The Tsunami of AI

Credit: ChatGPT

Everything, everywhere, all at once. A strange, hard-to-follow Academy Award Best Picture winner (we shut off after the hot dog fingers scene), or the description of artificial intelligence (AI) as it infiltrates our lives? Answer: both.

You might have heard the phrase, “Drinking from a fire hose.” This occurs when you are taking in a tremendous amount of information nonstop and it’s coming at you from all sides. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and in some cases, give up. You want to shut down or at least catch your breath, but you can’t. You need to stay in the fight, so you keep drinking and you keep drowning.

If only getting your arms around AI were that easy. No, understanding all of AI is like standing on the beach with your mouth open when a tsunami hits you. This is such a widespread subject with seemingly unlimited applications, it is beyond overwhelming. It is altogether mind-bending, exhausting, and very often frustrating. But you absolutely must stay in the fight. This is a once-in-a-generation revolution with far-reaching implications for salespeople, owners, managers, production, and customer service.

AI Revolution is Not the First ...

Up until about a month ago, I had very little experience with AI. At dinner every night my wife and business partner Allison gushed over the newest application or benefit she had found. I listened but did not feel the need to look into it. Being a typical busy 60-something-year-old sales guy, my head is down. I’m focused. I’m consumed in the day-to-day of increasing business. There was no time or perceived need to add another task to my list. I didn’t so much avoid the subject of AI as much as I … OK, who am I kidding? I avoided learning anything about AI as long as I could! After all, business was growing. Nothing was broken. Nothing needed fixing.

But AI is not so much about new solutions to vexing problems as it is about opportunities. It reminds me of another such situation I experienced. Let’s go back a couple decades and revisit another revolution you might be able to relate to.

In the early ‘90s, the concept of printing from a digital file was introduced. No more paper masters. Prepress changed from hard copy to electronic. Hour-long seminars (webinars were not yet a thing) on how to make a PDF were part of every conference education agenda (“First, you export a Postscript file. Separately, include the fonts. Then … ”) Digital printing — originally called on-demand printing — was born.

If you think about the benefits of digital printing (shorter runs, versioning, personalization, etc.), no one was clamoring for change. No client said, “Dang. If only I could print 100 instead of 10,000.” As such, few clients or printers voluntarily and swiftly embraced the technology. Digital printing was a cure looking for a disease. Fast-forward 30 years and it is now in the mainstream. Can you find printing companies who chose not to change? Yes! More on that in a bit.

Like digital printing, AI can be ignored only by those with one foot out the door. That is, if you are in printing and wish to skirt the subject, your retirement party should be planned and on the calendar. Otherwise, open wide and get ready.

Talk to 10 people in the know, and you are likely to hear 10 different approaches to the subject. Plus, you’ll hear 10 different “ … and-here’s-something-else-AI-can-do” applications. Daily. Thus, the tsunami reference.

Beginning the AI Journey

As I see it, there are two steps to begin the AI journey. First, learn the basics. Attend a seminar/webinar, read a book, or watch a YouTube video. They are everywhere, giving you ample opportunity to gain a fundamental understanding.

Next, choose one known application of AI and go deeper. For example, salespeople need to have a working knowledge of a company’s business needs in order to come up with a prospecting pitch, right? Or maybe you are struggling with your time management and would like some advice for selling more in less time. You should learn how to use AI, such as ChatGPT, in order to make that happen. What are the prompts? How do you refine ChatGPT’s response? Think about your biggest sales challenge at the moment and pose your request as if you were talking to a friend over a beer. Describe your situation and exactly what you are looking for. Then, hit enter and voilà, you are on the board and can now join in on the dinner conversation. From here, there are seemingly limitless directions to take. My suggestion is to move slowly. Explore one new application at a time. Go for a deep understanding, then move on. You might benefit from the knowledge and experience of those in your network. Ask around: “How are you using AI? Which service has been useful? What specific prompts have you used?”

According to the Vision Council, 64% of people wear glasses. Therefore, only two out of three people reading this column can relate to this next observation: Embracing and engaging AI is like putting on glasses for the first time. Do you remember your initial reaction? I do. I looked outside and saw detail in trees I’d never seen before. It was jaw-dropping. I didn’t know what I was missing. That’s the feeling you get when you try AI. It’s an “OMG moment.” Your life is forever changed. And just like you can’t read without your spectacles, you won’t be able to work without AI once you start to engage its benefits.

As a business owner, I am unilaterally curious about AI. But as a business owner, I am also content to be ignorant on the subject. Part of me wants to say to my AI-competent staff, “Look, if you want to upgrade The Sales Vault using AI, have at it, but leave me out of it,” and then go back to my daily sales activities, already in progress. But I can’t. And neither can you.

Since October, I have been consumed and inundated with AI-related information. Meetings, conversations, product demonstrations, opportunities, opportunities, opportunities, voice cloning, applications, applications, applications, proposals, ideas, 2025 planning, Sales Vault content elevation, workshops, articles, videos … Calgon! Take me away!

I encourage you to stand on the beach and be open to AI. Get knocked over by that wave. Then, get back on your feet and stay in the conversation. Work hard to understand what those around you are saying about this once-in-a-generation technology. Create an account. Ask questions until you understand. Don’t give up.

Of course, you can ignore AI. You have that choice. Thirty years ago, there were holdouts who ignored digital printing. They were traditionalists. They refused to change. Can you visit those companies to check in on what happened to them? Absolutely! There’s one museum in Carson, California, and another in Houston, Texas.