Ann Davis on the state of sales orgs today

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Ann Davis, Crunchbase’s SVP of sales, has forgotten more about selling than most people will learn. With 30 years of experience in SaaS and tech sales at companies like iPipeline, Looker, and Google, Davis has watched the sales world change.

She recently spoke with Revenue Brew about the latest changes in the sales world, why revenue departments should, and will, start to lead strategy, and, of course, where AI fits in.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

What are the top three variables you think are causing flux in the sales world right now?

First and foremost, you can’t ignore AI because it’s everywhere, and I think that although so much of it is dependent upon the data that it’s built upon, there’s lots of positive ways it’s been implemented.

The second area is just the buyers shifting…the fact that buyers are using AI, and there’s so much of the research that is being done by individual buyers before they even talk to you.

Lastly, there’s just so much noise in the marketplace. As an executive, I get hundreds of emails a day, and I read the subject line and hit “delete,” and if the subject line piques my interest, I open it.

As the customer journey becomes increasingly complex, do you feel like the revenue organization and revenue leaders will feel emboldened to help create strategy instead of simply executing it?

When you work with these large organizations that are so structured, you don’t have that flexibility, and I think it’s showing in some of the results. So absolutely, my sales team and sales leaders are on the forefront and helping us figure out our sales strategy around particular verticals or use cases all the time. That’s something that very much needs to become more of the norm.

With CROs being tasked with leading AI implementation and accruing a vast amount of consumer knowledge, do you think they will start to emerge as popular choices to be CEO?

I would look at people like Tom Siebel and Larry Ellison. All of these great leaders were sales people. I’ve always felt that some of the best leaders did come up through sales. I’ve learned in my career that customers buy your vision and they purchase your products.

Because speed is so important in dealmaking, it seems sales teams have had to embrace AI faster than other departments. How do you feel they are doing with these implementations?

It’s a mixed bag, to be honest. There’s so much automation and speed that we can take out of the sales cycle if you use it in the right way. But we’re scratching the surface ourselves here, but definitely trying a lot of different things and finding success too.

Do you think sales leaders will start to rethink the actual structure of their teams because of AI?

Absolutely. Why on earth would I have this expensive person processing these inbound leads? Let’s just point the AI SDRs at that group. If they’re coming in because they want to buy Crunchbase, then they’re going to interact, whether it’s an AI SDR or a real SDR. So that’s an easy spot to place it.

If companies are looking to replace a job like an SDR with AI, what do you think that means for entry-level employees?

There’s always the need to build the skill sets around cold outreach. I like the thought [of] how that [entry-level] role develops, where the individual can work with the AI in multiple manners, but still build the foundation of what they need to become a good account executive.

One place where AI seems to be making waves is in outreach. Not only can it support volume, but it is starting to get better at personalization. What is your vision for how AI will affect the future of outreach?

When you can marry the visual signs of intent, that we know you or someone at your company is interested in this with the outreach, I think it just hits to the right place at the right time.