How AI is putting a premium on strategic sales

AI is shaking up the white-collar job market, and bots are upping the ante for strategic sales. The technology can supercharge outreach to ultra-lucrative prospects, but it’s not a silver bullet.

Across sectors, industry pros told Revenue Brew that clients still want a go-to contact who can answer questions, provide credibility, and navigate the ins-and-outs of a high-stakes deal. Strategic sales tends to focus on providing that long-term value. LLMs can offer sellers and prospects a wealth of information—but personal relationships aren’t going out of style.

“The number one thing that humans can do better than AI is be human,” said C. Lee Smith, founder of and CEO of SalesFuel, a sales intelligence firm. “Any job that’s customer-facing really requires a high level of emotional intelligence. People still want to buy from people that they know and trust.”

Clients want critical thinking

We’ve discussed how AI is changing the trajectory of some sales job functions, but it’s also altering the overall composition of the discipline itself. The sales industry is largely split into two categories: Strategic sales are honed over months- or yearslong relationships with multiple stakeholders (yes, apparently lifetime customer value, or LTV, isn’t dead just yet), while transactional sales are quick and sometimes don’t include a human seller.

AI is changing the game for strategic deals. Chatbots have made it easier for customers to compare services, background-check brands, and understand their own needs in the market. x But Smith said clients with cash on the table crave sellers with critical thinking and risk assessment skills. x LLMs can’t replicate human nuance: 69% of B2B buyers said they still prefer to validate AI-generated insights with sales reps, a recent study from the research and consulting firm Gartner found.

“The higher the stakes, the more likely they are to want to deal with a salesperson,” he said. “I don’t need a salesperson to buy a pack of gum, but I do need a salesperson if I’m going to build a multi-million dollar building.”

With so many choices, experts said both B2B and B2C clients are primed to prioritize ROI over brand loyalty—read more on ROI concerns here, here and here. It presents a challenge to strategic sellers.

Andrea Grodnitzky, chief marketing officer at Richardson Sales Performance, said chatbots can help any seller sound informed, making research less of a competitive advantage. Meanwhile, she feels the bar for interpersonal interactions is higher than it used to be.

“Customers are not maintaining relationships anymore because their salesperson is responsive or familiar, or they get along with them and they’re easy to work with. That stuff is expected today,” she said. “What customers are looking for in valuable relationships is commercial expertise and somebody who has the ability to consistently help them improve their business.”

Sellers need people skills

In a rapidly evolving field, it can be easy for sellers to question their skills.

Agents have made it possible to automate much of the background work of sales jobs: Writing emails, organizing market research, creating presentations—even cold-calling. Robert Blaisdell, VP and chief of research for the Gartner Sales Research Practice, doesn’t see it as a bad thing. He said AI-streamlined workflows can give sellers more time and energy to be creative.

“If it’s done right, AI can actually allow you to be more human than you’ve ever been,” he said. “It’s eliminating distractions and taking things off your plate that don’t add value.”

As the old adage goes: People buy from people (you can read more on that from Sam McKenna) and in the AI era, this seems more relevant to those higher-stakes purchases. Most of the transactions people make day-to-day don’t require hours of coffee chats and pitch meetings. Retail sales—clothing, home decor, streaming subscriptions, and lifestyle products—are typically made by buyers clicking through a website. Bots can make it simpler for customers to find the product they’re looking for, and intent signal tracking means companies can anticipate behavior and adjust algorithms in real time.

The need for personalized sales, be they transactional or strategic, is becoming more apparent. Companies are making choices about where it makes sense to foster long-term client relationships and where they feel comfortable with churn. It gives newbies and seasoned vets a lot to digest.

Especially in bigger-ticket settings, sharp people skills will set sellers up for success in the information age.

As Smith put it: “If you sell like a robot, you’re going to be replaced by a robot.”