs?

Ones to help give you something not just useful, but demonstrably effective, let alone then touching on the greatness of being truly unique or in that moment of use, career-enhancing?

Let assess some evidence. [Best in landscape mode if you're reading on a phone.] First, asking for the classic, 5 top tips;

Yes, I know I come from the bias which derives from writing a book on this subject. One of 52 chapters across 269 pages. Not to mention providing countless hours over the past three years in particular for enterprise sellers all around the world on various aspects of this topic.

Yet despite being deep into a discipline which cannot readily be reduced to a quintet of two-liners, the above offers perhaps only a pair of halves which might - and only then with substantial editing - make it into my five.

Accepting that the weight of expectation demarcating a sales call in its general sense from a video sales call specifically is not made explicit in my question, I think you get my gist.

So next, let's look at that hidden secret, lying in plain sight, aka that nugget which only a big data scrape can push to the fore;

Here, I elected to build-in the distinction between sales and video sales.

Feeling enthused by any of this yet?

I did though chuckle at the way I asked for 'best secret tip' singular, and in the spirit of many a super-seller, get in response more than one.

Next up, we see what we might have missed;

Welcome to the metaverse. Has Musk told Zuckerberg?

Trying again, getting a touch more granular, and gaps in the understanding become more glaring;

Finally here, did you know - caveats supplied - the optimum length of a sales video call is a sweet spot of 15-30 minutes? You do now;

We oughtn't forget the brutal reality check of RIRO; rubbish in, rubbish out. Not only is there a ton of useless garbage out there which the ChatGPT bots grab and regurgitate without fully knowing of their source material's utter uselessness, also if you don't ask the right question, you'll never get the right answer.

Overall though, I did enjoy my trip.

Let's face it, these feel very much the baby steps. Maybe a little beyond mere gurgling gagas, but so early in development as to suggest that when the seemingly inevitable exponential curve kicks in, our world, including selling, will be changed, forever.

For right now, at the very least, I love the potential angle to show a prospect the 'here's what AI thinks' as a conversation starter.

Time to carve out that niche in the humanity of sales connecting. Which over video, I am duty bound to implore is something you cannot expect to find AI help with anytime soon.