Schmidt: Well-trained AI agents match or outperform hungover human SDRs
Joe Schmidt · "Death of a Salesforce”: Why AI Will Transform the Next Generation of Sales Tech · Nov 20, 2024 · at 10:01
Joe Schmidt, guest on the a16z Podcast, compares the quality and consistency of AI sales development agents to entry-level human SDRs.
0:00 / 0:23exact quote · 23.8s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“There is almost no difference. Oftentimes between a very well-trained kind of AI agent and a very poorly trained, a 22 year old who's hungover from the night before sitting in a crowded sales floor. And oftentimes you're gonna get much more like you're gonna get playbook adherence. You're gonna get thoughtful follow-up. You're gonna get a personalized outreach. Whereas the other person is sending like a thoughtless, you know, LinkedIn request, or maybe it's a half-hearted email.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Joe Schmidt
Joe Schmidt says targeting 85 percent AI gross margins is a mistake
“I think that's a tremendous mistake. Like I think it's actually probably the biggest mistake you can make right now.”
Schmidt: Not charging enterprise clients for AI implementation is a mistake
“I think that's a huge mistake that a lot of the early stage companies can make is you go out there and again, like, you know, you're like, I don't want to charge for implementation. Like these big companies, they won't like that. Like, you know, they just want…”
Joe Schmidt: Danaher and Tyler Technologies rely on financial engineering, not AI
“One is a very well-known company called Danaher. There's another one called Tyler Technologies based out of Texas. These are like probably the best examples of these businesses historically, but again, they're not AI native, right? And I, and they're basically…”
Schmidt: AI automation expands small agency profit margins from 5% to 30%
“Leveraging AI agents to basically have some of those conversations with the customer, whether it's on new business On renewal or on client servicing and then actually resolving these claims in real time or like resolving these service issues in real time. Now,…”
Schmidt: Treat small business acquisitions like enterprise software customer acquisition
“The way to think about this in my mind, or the way that I think about it is, Hey, if you were running an enterprise software company, right. And you were like on the pub in the public markets and you're saying like, Hey, I could have You know, 1820, 24 month p…”
Schmidt: AI automation will eliminate traditional SDR early-stage prospecting roles
“We're starting to see that process, like basically disappear with certain customers, which is really, really exciting. And frankly, like frees up humans to do the things that they're best at, which is like sell. Right. And so I think we're gonna see things lik…”