SIPPIO brought me in to speak at their Fleet Week event for vendors, partners and customers. SIPPIO is launching a new channel program. Every time I do a talk, I create an original deck. Not ChatGTP, but me.
The trends in the Industry are similar to what most pundits and analysts see/talk about, but on Main Street where the sales action happens, I am noticing that people don’t realize it is 2025. They think it is pre-2020. They still sell the same way (and the same stuff) despite that Buyers are changing. Buyers are now more often Gen Z or Millennials – borne with Internet, smartphones, social media and cloud. They may not be technologically savvy, but they want that iPhone experience. And, quite frankly, most service providers don’t deliver an experience that is anything as intuitive or user friendly as an iPhone. Heck, most don’t even deliver an Android experience. They mainly deliver a Windows 3.1 experience.
In an age of AI writing code, why is the user design and the user interface so 2003?
But let’s get back to selling and marketing.
Google is laying off thousands from their SEARCH division. Let that sink in. AI – doesn’t matter what flavor – CoPilot, GPT, Gemini, Siri, Alexa – is taking over search. What does that do to the SEO industry? What does that do to marketing departments? What happens to all those businesses relying so heavy on Google Adwords for lead gen? POOF!
Our industry – telecommunications – pushes product, especially replacement product for less money.
DSL to cable modem to FTTH. PRI to SIP Trunking. POTS Replacement. PBX Replacement. T1 to Ethernet. Everything over the Internet!
Moreover, the industry thinks technology (and the acronym) are products: SIP, UCaaS, CPaaS, CCaaS, AI, vCon, MDR, SASE. Buyers – for the most part – do NOT search for these terms. Mostly, just the vendors and partners understand these terms. And now with AI prompting those SEO stuffed press releases and those ambiguous web pages are going to be useless. Without clearly defining benefits and outcomes, your company will never be talked about by AI. Read that again!
Never before has the CONTENT become SO major league important.
My buddy @PhilGerb wrote this: “clarity is essential. If your audience doesn’t understand what you’re offering or why they need it, they won’t buy. A clear, consistent message is key to success in sales and leadership.”
CX and AI are now discussed in the board room. That wasn’t happening 3 years ago.
Amazon’s CEO announced:
“AI isn’t just changing jobs. – It’s replacing them.
This is a little more than warehouse automation. – This creative, admin, ops, product, marketing. – AI won’t just take low skill. – It’ll take repetitive thinking, whatever level it sits at.”
I feel bad for Gen Z and future generations of workers. What jobs will there be?
That being said, as a Partner, you better start learning AI.
- Ask Gemini to research your prospects. (Research is key.)
- Apollo can find similar companies and their contacts. (Prospecting)
- Have Siri put a sales cadence in your calendar.
- Let Claude populate the CRM.
- Mine the gold from your email and call transcripts!
Cold calling has been ruined by robocalls and spam. That led to Google/Android and Apple implementing strict call screening procedures. Getting people that don’t know you to answer the phone is very difficult. What does that do to SDR roles?
Sales was hard, but it is going to get harder.
Your network was never more important. Your sales skills need to be polished. Sales fundamentals are important.
For marketers, the content has to explain how buyers benefit in concrete terms. It will need to answer questions that buyers would ask. That’s different than what we have been doing. Everything is shifting. Who the Buyer is. Why they Buy. What they Buy. How they Buy. What hasn’t changed is how we market and sell. And that needs to change most of all to meet the needs of the market.
Need sales training? Need sales planning or sales strategy? Call the RAD-INFO INC office at (813) 963-5884
