• [00:00:13] Intro jingle and podcast presentation
• [00:01:07] Will AI replace salespeople?
• [00:01:28] How salespeople already use AI
• [00:03:10] The most impressive uses of AI
• [00:03:36] The limits of AI in prospecting
• [00:04:01] The 3 major changes in sales
• [00:04:48] Testimonial from Sophie Dive
• [00:05:47] Prospecting automation
• [00:06:14] An AI voice on the phone that sounds real
• [00:07:04] Why humans are becoming essential again
• [00:07:38] Is AI really replacing salespeople?
• [00:07:59] Testimonial from Hamza Dakir
• [00:08:44] Why AI scripts still sound fake
• [00:09:15] Can AI build good prospect lists?
• [00:09:41] The wildest dreams around AI
• [00:10:49] What AI still does not understand
• [00:11:25] Testimonial from Fabio Artis
• [00:12:08] The danger of AI-generated messages
• [00:12:44] The 5 key human skills
• [00:13:52] How to use AI effectively in sales
• [00:14:14] What if AI becomes better than us?
• [00:14:36] 5 concrete actions to apply
• [00:15:17] How far can automation go without losing humanity?
• [00:15:26] The challenge for listeners
• [00:16:01] Episode conclusion

[00:00:13] Stéphane Depaepe: Hello and welcome to this new episode of the podcast 'Performance, Harmony & Commercial' produced by PHCom in the studio of 'transforma bxl' with the technical assistance of 'The Podcast Factory Org'

[00:00:23] Nadia Ben Jelloun: The podcast 'Performance, Harmony & Commercial' is intended for marketing and sales managers, as well as company directors taking on commercial roles.

[00:00:32] Stéphane Depaepe: Every month, we share with you good experiences in finding new clients for companies active in business to business.

[00:00:38] Nadia Ben Jelloun: You can find each episode on the PHCom dot be website, P.H.C.O.M, and also on all good podcast platforms.

[00:00:48] Stéphane Depaepe: You can support this podcast and boost its visibility by sharing it with as many people as possible via a like, a comment, a share.

[00:00:55] Nadia Ben Jelloun: The answering machine is always active so you can leave us a message, we will gladly answer it.

[00:01:00] Stéphane Depaepe: You can also book an appointment directly with Nadia or Stéphane by going to PHCom dot be.

[00:01:06] Nadia Ben Jelloun: See you soon!

[00:01:07] Stéphane Depaepe: Hello and welcome to 'Performance, Harmony & Commercial', the podcast that helps you prospect better without becoming a robot.

[00:01:13] Camille de Meeûs: And today, we're actually going to talk to you about robots.

[00:01:16] Stéphane Depaepe: Yes, rather their modern version: artificial intelligence.

[00:01:20] Camille de Meeûs: A fascinating subject, but also a little bit unsettling. Because the real question behind all this is, does the salesperson really still have a future?

[00:01:28] Stéphane Depaepe: Well, big spoiler: yes, but they will have to evolve. Let's start from the beginning. Camille, you prospect; in what cases do you use AI?

[00:01:39] Camille de Meeûs: Mainly when I write emails. I copy-paste my basic email and ask the AI to add information that might be necessary for me when writing the email. And you, Stéphane, in your job as a business development consultant, in what cases do you use artificial intelligence the most?

[00:01:55] Stéphane Depaepe: I have a whole range of them, I must admit. I find it to be a fascinating tool. First of all, to summarize my notes after an interview, a commercial meeting that lasts 1 hour, is summarized in a few lines in a few minutes. Some offers also go through AI, I admit, I run the key elements of the offer through ChatGPT or Gemini. When I prepare client missions as well, I ask it for the questions to ask to qualify a prospect. I've done a wonderful briefing, I have lots and lots of information, how do I synthesize this information? I also benchmark my client's offer, which means that ChatGPT can really quickly fetch all the information on the web about all the competitors, and highlight the differences. Even the emails we prepare, I let the AI propose something to me. Mission reports, because after three months, or six months, or a year of work, we have a wealth of information and ChatGPT can really do a good synthesis, a good analysis of all this information, even create Excel files, graphs, cross-analyses, it's quite fascinating. However, I rework everything. And while sometimes the AI gives me 80% good content, in other cases, we slip closer to 20%, so you have to remain super vigilant.

[00:03:10] Camille de Meeûs: And what is the thing that amazes you the most about AI?

[00:03:13] Stéphane Depaepe: Little "hot call" buttons that we installed in our CRM. In fact, with a single click of a button, it fetches all the available and necessary information to properly prepare for a prospecting call. That means that, in fact, our business developers, instead of spending ten to fifteen minutes before making a call, push a button, have all the information, and can focus on the contact.

[00:03:34] Camille de Meeûs: And where are you the most disappointed with AI, when is that?

[00:03:36] Stéphane Depaepe: Clearly, today, database construction. There are plenty of people who tell me "Yeah, it works well, it gives lists". In all honesty, the lists are nonsense. We usually analyze the filter rate, that is to say, the uninteresting companies that we approach. If I have an AI-generated list of 100 companies, well, rather than having ten or fifteen uninteresting companies, I'll have 30 or 40, and really not well qualified.

[00:04:01] Camille de Meeûs: Ultimately, the profession is still changing, let's face it. In this podcast, we will cover the different changes that AI brings to the sales profession, and we will also give you five habits to adopt to do your job with performance and harmony. Listen to us until the end. Before, the salesperson spent their time looking for information, names, numbers, organizational charts. AI can do it easily and perform everything that is repetitive and give you access to the various information.

[00:04:28] Stéphane Depaepe: Today, in 30 seconds, with AI you can get the right contact, their role, their LinkedIn connection, sometimes even their cell phone. In fact, AI is truly a game changer in the preparation phase. And in fact, for sure, that still represents 80% of the work to pull off a good call.

[00:04:43] Camille de Meeûs: So, first change, we go from information seeker to interpreter.

[00:04:48] Stéphane Depaepe: Exactly. Everyone has access to the same info. When you ask a business developer like Sophie, listen to what she tells you.

[00:04:54] Sophie Dive: In my prospecting for PHC om, I use artificial intelligence almost spontaneously today, meaning that via Google, I ask via AI, the HR for example, or the Facilities manager for such and such company. And there, right away, I have all the information, I have the name of the person in charge of what I am looking for, their cell phone number, and possibly a link to their LinkedIn profile. So it saves me a crazy amount of time if I can reach the right contact directly without going through any random platforms. It is fast, efficient, and the advantage is that the information I receive is up to date.

[00:05:38] Stéphane Depaepe: So having up-to-date info is super key and super easy. The difference today won't be made on what you know, but on what you do with it.

[00:05:47] Camille de Meeûs: Second major change: automation.

[00:05:50] Stéphane Depaepe: Today, you can automate lots of things, auto-reply emails, automated LinkedIn sequences where it sends an invitation, it sends messages, it allows you to send follow-ups. Automating tools that will generate personalized messages, sent emails. And even AI voices that will be identical to yours, but with artificial intelligence, you don't even need to call anymore.

[00:06:14] Camille de Meeûs: Yes, and that is quite fascinating and worrying, speaking of which I have a little anecdote to tell you. One day I was with my mom, and she gets a call from Proximus. She puts the caller on speakerphone and says 'Oh, this lady seems very nice, she speaks well to me,' etc. But actually, it was entirely an artificial intelligence. I immediately felt that it was an artificial intelligence, but my mom was convinced she was really speaking to a human being. I must say it's quite impressive but equally disturbing.

[00:06:40] Stéphane Depaepe: Exactly. And the risk with that is you're going to automate everything, so you can do mass volume. And when you start doing mass volume, what happens? There's a knee-jerk reaction that happens in the market. You remember the mass mailings we used to send and then you receive, you receive and then at some point the spam button was invented, and you don't receive mass mailing anymore because there's no interest. At first it works, then at some point it gets tiring, and then it gets annoying.

[00:07:04] Camille de Meeûs: And the third key change is the return of the human. Paradoxical, but still completely logical.

[00:07:09] Stéphane Depaepe: The more automation there is, the more precious the human relationship becomes. And there, I really need to feed myself as a human being, as a person, and we'll look at that later in the podcast.

[00:07:21] Camille de Meeûs: Okay, I'll summarize the three key shifts, and then we'll talk about the division of tasks between humans and artificial intelligence. One, access to the mass of information forces you to know how to interpret it well. Two, automation can save you time. And three, the human relationship remains central in the business relationship.

[00:07:38] Stéphane Depaepe: Collaboration between humans and AI is super positive. So AI is not going to replace the salesperson, let's stay calm, however, what it will do is replace the salesperson's tasks.

[00:07:49] Camille de Meeûs: Tell us more.

[00:07:50] Stéphane Depaepe: AI is excellent for, as I was saying earlier, analyzing, structuring, synthesizing, preparing. Listen to what Hamza, our production director, does with it.

[00:07:59] Hamza Dakir: AI, practically speaking, helps me save time. That's the number one use of AI, saving time, so it allows me to translate a text, summarize meetings, summarize documents, rephrase certain documents. Everything that used to take me half an hour, three quarters of an hour takes me three or four minutes today, that is clearly one of the points where I use AI to the fullest.

[00:08:20] Stéphane Depaepe: What amazed you the most?

[00:08:22] Hamza Dakir: Structuring my ideas, that, that amazed me the most. In fact, we have a lot of scattered ideas, thanks to AI, it allows you to structure them. So it's something that is completely neutral and that actually allows you to see more clearly, because we have so many ideas that are sometimes crazy, well AI will allow you to structure them. That amazed me because that helps enormously, being able to structure your own ideas.

[00:08:44] Stéphane Depaepe: You let AI create a script?

[00:08:46] Hamza Dakir: Personally no, because I find it impersonal, and so my method is to prepare a script on the fly, possibly correct it for standardized formatting, but not for creating the script. Because that's perhaps the area where AI still needs work in the coming years, to see a more human script, there you go. Starting from a base possibly, yes, and adjusting it, yes, maybe that, but making me a script overall, no.

[00:09:15] Stéphane Depaepe: In business development, there's always the files part. Has AI ever helped you develop, find good files, build a good list of companies to prospect?

[00:09:25] Hamza Dakir: It's not an attempt I've made, no honestly. AI will help me more to organize a mission plan, possibly segmentations. And that's where it's very strong actually, but maybe going to search for files, helping me determine what the targets are, no.

[00:09:40] Stéphane Depaepe: In your wildest dreams, what would AI do?

[00:09:44] Hamza Dakir: Prepare client emails, call scripts, replies, succeed in structuring an offer, organizing a complete campaign? And there you go, so that would be the wildest dreams, but we might get there one day, but I think we'll always need the human touch, precisely to guide it.

[00:10:00] Stéphane Depaepe: At that point we won't have any work left, what do we do?

[00:10:02] Hamza Dakir: Well no, we'll always have work. The human element is always essential, right? The human element is a very important part of our job, so ultimately AI is just an additional support that can help us improve our capacity to have ideas, to have scripts, and to have a very specific approach. AI is there to engage with us and be our sparring partner, potentially challenging us. It's really going to help us analyze, to challenge, but there you go, I don't think the profession will disappear, far from it.

[00:10:29] Stéphane Depaepe: Do you use it every day, every week, every month?

[00:10:31] Hamza Dakir: No, every day, every day. AI has become a fully-fledged tool today. There you go, AI today, well, it doesn't decide for me, it can be wrong, clearly, and it will never replace my own internal, on-the-ground judgment and my experience. So that is the big advantage we still have today in our profession.

[00:10:49] Camille de Meeûs: But it still has to be said, it is also weak in several areas. It is weak at feeling, understanding nuances, managing contradictions, and creating a connection.

[00:10:58] Stéphane Depaepe: Simple example: a prospect tells you, "No, it's not the right time." What does AI hear? Well, an objection. The good salesperson, on the other hand, hears a doubt, a fear, a priority that lies elsewhere. And that changes everything for the rest of the discussion. And actually, selling isn't just calculating, it's also feeling and adapting. Fabio is one of our developers, he has some good examples regarding this.

[00:11:25] Fabio Artis: Artificial intelligence will never be able to replace humans. What I mean by that is that the approach we have, the voice we have, the intentions, there is the unwritten, there is the non-verbal. Here, we intervene as people, and the machine is not at all ready yet to be able to replace this intervention. Because there's the emotional aspect, there's the active listening aspect, and there's the contextual aspect, which AI is not yet ready for... And I believe it never will be, it will never be human in a way. So this duality between robotics and humans, to answer you very frankly, AI has its limits, in our profession at least. They say it will replace it, but no. No, it will simply never be able to replace the quality of a call from a real person.

[00:12:08] Camille de Meeûs: You have to know that AI is an amplifier; if you are good, you become very good. If you are average, you become a little faster, but you still remain average.

[00:12:17] Stéphane Depaepe: A real need to constantly improve, isn't there?

[00:12:19] Camille de Meeûs: There is a major danger today, the fact that everyone is using the same tools and everyone is sending the same messages.

[00:12:25] Stéphane Depaepe: And that is noticeable.

[00:12:26] Camille de Meeûs: This perfect tone that sounds empty, that is hollow.

[00:12:28] Stéphane Depaepe: This personalized message, but which we send to 200, or 2000 people.

[00:12:33] Camille de Meeûs: And there, that's clearly the moment where we completely lose the impact. If everyone uses the same AI, the only difference is you. As we were saying, you are the best interpreter, and it's very important to remember that.

[00:12:44] Stéphane Depaepe: That is exactly the heart of the matter. What will make the difference tomorrow is no longer so much the mastery of information, but it will be, and here I summarize the five points for you. A first one is the ability to create a bond.

[00:12:54] Camille de Meeûs: If you allow me, I'll translate it my way. The bond is emotion, trust, presence.

[00:12:59] Stéphane Depaepe: Second point, it's critical thinking.

[00:13:00] Camille de Meeûs: Do not blindly believe what the AI says. Cross-check all your information.

[00:13:04] Stéphane Depaepe: Questioning.

[00:13:05] Camille de Meeûs: We always come back to it, that is to say knowing how to ask the right questions, at the right time. Genuinely taking an interest in what the other person is telling you.

[00:13:12] Stéphane Depaepe: A fourth point is real personalization.

[00:13:14] Camille de Meeûs: And not just of the "Hello Sammy" style, but truly enter the universe of the other.

[00:13:19] Stéphane Depaepe: A final point, clarity.

[00:13:21] Camille de Meeûs: And there, it is clearly understanding the other, and making yourself understood. If you help the client understand their own situation, you will have great opportunities to build something together.

[00:13:32] Stéphane Depaepe: It's still pretty mind-boggling when you look at a summary made by AI, it repeats the same thing three times in three paragraphs, using different words. It's exhausting, it's not clear. So, in summary, less execution for the salesperson but more intelligence. And I'm going to talk about relational intelligence too.

[00:13:52] Camille de Meeûs: And so here, it's not that we're demonizing AI, quite the contrary, it's extremely powerful and we must never forget that it's a real lever.

[00:13:59] Stéphane Depaepe: It indeed saves time, helps you be better prepared, better structured. But AI must be used in the right place. AI should help prepare. Humans should persuade. AI can help you analyze, but it's still up to the human to decide.

[00:14:14] Camille de Meeûs: On the other hand, we can imagine that in five years, AI will also do all of that.

[00:14:17] Stéphane Depaepe: Certainly. What will our society be like when AI has all the emotions and all the wonderful techniques of persuasion? It will indeed be able to persuade, it will indeed be able to decide for you. I suggest we leave that question hanging anyway, because tomorrow's society will be whatever we make of it.

[00:14:36] Camille de Meeûs: Concretely, today, we are giving you five actions to take to fully benefit from AI in your sales job.

[00:14:42] Stéphane Depaepe: So, the first point is to use AI to prepare for every call.

[00:14:45] Camille de Meeûs: But never to replace the interaction.

[00:14:48] Stéphane Depaepe: Work on your style.

[00:14:49] Camille de Meeûs: Your voice, your tone, your way of interacting.

[00:14:51] Stéphane Depaepe: Prioritize quality over volume.

[00:14:52] Camille de Meeûs: Fewer messages, but more qualitative ones.

[00:14:55] Stéphane Depaepe: Test, test continuously.

[00:14:57] Camille de Meeûs: Experiment, adjust, learn.

[00:14:59] Stéphane Depaepe: And keep the real human touch.

[00:15:00] Camille de Meeûs: Keep the meetings, the calls, and the discussions that are real. And a very important question remains (Stéphane Depaepe: Yes): how far will we automate? And at what point do we dehumanize ourselves? Because AI allows you to go faster, but you're still the one who decides how far you're willing to let go with AI.

[00:15:17] Stéphane Depaepe: If we automate everything, what is left?

[00:15:20] Camille de Meeûs: As Mrs. Harmony, I give you three points: the relationship, the exchange, and the understanding of the other.

[00:15:26] Stéphane Depaepe: Thank you. I leave you with, or rather, I give you a challenge for the week. To you listening, please, if you are prospecting, choose a prospect, prepare for them with AI, and really, in depth. Go collect the info, think about them, visualize everything you're going to say to them, and then, experience the exchange yourself, with your voice, your energy, some joy, your pep. Total commitment.

[00:15:53] Camille de Meeûs: I would even add a dose of love, and observe the difference. Take two minutes after your call or meeting and share your experience with us.

[00:16:01] Stéphane Depaepe: Okay with you? Ready to go? Are you playing the game all out?! Thank you then, thank you for listening, thank you for participating, thank you for remembering to be yourself.

[00:16:10] Camille de Meeûs: And above all don't forget, share this episode with someone who thinks AI is going to replace salespeople.

[00:16:15] Stéphane Depaepe: Remember, performance is efficiency.

[00:16:17] Camille de Meeûs: And harmony is meaning.

[00:16:20] Camille et Stéphane ensemble.: See you very soon.