The AI Edge

JEB BLOUNT is the CEO and founder of Sales Gravy. He advises a who’s who of the world’s leading organizations and their executives on the impact of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills on sales, leadership, and customer experience. Jeb helps individuals, teams, and companies across the globe sell more through keynotes, workshops, and digital learning. He was recently recognized as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Leaders in Sales and Marketing by Top Sales Magazine and one of the World’s Top 30 Social Selling Influencers by Forbes. ANTHONY IANNARINO spent twenty years selling and leading a sales force in the highly commoditized industry of staffing before becoming a writer and publishing daily at thesalesblog.com. During his time in sales, he recognized the strongest differentiation for a salesperson is their ability to create value for their prospective client within the sales conversation. Anthony spends much of his time drinking coffee, writing, speaking, facilitating workshops, and helping sales organizations transform their outdated, legacy approach with a modern, value-creating approach that buyers appreciate, and one that leads to revenue growth.

Preface: the First Generation ix

Part 1: Plugging into AI

1 The Beginning of Everything 3

2 AI Everywhere, All the Time 7

3 The Next Level: Is the Singularity Near? 12

4 The Six Million Dollar Man 14

5 The Four Elements of Sales Intelligence 20

Part 2: Robot Rules

6 Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire 29

7 Robots Have Goals, Not Souls 31

8 Beware of the Authority Bias 34

9 Harnessing Generative AI 37

10 Robot Rules 40

Part 3: More Time to Sell More

11 Time Discipline 47

12 Fundamentals of Me Management 51

13 Attention Control and Time Blocking 56

14 Sales Day Planning, CRM, and Calendar Management 60

15 The First Seven Steps on Your AI Edge Journey 67

16 Time Investment Audit 70

17 Brainstorming and Prioritizing AI Possibilities 76

18 Practice and Prompts 87

Part 4: Writing, Grammar, and Communication

19 If It Quacks Like a Duck 103

20 Write and Edit Better 109

21 The Power of Editing 113

22 AI Is a Faster Writer; You Are a Better Human 127

Part 5: Prospecting

23 The Asynchronous Seller 133

24 Synchronous versus Asynchronous Prospecting 138

25 A Powerful Prospecting Partner 142

26 Prospecting Sequences 144

27 Targeted Lists 153

28 Message Matters 159

29 Slow Prospecting 172

Part 6: Qualifying, Pre-call Planning, Discovery

30 Everything in Sales Begins with a Qualified Opportunity 183

31 The Art of Discovery 187

32 Eight Big Discovery Mistakes You Need to Avoid 192

33 Pre-Discovery-Call Research 199

34 Discovery Questions: What You Want to Learn 211

Part 7: Close the Deal

35 Competitive Analysis and Objection Prevention 227

36 AI-Powered Proposals 232

37 Closing the Sale 237

38 Case Studies and Social Proof 244

39 Contracts and Lawyers and Terms and Conditions, Oh My! 248

40 AI Turns Your CRM into a Strategic Partner 252

Epilogue: The Future of Sales 259

About the Authors 267

Index 269