Episode 92
Don't Panic, AI Is Already Here for Your Sales Team
You know the feeling: everyone else seems to have AI figured out, and you're the only one who hasn't. If you run a business with a sales team, that fear is real — and AI is already in sales, right now.
Dennis Collins, Leah Bumphrey, and Paul Boomer (author of The Secret Formulas of Artificial Intelligence) cut through the panic. AI isn't replacing your best salespeople — it can't read a room, it has no judgment, no intuition. But it can take the work they hate: proposals, inventory, spreadsheets, first-call intake. Hand it the boring stuff so your people can do what only humans can.
You'll learn:
The one question that tells you if an AI vendor is worth your money — get this wrong and you'll waste thousands
How to talk to your sales team about AI without their heads exploding
The "business intelligence" hire every small business needs right now
Why "buying AI for defense" is a trap
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Transcript
How soon is AI coming for sales?
Speaker:How soon will AI be
Speaker:able to replace sales?
Speaker:It's already happening.
Speaker:(Music)
Speaker:I'm late to the game.
Speaker:It's passed me by.
Speaker:I'm not techie enough.
Speaker:I can't figure this out.
Speaker:I know I got to do this.
Speaker:I don't have any idea what to do.
Speaker:They did it finally by getting honest
Speaker:with themselves and what they didn't know
Speaker:and decided to do something about it.
Speaker:So today, in today's episode, we want to
Speaker:talk about one particular element of AI.
Speaker:And we are blessed to have, as one of our
Speaker:co-hosts, the one and only Paul Boomer,
Speaker:he wrote the book on AI, secret formulas
Speaker:of artificial intelligence.
Speaker:And he is the man that we're going to
Speaker:rely on today to help us through this
Speaker:question, Paul Boomer.
Speaker:I came out of the sales world.
Speaker:I have been a sales manager, a sales
Speaker:trainer, a sales coach for years.
Speaker:How soon is AI coming for sales?
Speaker:How soon will AI be
Speaker:able to replace sales?
Speaker:It's already happening.
Speaker:Oh, I'm late.
Speaker:See, I told you I was late.
Speaker:It's already happened.
Speaker:I'm late.
Speaker:The challenge with AI
Speaker:is it's so frickin' fast.
Speaker:Yeah, I've noticed that.
Speaker:Yeah, it is fast.
Speaker:It's already in sales in
Speaker:many different aspects.
Speaker:So as a small
Speaker:business owner, what do I...
Speaker:First of all, there's
Speaker:a people issue here.
Speaker:I've got sales people that I love.
Speaker:I've trained.
Speaker:I don't want to lose them.
Speaker:But right now, when I start messing
Speaker:around with AI, the first thing they ask
Speaker:me, "Hey, boss, is this it for me?
Speaker:I'm out of here?"
Speaker:How do we deal with the people problem as
Speaker:well as the technical problem?
Speaker:That is a really good question because
Speaker:I've seen it so many times that an owner
Speaker:goes in and starts playing with AI and
Speaker:doesn't have a conversation with their
Speaker:employees first, saying, "Hey, I'm just
Speaker:playing around with
Speaker:this right now, guys."
Speaker:Because when you don't have a
Speaker:conversation, when you don't communicate,
Speaker:people think the worst.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:But before you even jump into AI
Speaker:as an implementing it in your business,
Speaker:have a conversation with your staff of
Speaker:what you're going to be doing.
Speaker:And you know what?
Speaker:You may actually have some feedback from
Speaker:them and they might give you an idea of
Speaker:how to use AI even more.
Speaker:And let's remember that AI is limited in
Speaker:its responses, in what it can do.
Speaker:I've been a professional salesperson for
Speaker:most of my career and there
Speaker:are aspects of it I loathe.
Speaker:What I don't loathe is the
Speaker:opportunity to talk to people.
Speaker:I don't loathe the opportunity to sit
Speaker:down and figure out what it is that they
Speaker:need, have a conversation,
Speaker:dig deep, get to know them.
Speaker:But the parts that I don't like are
Speaker:probably the parts that AI can be given
Speaker:to free me up for
Speaker:what I'm really good at.
Speaker:But let me tag on to
Speaker:what you just said, Leah.
Speaker:I am of the opinion that as we speak
Speaker:today, and Paul just kind of said this,
Speaker:AI is having
Speaker:conversations with real customers.
Speaker:It is having intelligent conversations.
Speaker:It's responding to what they say and it
Speaker:sounds like a human
Speaker:being, right or wrong?
Speaker:I disagree.
Speaker:I just disagree.
Speaker:I think it's trying and I think that if
Speaker:and I'm not suggesting that it won't get
Speaker:there, but it will only get there based
Speaker:on me or Paul or you or you who's
Speaker:listening, feeding it the information
Speaker:that it needs to and that information
Speaker:changes all the time.
Speaker:Home Depot has recently started a program
Speaker:that they've been testing in 30 markets
Speaker:where they're actually using AI as the
Speaker:receptionist, so to speak, for people
Speaker:calling into a store.
Speaker:And the reason, and they had this
Speaker:conversation with their employees, the
Speaker:reason why they're doing it is to allow
Speaker:the consumer to get information quicker.
Speaker:And you know what the
Speaker:employees are saying?
Speaker:They're actually enjoying it more, the
Speaker:fact that there is an AI between them and
Speaker:the consumer, because it does free them
Speaker:up internally, the employees, to do the
Speaker:things that matter with people who are
Speaker:right in front of them.
Speaker:OK, so yeah, I'm aware and you guys are
Speaker:aware too of an HVAC company that
Speaker:actually uses AI as their intake.
Speaker:When the phone call comes in from a lead,
Speaker:there's an AI bot that's
Speaker:having that conversation.
Speaker:And I've heard it and
Speaker:I've listened to it.
Speaker:It's pretty damn good.
Speaker:It's very it sounds very believable.
Speaker:So that's a small step from that to
Speaker:having the AI actually.
Speaker:You know, we've we've all written
Speaker:sales role plays with AI and I believe AI
Speaker:can do a live role
Speaker:play with a salesperson.
Speaker:Am I right?
Speaker:You can train, you can train
Speaker:an AI bot to have a role play.
Speaker:So who needs a sales coach anymore?
Speaker:Who needs a stranger?
Speaker:Everybody.
Speaker:Everybody needs one because AI here's
Speaker:there is a tipping point where AI cannot
Speaker:do something, cannot go beyond.
Speaker:The thing that we have as
Speaker:humans is intuition and love.
Speaker:Those two things play a
Speaker:critical role in communications.
Speaker:AI will never have that.
Speaker:So without intuition and love, how is it
Speaker:going to be able to read
Speaker:somebody's body language?
Speaker:How is it going to be able to read what
Speaker:actually needs to be said next and not
Speaker:what's mathematically correct?
Speaker:Interesting.
Speaker:Ah.
Speaker:And that's what goes into another episode
Speaker:that we had, which talks about the
Speaker:information you feed it matters.
Speaker:If you don't feed it information, it's
Speaker:going to pull it from whatever and
Speaker:whatever it thinks or whatever it thinks.
Speaker:You say that on every podcast, Luke.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So let's dive one step deeper here.
Speaker:So it may not ever replace the actual
Speaker:human salesperson, but both of you
Speaker:reference there are things sales-related
Speaker:that it can and should do.
Speaker:Let's get specific with our small
Speaker:business owners here.
Speaker:What part of--for instance,
Speaker:can it design a sales process?
Speaker:Can it evaluate your sales process?
Speaker:Can it evaluate your KPIs?
Speaker:What should we be asking AI to do for us?
Speaker:Well, that's a whole other question.
Speaker:Yeah, that's a whole other question.
Speaker:But you're assuming, though,
Speaker:that the calls are recorded.
Speaker:You know, Paul and I know for sure that
Speaker:if you record actual sales conversations,
Speaker:Paul Boomer has actually designed a
Speaker:prompts that can dissect that
Speaker:conversation by any manner you like.
Speaker:Paul, be more specific.
Speaker:I'm just giving a--you
Speaker:know what I'm talking about.
Speaker:Well, Dennis, I'm trying to think of what
Speaker:angle to come at this from, because there
Speaker:are so many--and that's
Speaker:the challenge.
Speaker:So, yes, you can use AI to analyze any
Speaker:phone conversation, any
Speaker:recorded conversation.
Speaker:And there are different levels of
Speaker:recording--or not
Speaker:recording, but of analyzation.
Speaker:And so many companies right now--and this
Speaker:is a trap for
Speaker:small--for any size business.
Speaker:There are many companies out there who
Speaker:are claiming, "Hey, we use AI
Speaker:to analyze our sales process."
Speaker:I'm sorry, but anybody who has been using
Speaker:AI for six months can
Speaker:probably design that.
Speaker:And it's very easy to market that.
Speaker:And people who don't understand
Speaker:what's behind the curtains can get sucked
Speaker:into something that really just sucks.
Speaker:It looks like it's great and such.
Speaker:It looks like it operates.
Speaker:It looks like it gives you the
Speaker:information that you want.
Speaker:But it's actually analyzing it, thinking
Speaker:about it, looking at the whole picture as
Speaker:you see it as a human.
Speaker:You have a sales process.
Speaker:Does this analyzation AI bot, whatever,
Speaker:actually understand how you sell?
Speaker:Why you sell?
Speaker:So, just as a fair warning, be careful
Speaker:who you get in bed with when it comes to
Speaker:AI, especially sales analyzation.
Speaker:Fair warning.
Speaker:Question.
Speaker:Tell our small business owners here, what
Speaker:should they be
Speaker:looking for in that regard?
Speaker:How do they determine, you
Speaker:know, they're all out there.
Speaker:Who should we be partnering with?
Speaker:How do we know?
Speaker:Ask the primary question, "How much
Speaker:customization do I
Speaker:have as a business owner?"
Speaker:That is the number one thing.
Speaker:If you only have one or two
Speaker:things that you can customize,
Speaker:or if you're limited to a certain amount
Speaker:of characters about us or
Speaker:about this company field,
Speaker:run.
Speaker:Run for the hills.
Speaker:Because what that AI is going to do, it's
Speaker:going to assume so many things that
Speaker:you're going to get false positives or
Speaker:false negatives or
Speaker:negatives, false or whatever.
Speaker:You're going to get a lot of crap.
Speaker:You're just going to get falsehoods.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:and I notice a lot of people
Speaker:doing it for defensive purposes.
Speaker:I'm going to make a--I'm going to
Speaker:purchase an AI system for defensive
Speaker:purposes just to say I did it.
Speaker:And they have no idea what to do with it.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:again, words of wisdom
Speaker:that we must be aware of.
Speaker:Paul Boomer, how--when I start
Speaker:talking about AI and sales, most of my
Speaker:salespeople get very nervous.
Speaker:What should I tell them--what should I
Speaker:tell them would be the benefit to them?
Speaker:What's in it for them for me to adopt AI
Speaker:in certain areas of the sales process?
Speaker:Time?
Speaker:Money.
Speaker:What can you give to
Speaker:AI that's repeatable,
Speaker:that will save you time before you go out
Speaker:and touch somebody in a phone
Speaker:conversation or one-on-one?
Speaker:That didn't sound right.
Speaker:Touch somebody--no, that
Speaker:didn't sound right at all.
Speaker:Whoa.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:That may be illegal.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:Well, not--you can't say that anymore.
Speaker:That's illegal.
Speaker:No, you can't.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:We're trying to--so-- We
Speaker:know what you mean, Paul.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:I'm thinking in my head, you
Speaker:know, going a few steps ahead.
Speaker:What was the question again?
Speaker:The
Speaker:question was, how do we properly and
Speaker:effectively clue our sales team into the
Speaker:fact that we are looking for AI
Speaker:assistance in the sales process without
Speaker:having them--their
Speaker:heads explode, you know?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Well, first, you have--you as an owner
Speaker:have to get comfortable with
Speaker:why are you wanting to do it?
Speaker:I mean, that's the first thing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, time and money,
Speaker:I think, as you said.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I believe it can save me
Speaker:time and save me money.
Speaker:And then have the conversation--have an
Speaker:honest conversation, folks, with people.
Speaker:And ask them, "Hey, I think we need--I
Speaker:know we need to start using AI to help
Speaker:save us time and money."
Speaker:How do you, as sales
Speaker:coach, as sales trainer, as
Speaker:sales manager, as--all those titles, how
Speaker:do you see AI working for you?
Speaker:There's a good--I like that question.
Speaker:Put on them.
Speaker:Of course, a lot of people--again, it's
Speaker:still very new to a lot of people.
Speaker:They may not have an answer to that.
Speaker:But the fact that you asked the question
Speaker:is really where the payoff is.
Speaker:You cared--yeah.
Speaker:There.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay,
Speaker:that's a great summary, Leah.
Speaker:Paul, your summary of today's episode.
Speaker:You know, I had one
Speaker:earlier and I forgot it.
Speaker:It'll come to you.
Speaker:I'll give you mine.
Speaker:As a guy who has been in the sales
Speaker:picture for decades,
Speaker:I, of all people, would be one you might
Speaker:suspect would push against AI.
Speaker:But I have learned to
Speaker:make friends with AI. I
Speaker:have seen how it can
Speaker:work in sales applications.
Speaker:I have used it almost every day to solve
Speaker:some type of a sales issue that either I
Speaker:was having or a client was
Speaker:having and I like what I see.
Speaker:And the more I learn about AI, the more I
Speaker:trust it and the more I know how to use
Speaker:it to solve some very tough sales
Speaker:problems, but also to automatize, as Leah
Speaker:said, those things none of us like to do.
Speaker:And we got a long list of those.
Speaker:So maybe we start as a business owner,
Speaker:start with those things that nobody wants
Speaker:to do that are repetitive and figure out
Speaker:how AI can help you with that.
Speaker:And now, Paul Boomer.
Speaker:I just want to try and
Speaker:say this word, automatize.
Speaker:Hey, I can say it.
Speaker:Automatize.
Speaker:Automatize, I didn't
Speaker:think I could say it.
Speaker:Hey, we can automatize.
Speaker:Let's make a song about automatize.
Speaker:Oh, there you go.
Speaker:Hey, why don't you use
Speaker:AI to create that song?
Speaker:There you go, another use of AI.
Speaker:There you go, perfect.
Speaker:By the way, it writes
Speaker:some pretty damn good lyrics.
Speaker:It can, it can.
Speaker:For any business who
Speaker:wants to jump in with AI, which I think
Speaker:should be everybody,
Speaker:if you have any doubts or
Speaker:any concerns or any questions
Speaker:and you don't have time,
Speaker:either A, hand that project, ongoing
Speaker:project off to an employee who wants to
Speaker:learn and wants to use AI,
Speaker:treat them as your
Speaker:business intelligence employee.
Speaker:You need somebody internally to be that
Speaker:person who's going to be thinking about
Speaker:AI and how to use it
Speaker:or how not to use it.
Speaker:Or hire somebody and a
Speaker:consultant who can do the same thing.
Speaker:You need to have somebody on your team in
Speaker:whatever capacity who has your best
Speaker:interest in mind and understands how AI
Speaker:can and cannot work.
Speaker:Great advice.
Speaker:There's the one tidbit that everybody
Speaker:ought to listen to,
Speaker:what Boomer just said.
Speaker:That is stupendous advice.
Speaker:So, hey, that's gonna wrap for this
Speaker:episode of Connect and Convert.
Speaker:Yes, it's been all about AI and how sales
Speaker:will be impacted, is
Speaker:being impacted by AI.
Speaker:Please listen to other
Speaker:episodes that we've had about AI.
Speaker:We have a whole category of stuff on AI.
Speaker:So you'll be interested in hearing some
Speaker:of our other episodes
Speaker:of Connect and Convert.
Speaker:We'll see you next time
Speaker:for Paul, Leah and Dennis.
Speaker:See you next time.
Speaker:Bye bye.
