In 1965, it was widely believed that automation and computers would cut the American work week to 20 hours by the year 2000. Well, that didn’t happen. Computers don’t allow us to work fewer hours. Instead, technology lets us get more done within the 40-hour work week. Organizations that implement the latest technology position themselves to pull ahead of the competition. Representing Packerland Websites, I spoke at a Green Bay Innovation Group event, “Sales Rewired: Innovative Selling for the 5P Industries.” I presented “The AI Ladder” and described five levels of working with AI for sales professionals. These levels range from simple questions to an entire sales process. Moving up this ladder creates value, as AI multiplies your efforts and saves time.
|
Level |
Description |
Examples |
|---|---|---|
|
You ask, AI responds |
Google-like questions, writing/revising emails |
|
|
Investigate |
Market research, competitor research |
|
|
AI helps manage your work |
Meeting notes → action items, project plans, follow-up lists, reminders, preparing agendas, tracking commitments, creating first drafts |
|
|
AI performs substantial pieces of work |
Build a marketing campaign, prepare a presentation, create a financial analysis |
|
|
AI is given an ongoing responsibility |
Monitor incoming leads, qualify them, enter them into CRM, send appropriate follow-ups |
Rung 1: AI as a Tool
Am I going to lose my job to AI?
As AI went mainstream, people asked if I worried about losing my job as a website developer. I told them no. Our clients aren’t itching to develop websites. They just want to see their websites perform well. Level 1 on the ladder enables us to use AI as a tool. We can ask questions, get answers, and learn to do something. Case in point: I used AI to fix a leaky faucet.
Rung 2: AI as a Researcher
Remember the Yellow Pages ad, “Let Your Fingers Do the Walking”?
Today, we let AI do the walking. Now, AI does the heavy lifting for research. You can tap into its vast internet knowledge to research your market, competition, customers, regulations, and products. Then, of course, you need to review the data and confirm its accuracy before using it.
Rung 3: AI as a Personal Assistant
What everyday tasks needs to be better organized?
Hand off some of your everyday tasks to your personal assistant. For example, AI can be your personal assistant at a meeting. It can turn messy notes into a well-organized meeting recap, propose a first draft of a follow-up email, and create a To Do list. AI completes all of these tasks even before you leave the client’s parking lot.
Rung 4: AI as a Coworker
What tasks do you do over and over again?
As a coworker, AI saves me about six hours a month on just one of my routine tasks. Imagine if I could automate even more of my daily, weekly, or monthly responsibilities. Tasks like auditing and scheduling are easy to automate. By handing off work to an AI coworker, you have time to devote to high-level human tasks. Again, be sure to monitor the AI output for accuracy and quality.
Rung 5: AI as a Digital Employee
Want to create the ultimate drip campaign?
As a digital employee, AI can watch for buying signals from a long list of prospects. Once a lead is identified, AI can create an email campaign, written in your voice, that specifically relates to the prospect. AI collects and organizes information, guides you the next step, and drafts emails. You set the direction and review emails for accuracy, tone, and content.
AI for Sales Professionals
To apply the AI Ladder to your sales process, I encourage you to write down a marketing task you did last week:
- Emails (reading, writing or replying)
- Follow-up calls
- Customer tracking
- Estimating
- Drafting contracts
Consider which rung the task is on today, and which rung it could be if you leveraged technology. There really isn’t a wrong answer. The answer depends upon the task you are doing and how you can adopt these shortcuts geared to AI for sales professionals. Remember, technology gives you the edge. You still make the final call.
Insider Tip: AI Prompts to Test Your Website
As a special offer for readers, I’m offering a list of website-related AI prompts that correspond to the five rungs of the AI Ladder. Simply copy and paste these prompts into Claude or an AI tool of your choice. You’ll learn about your website assets, brand messaging, keywords, and more. The results might surprise you.
Insider Tip: AI Prompts to Test Your Website
– Bill Koehne, Packerland Websites founder and business development manager