Almost 2 years ago, I wrote a post on organization vs automation for sales and marketing, and if I may say so, I think it stands up pretty well. Since then, AI-slop has only proliferated, making more noise, more attention pollution, which makes human-to-human interaction that much more important.
As an introvert who doesn’t like sales, I’ve tried all kinds of technological automations to get out of talking to people. (And there are some businesses where you don’t have to talk to people– these are great for automation.) With AI as powerful as it is, the allure is strong.
But if you’re in a relationship business, you’re in a conversation business, which means you need to do 2 things:
- figure out exactly who you want to talk to (you don’t have time to talk to everyone, and you want the right people to know they’re in the right place)
- talk to them
Use whatever organization and/or automation you need to be having those conversations. As I wrote in the earlier post:
When you’re considering new technological capabilities, ask yourself if you’re trying to get out of, or into the right conversations.
Especially if you rely on introductions and referrals, make sure you are cultivating your network with conversations. Strong referral partners don’t just come from emails and DMs, although if you do them right, they can lead to great conversations. (Join me Thursday at noon CT for a webinar workshop on how your CRM can support you in nurturing your network. Register here.)