Cold Calling Is Dead Because of A.I....Supposedly...Maybe...

A.I. callers are perfect, fast, and don't take breaks...I guess

Author

Wes Schaeffer
July 09, 2024

Not a day goes by that some Holistic Divine Trauma-Informed ADHD Coach For SaaS Bingo sales reps with something to sell you without appearing to be selling you tries to sell you on the idea that…

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Cold calling is dead because of (insert reason) [the internet & email in the 90s]…[cell phones in the 90s and 2000s]…[Google in the 2000s]…[social media in the 2010s]…[cold email in the 2020s]…[A.I. today].”

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Cold calling can suck, just like running on a treadmill and doing pushups and drinking water instead of a sweet soda.

So, we fall for the "lose weight without dieting" and "use AI or die" promises.

People are like water: we seek the path of least resistance.

Which is why it's easier to sell a CBD gummy than a multivitamin.

“If this (Amazon) best-seller tells me that cold-calling is dead, then by golly, it’s dead, so I’ll stop doing that and buy his course on AI, and that machine will do my calls for me.”

Maybe he’s right, and maybe I’m wrong. I mean, it could happen. One time, I actually thought I was wrong…but I was mistaken…but I digress. Now, where was I?

If we follow the goo-roo’s logic, direct mail is now dead because of email, right?

And in-person meetings and conferences are dead because of Zoom, right?

And radio and TV and billboard ads and NASCAR sponsorships are dead because of PPC, right?

And PPC is dead because of SEO, right…or is it the other way around?

And video killed the radio star, right?

But before you call me a dinosaur, understand a few things:

  1. I come from an analytical/scientific/engineering background in college and the Air Force from 1988 to 1997.

  2. I’ve sold tech and SaaS since June of 2000.

  3. I enjoy and appreciate and leverage and recommend good technology to this day, such as here.

So I’m not some Zig Ziglar re-tread looking to sell you some cookware or encyclopedias.

I just know humans.

And humans are predictable...Humans are social…Humans are spiritual beings.

We forget what you tell us, but we never forget how you made us feel.

Software and regulations will be released that hurt AI calls, but they will happen anyway.

But a few things stand in the way of AI taking over the sales world and putting all entry-level sales reps on the street tomorrow:

  1. They must be programmed or at least perfected by a human that understands humans. (Good luck with that.)

  2. They must be programmed by a human that understands sales. (Better luck with that.)

  3. If your AI calls sound like every other robot, the only way to differentiate yourself is to put more human, more manual processes into your workflows and cadences.

  4. As soon as your prospect learns you tricked them, you will learn the meaning behind

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“Wrath hath no fury like a prospect scorned and lied to by AI.”

Some smart sales dude…I think he goes by Wes

So, as always, the answer is to invest in yourself and invest in your people.

You must be better so you can program the AI…or hire the one who will train the AI…and tweak the AI…and hire and train the people who will make the calls until the AI is perfect…and who can keep making the calls if anti-AI software and/or laws come out…and hire the people who will take over the sale after the prospecting call is made…and create some boutique/bespoke/white-glove sales company that specializes in H2H—Human to Human—sales.

How do you get better? Click the links below.

Market like you mean it. Now go sell something.

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