On ChatGPT and Personalization at Scale
We’re hearing a lot about ChatGPT these days. The technology is either thrilling or terrifying, depending on your point of view. The idea that there are infinitely efficient brains out there doing the same work we’re doing is quite a proposition.
I was asked recently about how I think it can/will affect the work that salespeople do. I haven’t played with the tool enough on my own, and it’s still way too early in the game to make definitive statements, but it’s clear that AI is a force to be reckoned with. It’s not going away, and it’s only going to get better.
To the extent that I've played with some of the AI tools (and been disappointed with them), I think there's potential for taking some of the heavy lift off of salespeople, especially "the hard work few salespeople will do that make the selling part easier." That's a good/bad thing.
On one hand, you don’t have to think about what you’re going to say next in that cadence. You show up, enter a few commands, and in a few minutes, you get a uniquely crafted, contextual message that you can copy, paste, and send.
That’s going to remove A LOT of call reluctance, so expect your mail and voicemail inboxes to be much fuller very soon.
On the other hand, there's still the "garbage in, garbage out" phenomenon. From what I understand, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but AI is scouring the world’s combined knowledge and basing its thought process on what’s coming up most commonly.
You’ve seen what’s out there. Quite frankly, you’re reading me right now because it’s different from what’s out there. Sales AI is currently championing mediocrity… at scale.
I looked at one tool recently, and every last one of its suggested emails started with “I hope this email finds you well.” Just because it’s commonly being done doesn’t mean it’s the best (or even the right) thing to do.
When AI gets to the level where it's reasoning in contrarian terms and can get to the point of thought leadership based on experience, then we'll have a different conversation. For right now, sellers are willing to adopt this kind of tech as-is because, mediocre or not, it’s still better than what they’re doing.
Maybe I'm speaking out of school here, and please enlighten me if you know better. I’m certain that this technology is not going anywhere, but be aware of the current limitations.
As far as personalization at scale (to the extent that it’s NOT an oxymoron), I think it’s a step in the right direction. It’s going to allow a lot of sellers to send more relevant messaging to more prospects, which should be better than what I currently see.
Is this a threat to your job? My stance is the same now as it always has been. If you don’t want to be replaced, don’t be replaceable. Do better work, make better human connections, and stop trying to be a machine.
You bring things to the table that a robot will never be able to. Having access to more information does not make you smarter. Knowing how to use the information you have is always much more valuable. You can use it to provide context and perspective for the people you’re with, which shapes and guides the discussion. It goes much further than the facts and prompts coded into a machine.
Of course, AI is going to improve, and in the wrong hands, it could be very dangerous. I think a lot of leverage is going to be held by those who lean to work with it rather than against it. How about having the world’s collective knowledge at your fingertips and also being clever enough to create the context I mentioned earlier? You could be that seller. Will you decide to be?
I’m bullish on humans. I don’t think we’re headed to a dystopian WALL-E existence where we refuse to do anything more strenuous than sit in a recliner all day. We’re good at doing hard things, especially those of us who choose to do them on purpose. This is just another fun challenge to lean into.
