{"id":313713,"date":"2025-06-03T04:52:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T11:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/?p=313713"},"modified":"2025-06-03T07:38:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T14:38:39","slug":"in-the-age-of-ai-it-just-wont-be-enough-just-to-be-a-good-people-person-in-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/in-the-age-of-ai-it-just-wont-be-enough-just-to-be-a-good-people-person-in-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"In The Age of AI, It Just Won&#8217;t Be Enough Just To Be a &#8220;Good People Person&#8221; in Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The #1 objection I hear to AI in sales is that what matters most in sales in B2B and SaaS is being a &#8220;good people person&#8221;. That does matter.\u00a0 It matter even more in field sales, in-person sales, and true enterprise sales.<\/p>\n<p>But is it enough in the age of AI?\u00a0 When your AI will instantly be a product expert, working 24&#215;7?<\/p>\n<p>And will it even matter in routine SMB sales, that are 1-2 call closes?<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Norton, CRO of Owner and I exploded this.\u00a0 They do a lot of 1 call closes, with a lot of AI.<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"text-2xl font-bold mt-1 text-text-100\">AI vs Human Sales: Are &#8220;People Persons&#8221; in Inside Sales &#8230; About to Become Obsolete?<\/h1>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><em>The uncomfortable truth about what AI means for sales roles\u2014and why being a &#8220;people person&#8221; isn&#8217;t enough anymore<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"AI vs Human Sales: Are &quot;People Persons&quot; Obsolete?\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xQsn8FGX81w?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.saastr.com\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The Knowledge Reality Check<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Here&#8217;s a sobering thought experiment that happened recently: An AI system told a prospect they&#8217;d get 218 leads on average &#8220;for their type of person.&#8221; The human response? &#8220;I&#8217;ve never met a BDR this good.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">That single interaction encapsulates what might be the most significant shift in SaaS sales since the move from inside to digital-first selling. We&#8217;re witnessing the potential obsolescence of entire categories of sales professionals\u2014and it&#8217;s happening faster than most realize.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The AI Sales Rep Already Wins on the Basics<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Let&#8217;s start with the obvious advantages that AI sales reps have locked down:<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Available 24\/7<\/span>.<\/strong> No more &#8220;let me check with my manager and get back to you next week.&#8221; No more timezone gymnastics. No more waiting for responses while your project timeline slips.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Knows the product cold<\/span>.<\/strong> Every feature, every integration, every edge case. No &#8220;great question, let me ask engineering and circle back.&#8221; The AI has already read every doc, every GitHub issue, every support ticket.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Doesn&#8217;t lie or make stuff up to close deals<\/span>.<\/strong> This one hits different. How many times have you been burned by a sales rep who oversold capabilities? Who promised features that didn&#8217;t exist? Who bent the truth just enough to get the signature? AI doesn&#8217;t have quota pressure. It doesn&#8217;t need commission. It just tells you what the product actually does.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The Mediocre Middle Is Disappearing<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>The blunt reality: Mediocre BDRs will be out of business within a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">This isn&#8217;t hyperbole. When an AI can qualify prospects better than most human BDRs, deliver more accurate information, and never forget a single detail about your product or previous conversations, the value proposition for average performers evaporates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The traditional qualification process\u2014that smarmy dance we all recognize and hate\u2014is particularly vulnerable. Prospects can smell qualification from a mile away, and they despise it. Why force them through a human-powered process that feels manipulative when AI can handle initial screening more naturally and efficiently?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The &#8220;People Person&#8221; Myth Exploded<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">This brings us to sales&#8217; most persistent and dangerous myth: <strong>&#8220;I&#8217;m a people person, and people like to talk to people.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Here&#8217;s the uncomfortable truth that&#8217;s about to reshape our industry: <strong>People don&#8217;t want to talk to you because you&#8217;re a &#8220;people person.&#8221; They want to talk to the best solution architect in the world who also deployed their exact use case at a very similar company with similar needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Being able to chat about who won the NBA finals doesn&#8217;t close deals. Knowing your product cold does. Understanding your prospect&#8217;s specific industry challenges does. Having deployed solutions for similar companies does.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The &#8220;people person&#8221; sales profile that relies on smooth talking and relationship building? The Challenger Sales methodology already identified this as one of the worst-performing profiles years ago. AI is just accelerating its demise.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">When AI Becomes the Preferred Option<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Something fascinating is happening in early AI sales implementations: <strong>Customers are preferring great AI over mediocre humans.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Real feedback from AI sales interactions includes phrases like:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">&#8220;You&#8217;re awesome, thanks for doing what you&#8217;re doing&#8221;<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">&#8220;Great help, thank you&#8221;<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">&#8220;This is exactly what I needed&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><em>Said to an AI.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">This preference emerges especially when:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Prospects are working outside business hours (6 PM calls)<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">They don&#8217;t want to wait for scheduling<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">They need immediate, accurate product information<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">They want to avoid the typical sales qualification process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The AI knows the product cold, never forgets details, and doesn&#8217;t make prospects jump through qualification hoops. For many buying scenarios, that&#8217;s superior to human interaction.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"AI Sales: Why Humans Can&#039;t Beat a Great AI\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vdQyxcTHzEY?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.saastr.com\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The Survival Strategies: What Still Works<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Not all sales roles are doomed.<\/strong> The pattern emerging shows clear winners and losers:<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"text-lg font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-1.5\"><strong>Still Valuable: The Elite Performers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Solution architects who can ask incisive business questions<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Sales engineers with deep product knowledge AND industry experience<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Account executives who&#8217;ve worked with similar customers and can teach prospects something new<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Anyone following the Challenger methodology: teach, tailor, and take control<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"text-lg font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-1.5\"><strong>At Risk: The Commodity Players<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">BDRs whose primary function is qualification<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">&#8220;People person&#8221; AEs who rely on relationship building over product expertise<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Anyone who&#8217;s essentially &#8220;punching a clock&#8221; in their sales role<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The Technical Knowledge Imperative<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The new baseline for sales survival isn&#8217;t personality\u2014it&#8217;s technical and industry competence. You need to be a product savant who can:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Understand complex technical implementations<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Speak intelligently about industry-specific use cases<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Teach prospects something they didn&#8217;t know about their own business<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Tailor solutions based on deep understanding of similar deployments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>The question every sales professional should ask: &#8220;Do I know my product and market better than AI can?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">If the answer is no, you&#8217;re in trouble.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"9bOe4vHf4P\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/ai-sales-gtm-in-2025-2026-this-changes-everything-with-jason-lemkin-and-owner-cro-kyle-norto\/\">AI, Sales + GTM in 2025\/2026: This Changes Everything with Jason Lemkin and Owner CRO Kyle Norton<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content lazyload\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;AI, Sales + GTM in 2025\/2026: This Changes Everything with Jason Lemkin and Owner CRO Kyle Norton&#8221; &#8212; SaaStr\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/ai-sales-gtm-in-2025-2026-this-changes-everything-with-jason-lemkin-and-owner-cro-kyle-norto\/embed\/#?secret=EtKUKSaykp#?secret=9bOe4vHf4P\" data-secret=\"9bOe4vHf4P\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The Niche Exception: High-Touch, Relationship-Driven Markets<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">There&#8217;s one important caveat: Some markets still prefer human interaction, particularly:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Non-tech-savvy buyers (like restaurant operators)<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">High-value, complex enterprise deals requiring relationship building<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Industries with strong relationship-based buying cultures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">But even here, the human advantage is temporary. As AI becomes more sophisticated and as digital natives move into decision-making roles, these exceptions will shrink.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">What This Means for B2B and SaaS Leaders<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>For Sales Leaders:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Start auditing your team against the &#8220;could AI do this better?&#8221; test<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Invest heavily in product and industry training for your remaining human sales team<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Begin experimenting with AI sales tools now, not later<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Prepare for a smaller, more specialized sales org<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>For Individual Sales Professionals:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-1.5 pl-7\">\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Become genuinely expert in your product and target industries<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Develop skills in asking business-critical questions that AI can&#8217;t<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Focus on complex, high-value scenarios where human judgment matters<\/li>\n<li class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Consider specializing in specific verticals or use cases<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The Timeline Reality<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">This isn&#8217;t a distant future scenario. Early implementations are already showing superior performance in specific use cases. The companies experimenting with AI sales tools today are seeing measurable improvements over human baselines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>The transition period will be shorter than many realize.<\/strong> Unlike previous sales technology adoptions that took years, AI tools can be deployed and show results within months.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The age of the &#8220;people person&#8221; in sales is ending. What&#8217;s replacing it isn&#8217;t robots taking over human relationships\u2014it&#8217;s AI systems that are simply better at the product knowledge and initial qualification tasks that mediocre salespeople rely on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The survivors will be those who can do what AI can&#8217;t: ask the right business questions, provide strategic guidance based on deep experience, and handle the most complex, high-stakes conversations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Everyone else? Time to level up your product knowledge, or start looking for a new career path.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The great sales re-sorting has begun. Which side of it will you be on?<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"AI vs Human Sales: Are &quot;People Persons&quot; Obsolete?\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xQsn8FGX81w?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.saastr.com\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The #1 objection I hear to AI in sales is that what matters most in sales in B2B and SaaS is being a &#8220;good people person&#8221;. That does matter.\u00a0 It matter even more in field sales, in-person sales, and true enterprise sales. But is it enough in the age of AI?\u00a0 When your AI will&#8230; <br \/><a class=\"more-link fade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/in-the-age-of-ai-it-just-wont-be-enough-just-to-be-a-good-people-person-in-sales\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":313714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[24898,31,24987,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-313713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","category-blog-posts","category-saastr-ai","category-sales-role"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/maxresdefault-scaled-1.webp?fit=440%2C264&quality=65&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5oib2-1jBT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313713"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":313718,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313713\/revisions\/313718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}