The following post is courtesy of Diane Harrison who is principal and owner of Panegyric Marketing, a strategic marketing communications firm founded in 2002 specializing in alternative assets.
In a world showing ever-increasing reliance on all forms of AI support, there are good reasons NOT to lean too heavily on Alexa, ChatGPT, or anything Meta as the easy answer to your sales problems. We can all agree that AI as a data processing and synthesizing tool is extremely useful, and can assist both business and personal decision-making with its numerous abilities to support the digestation of large bits of information. However, the actions that follow such data sourcing and compilation are often dependent upon human rationale, particularly in the complex area of sales.
Marketing and successful selling will ultimately always come down to the interpersonal skills and service that only humans can deliver. Here then, are some reminders of why fund managers need to invest in and support their talented sales people.
ABILITY TO READ THE ROOM
There’s always much to be learned from what isn’t said and from a myriad of nonverbal clues that occur in every sales meeting. The best sales people take continual note of how information is being received, the emotional climate that forms during the meeting, and course correct the sales presentation accordingly. Do the individuals look bored or distracted? Are they avoiding eye contact when asked a question? Are they leaning back in their chairs? All are concerning signals that a good sales person will work to correct.
FOSTERING A SENSE OF LOYALTY
A large part of long-term sales success is the building out of a trusted relationship with clients. When people believe in the integrity of a salesperson, they are more receptive to listening to a sales pitch. While AI can form targeted marketing lists and calculate probable closings from the data population, it can’t form the interpersonal connections that a skilled salesperson can.
ESTABLISHING A STRONGER DIFFERENTIATION FACTOR WITH CLIENTS
A large component of a successful offering comes from brand loyalty. When a reputation of delivering excellence, high quality, and consistency is present, clients are predisposed to believe new offerings from the business will bring similar experiences. The brand differentiation element becomes more important as a decision-making factor for clients who have a number of largely equivalent business offerings to consider. Salespeople who embody the brand factors can literally bring the company to life in the process of selling.
BUILDING A TEAM APPROACH TO PERSONAL SERVICE AND EXPERTISE ACROSS SERVICES
Many businesses provide not just a service or a solution, but also an extended range of support during the life cycle of each client. There’s the sales outreach, the new client on boarding process, the customer service and client relations that are part of a long-term relationship, and other communications from senior management. Each area is an opportunity to reinforce the brand goals and experience for clients. AI cannot deliver the interpersonal level of this expectation that clients have shown they value.
THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HUMAN JUDGEMENT
In deep client relationships, critical thinking, strategic direction, and bespoke solutions will always be the highest-ticket value activities that work to solidify client satisfaction and loyalty. This is the ineffable advantage humans have over AI. In our complex world, the simple truth is that human still hold the upper hand over machines.
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