NCET Biz Tips: Protect Your Job from Artificial Intelligence

NCET helps you explore business and technology

by Clay Hall

Clay Hall

We keep hearing about artificial intelligence taking over our jobs, but that can’t happen to you, right? Well, maybe. Recent research suggests transactional salespeople are being replaced by technology in droves. A 2018 Entrepreneur article indicates more than 20% of B2B phone salespeople will be out of work by 2020. Another article in Forbes takes a much more sobering view of the future disruption artificial intelligence will cause for B2B salespeople. If you’re simply taking orders and processing transactions, you’ll soon be out of business. How do you avoid this doomsday you ask? Build relationships and create value in those relationships.

Think for a moment about your top customers. How well do you know them? How well do you know their business? Do you know their vertical markets, their brands, their key metrics, their top competitors, their top customers, their growth and expansion opportunities, threats to their business? 

Now think for a moment about a customer where you’re only scratching the surface – what will it take to make them a top customer? A few ideas to get you started include reading your customer’s blog and social posts, reading the CEO’s letter in the most recent annual report, reading their press releases and identifying their notable new hires. You might even consider talking to some of their customers. 

You create value by asking better questions and thinking critically about your customer’s business. Positioning your products and services to help meet your clients’ stated business objectives is far more powerful than simply quoting a price. Sharing an article about your customer’s business, or about their industry shows you’re paying attention, and that you care about them. You can also share ideas you have from your experience to help your clients reach their objectives. 

As it’s been said repeatedly, price is only an issue in the absence of value. If you win on price, you lose on price, and no professional salesperson has ever flourished in a quote and hope environment. 

Regular business reviews also create value, while giving you an opportunity to share what’s working and what isn’t. This allows you to course-correct before it’s too late to save the relationship. You can also demonstrate your mastery of their business in a non-threatening environment, talk about recent projects and success over the prior period while planning upcoming projects requiring your involvement. This is the perfect opportunity for your clients to share changes in their business, new hires, expansion plans, new products, and new equipment investments. 

As you look towards a successful 2020, learn everything you can about your customers and prospects, create value in your relationships, and conduct regular business reviews with your top clients. I promise you won’t be replaced by a talking robot. 

Clay Hall is the Vice President of Owner Success at AIA Corporation (www.aiacommunity.com) and NCET’s VP of Podcasts. NCET is a member-supported non-profit that produces educational and networking events to help people explore business and technology.  (www.NCET.org)