Sales Pipeline Radio, Episode 360: Q & A with Joe Parlett

Summary

In this episode of Sales Pipeline Radio, host Matt Heinz and Joe Parlett, co-founder and CEO of Amplify10, discuss the evolving role of AI in sales, its impact on B2B selling, and how sales teams can leverage AI to enhance productivity and performance while addressing buyer concerns and challenges.

By Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing

If you’re not already subscribed to Sales Pipeline Radio or listening live Thursdays at 11:30 am PT on LinkedIn (also on demand) you can find the transcription and recording here on the blog every Monday morning.  The show is less than 30 minutes, fast-paced and full of actionable advice, best practices and more for B2B sales and marketing professionals.

We cover a wide range of topics, with a focus on sales development and inside sales priorities.

This week’s show is entitled, “How AI is Improving Sales Productivity“ and my guest is Joe Parlett, CEO & Co-Founder at Amplify10.

Tune in to Learn About:

• The evolving role of AI in sales and marketing.
• How AI is impacting B2B selling, both now and moving forward.
• The persistent role of human interaction in sales despite the rise of AI.
• Strategies to create undeniably compelling offers in a crowded marketplace.
• How to leverage AI to optimize sales productivity and performance.

Listen and/or Watch HERE and/or read the transcript below:

Matt:  All right. Welcome everybody to another episode of Sales Pipeline Radio. I’m your host, Matt Heinz. Thank you so much for joining us on another Thursday as we get close, Joe, to the end of the month, end of the quarter into the first half of the year. How is Fourth of July two weeks from today? It feels like things are going crazy fast, but if you are joining us live on Sales Pipeline Radio today in the middle of your workday and workweek, thank you so much for being part of this.

You could be part of the show today. If you are joining us live on LinkedIn, if you have a question for Joe or myself, if you have a comment, if you have a rebuttal on what we’re talking about, it is all welcome. Please throw that into the comments of the show, we will see those we can reference those.

We can call out your comment. We can put those up on screen as well. So if you are watching live definitely want to make you part of the show. If you are] listening and watching on demand, thank you so much for subscribing, for downloading. Always appreciate everyone who’s checking out the show.

Every episode of Sales Pipeline Radio, past, present, and future, always available at www.Salespipelineradio.com. Very excited to have today joining us, the co-founder and CEO of Amplify10, Joe Parlett. We’re gonna talk today about AI and sales. What’s been promised. What maybe hasn’t been delivered, where we think we’re going with AI and how it’s going to impact B2B selling both now and moving forward. Joe, thanks so much for joining us today.

Joe: Yeah. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

Matt: There’s something about the innovation curve, right? Pascal Finette talks about the fact that we look at the past and the innovation we have experienced doesn’t feel nearly as steep as it actually was, and we look in the future and we think innovation is going to be far steeper than it actually will be or will feel.

Two years ago, I was told that by now BDRs would be extinct, that we would no longer have inside sales. We will no longer have a certain function of sales. And certainly I think the BDR role has shifted dramatically in terms of what’s working in the last couple of years, but it ain’t extinct yet. So I think it’s a good example to me of the fact that AI is and will continue to innovate and disrupt a lot of what we are used to, but it won’t always happen as fast as we want.

And it won’t always materialize in the way that we expect. So we’d love to have you just introduce yourself in that context of what you’re working on and then how you’re thinking about the role of AI for sales and marketing teams today.

Joe: Yeah. Thanks, Matt. So yeah, co founder of Amplify 10 and what we’re doing is AI powered sales enablement, which we think is vitally important to using AI to deliver contextual guidance in the time of need at the point of execution. I don’t necessarily believe that AI will replace people. Certainly BDRs, SDRs, sales people in B2B enterprise sales, I think you’re safe. However, I do believe you’re vulnerable to the folks that are using AI to help them with their performance. So people who are not using AI to improve their performance and how they do their work, their efficiency. They are vulnerable to being replaced by people who are using technology to their advantage. We focus, and my career has been in B2B sales. And BDRs and SDRs don’t think they’re going away. I don’t. B2B enterprise sales– it’s emotional. Do I want to trust this critical decision I’m going to make for my company to a machine, a machine that’s telling me what I should buy?

No, I need to have a relationship because my future at this company, if I’m somebody purchasing products or services, solutions for my organization, my role in this company, the trajectory of my rise, my future employment–] it’s dictated by my success here. I can’t trust this critical decision to a machine that’s telling me what I should do.

It may help me filter some information, but I want a relationship with the person at the company. And that relationship starts with BDRs and SDRs, oftentimes it ends with the AEs.

Matt: Yeah, I think that’s how robots sell to robots, which, you know, maybe in the future for us. I think as long as a human element involves, I think we want someone we can trust.

And I think that the AI tools are going to make it faster and easier for us to be able to have the context we need to have those conversations. I’ve lamented for years that BDRs often will spend 30,40 minutes researching an account before they leave a 30 second voicemail, and then they’re off to the next 30, 40 minutes of research.

That research can be done by robots instantaneously. They give you the insight and say exactly, here’s what you should talk about when you make that connection, right? It’s so important to how we use the tools and the insights we have, a lot of the applications I’ve seen of AI and sales are intended to make communications faster and cheaper.

That’s not the problem. Faster and cheaper is going to generate more messages to an audience that already has too much in front of them. So talk a little bit about that challenge. That perennial challenge, it seems to be getting worse of like, how do you actually get in front of people? How do you earn the right to be in front of them and earn now an ongoing attention?

Joe: Yeah. AI powered emails with the personalization, they’re abundant. And I think that is important, right? The, the AI, as you mentioned, it can help me do some research. I’m reaching out to this person at this company. I don’t think we should put in the email, Hey, I see you like dogs, so do I.

See you at the Taylor Swift concert, so was I.. There’s gotta be more substance to it than that. Now the AI can help with the personalization, but buyers are] in a tough spot these days. And no amount of personalization is going to penetrate their psyche because they’re faced with these three challenges. I believe.

Let’s say it’s their enterprise sales tools. They’ve already got “too many tools” in quotes. So the tech stack is to the ceiling. So it’s difficult to get somebody to respond in our outreach. If they feel like they’ve already got a tool that solves that problem. So that’s one problem. I’ve already got too many tools.

Two, my budget has been eliminated. My team has been reduced. So teams are getting cut. Budgets are getting thrashed. So again, doesn’t matter that level of personalization that you send me. I’m in a tough spot because my team just got slashed and my budget got cut. So that’s the second challenge that’s making it difficult to get through to these buyers.

The third is that, The expectations of leadership for what I produce at this company have not been reduced, right? So there’s so many cliches. This is another one. I’ve got to do more with less.

And when we reach out to somebody that says, “Hey, I’ve got a solution, a product, a service, something that is better than the one you have”, because let’s face it, except for small companies, larger companies, midsize and larger, they, typically already have a solution in place. They feel like I already bought something last year or the year before to solve that problem.

Now you’re asking me to buy something new. That can be okay. It’s not all doom and gloom, but we’ve got to give them an undeniably compelling offer because when they hear from us, “Hey, I’ve got a solution, a tool of service that’s better than the one you have”. In B2B and enterprise, what they also hear is “Wow.

Expense. Time. I don’t have time. I don’t have money. That sounds interesting. But when I hear that, I also hear implementation, expense, long timeline, expense. And last year I went to my company and said, ‘Hey, we want this problem to go away. Buy this tool’. Now, a year later, the problem’s still there. The tool didn’t solve the problem.

Now I’ve got to go to people saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got another idea'”.

So we’ve got to give them an undeniably compelling offer. And I’m not saying what that offer is, but it’s gotta be something that’s 10X better than they’ve got today. Maybe it includes. “Hey, I’ve got something that’s better. Here’s some proof points, but also we’re going to do the implementation for you.

You don’t have to spend a moment or a dollar on the implementation, or I know you bought something last year. We’ll buy you out of that contract”, whatever it is. It’s got to be undeniably compelling.

Matt: What you’re talking about here is the fear of messing up, right? We’re talking today on Sales Pipeline Radio with Joe Parlett. He’s the CEO, co-founder of Amplify10. And we’re talking a little bit about the impact AI is and isn’t having for sales teams. But also I think just this broad, what you just referenced, there’s some fatigue among buyers overall today because there’s so many solutions, there’s so much to hardly get done, there’s a fear of messing up, there’s a fear of making the wrong choice.

There’s a fear of being wrong in that. We focus so much as sellers on here’s why our stuff is great. Here’s the impact it’s going to have, and we can make a compelling case. Like you go to a trade show, if you go to a show focused on your persona, focus on your job. You’re going to walk through a show floor and everyone’s going to tell you how they can make your job better.

You can’t buy all of those tools and not all of them are going to fulfill that promise. So you as a buyer walk through and say “where’s my best bet? Where are the, who are the vendors? Where are the solutions that are actually going to achieve what I need them to do? How do I not mess up? How do we impact that as sellers today?

How do we think about and be clear and direct with people about that fear? About that obstacle internally and help build confidence in the decisions they make?

Joe: Yeah. I think we need to first understand where they’re at and recognize it takes a lot of research. So you mentioned earlier that AI can do research for me. Yeah, absolutely. And we should be using it to help reduce the amount of time that it takes us to prepare for any meeting.

Help me do the research. Now, the buyers are also doing research as well before they even talk to you. Which is great. But we need to understand where they’re at best we can, or assume where they’re at and figure out a way that we can articulate it. We don’t have much of their time, so it’s got to be crisp, and we’ve got to articulate how we can put them in a better position.

“I understand where you’re at. I’ve worked with the company or companies just like you who are in this position who use that same tool, that same service solution that you use. They were in a tough spot. Here’s what we did for them. Here’s what I can do for you.” So we’ve got to be able to align with them and have some empathy for the situation that they’re in because they’re in a tough spot.

They’re in a tough spot. They don’t have money. They don’t have time. They’ve got a need. The opportunity comes. I mentioned that most companies already have a tool, a service, a solution for that problem. We’re saying we can put them in a better place. They’ve already got something.

so it’s got to be a compelling offer because otherwise they’re, they’re just paralyzed.

Matt: Well, you have to connect those dots, right? Like, you have to figure out, not only where they’re at– you mentioned the personalization earlier.

I literally got an email yesterday that started with, “Hey, I see you went to the University of Washington. I bet you can’t wait to have another hamburger from Dick’s”. Those are two things you could pull out of context that sound totally inauthentic if you’re trying to get my attention, right? And if now everyone has the same tools, pulling two random facts together saying, “Hey, have you tried the new Italian place in your neighborhood? That is

personalization in the most inauthentic way possible. How do we fix that? How do you use the information that’s available to us, the greater and greater volume of information and insights around a prospect’s interests, priorities, and intent, but do it in a meaningful, authentic way?

Joe: Yeah. I’m going to touch on that. Even though at most companies larger than, the very small SMBs, they got or they feel like they’ve already purchased a product to service a solution to address that problem that I say

So where’s the opportunity? Everybody already has a tool for everything. They’ve got a sales enablement tool. They’ve got an ERP. They’ve got a CRM. They’ve got an electronic signature tool. Where’s the opportunity? The opportunity is because there’s a lot of disappointment with those. Now, getting somebody to replace ERP, that’s a daunting task.

But fortunately, the opportunity lies for us in that everything pretty much is as a service now. Vendors are constantly being evaluated and there is a lot of disappointment with these enterprise solutions and services. That’s where the opportunity is. So even though they’ve already bought something for everything, there’s disappointment, and they are constantly evaluating everything that they own to determine what needs to be replaced here. What can I replace? What is not performing? Not delivering the value? Right. And they’re out there.

Matt: Yeah, I recognize that. So we’re a couple more minutes here with our guest today on Sales Pipeline Radio, Joe Parlett. We started this conversation talking about this innovation curve idea and the fact that we don’t always see the steep range of curve. And so I think there’s some fear and trepidation, even some existential dread around what AI is and what it could be. If we can put some of that fear aside, how should a sales leader be thinking about the future of AI to augment and enhance their ability to execute moving forward? What are a couple things to put in people’s minds to help guide the way they evaluate tools and opportunities moving forward in the right way?

Joe: Yeah, it’s gotta be about, time. We don’t have money, and especially if we don’t have time. Productivity. If you’re a sales leader, I need a tool that’s going to help them sell more. What are some areas that pretty much every sales team would benefit from improving their performance?

One, sales cycle time. It takes too long to get a deal done. What tool is going to help me get a deal done faster? What tool is going to help my team ramp faster? I don’t have a year for them to get up to speed. It’s got to happen faster. Productivity, could be in follow up productivity could be an AI, as we all know, can help me with the follow up could be in research to be firing on all cylinders, performing like a top rep, I should be doing research and preparation before I talk to this company, this person, it can help 10 X with that.

You’ve got to use AI in that way to do your research and preparation. So those are areas that I think we’ve got to be examining AI, and it’s out there. It is available for us to take advantage of right now. But those are the lenses I think that we need to look at AI. How will it help me with productivity and performance?

Matt: Absolutely. To summarize that, find and focus on what the ultimate, the primary constraints are for your customer. Focus on where they see those constraints moving forward. Where are those big pivot points? Where are the big points of leverage that can really support them moving forward? Put the story in their terms, not in your features, and you’re much more likely to get ahead.

Joe, I appreciate you joining today. Where can people learn more about you and learn more about Amplify10?

Yeah, thank you, Matt. It’s been great. So you can go to our website, www.amplify10.ai, and a little bit about Amplify10, it is AI powered sales enablement delivered at the point of execution, so AI to ignite 10X sales performance.

I appreciate you sharing that. And I think, everyone watching is trying to figure out, there’s so much frothiness and so much noise around AI, so much innovation, where do you start? what are you challenged with? What are those constraints? Where are those pivot points? So good conversation today, Joe. Thanks again for joining us.

Joe: Yeah, I appreciate it, Matt. Great to see you.

Matt: Well, thank you everyone for watching. Thank you everyone for being here. If you missed this or want to see it again, we’ll have this available on demand at salespipelineradio.com. Thanks again, everyone, for joining and watching. We’ll see you next week on Sales Pipeline Radio. Take care.

 

Matt interviews the best and brightest minds in sales and Marketing.  If you would like to be a guest on Sales Pipeline Radio send an email to Sheena@heinzmarketing.com.