Aug 9, 2024
AI Autonomous CRM to Help Sales w/ Vitaly Golomb of Sofielabs
AZ TRT S05 EP30 (246) 8-4-2024
What We Learned This Week:
- AI Autonomous CRM to help sales handle repetitive tasks, so they can focus on talking with clients
- Accelerate Growth with Instant AI-Driven Lead Engagement
- Sofie Labs can disrupt the big players in the CRM industry as they are starting with AI on day one
- Each Phase of Tech gives new tools & opportunities to solve old problems faster, more efficiency
Guest: Vitaly Golomb, CEO, serial entrepreneur, author and market challenger for AI CRM.
Website: https://www.sofielabs.com/
The Problem
For the last two decades, much attention has been paid to data organization in CRM systems to eke out incremental improvements in sales. According to SaaS Capital, sales has been the second biggest cost center after R&D. A revolution of AI automation has begun, and the focus is shifting from software features to streamlining and replacing inefficient human processes. Sofie seamlessly integrates with existing sales operations and starts by addressing the weakest link in the process: the SDRs. These entry-level salespeople are notoriously expensive to recruit, train, and retain. They typically lose 50% of qualifiable inbound leads by taking too long to respond or not following up. They also tend to pass through unqualified prospects to the next stage of the sales process at a high rate, wasting Account Executives’ time.
The Future of CRM/AI/People
Salesforce’s and HubSpot’s grips on CRM show signs of cracking in the face of rapidly evolving AI tools changing how companies sell. Enterprises spend 48% of their OPEX on marketing and sales.
The weakest link is not software functionality or data but sales development personnel – a massive 35-billion-dollar labor cost.
“The arms race in sales has shifted from cumbersome CRMs to AI automation,” said CEO and co-founder Vitaly M. Golomb. “With Sofie, sales organizations can dramatically improve their return on marketing spend using cutting-edge technology without gimmicks in a very practical way.”
He has also played every role as an entrepreneur, investor and coached many to success as a banker too.
Book
Amazon.com: Vitaly Golomb: books, biography, latest update
Accelerated Startup: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Startup Dreams Come True From Idea to Product to Company
Notes:
Seg 1
Sofie Labs AI CRM, autonomous assistant to drive lead engagement
CRM is the heartbeat of sales the last 20 years. Can use some as simple as an excel doc or some advanced software like a Salesforce or HubSpot.
Sales people have to be able to manage their leads, clients and their sales reports.
Marketing creates demand and awareness, to have people request info. Then a sales assistant or SDR would qualify the lead and then pass a good lead to a sales account rep. The sales rep then would present the product, do a proposal and ultimately close the deal. This entire process would be tracked in a CRM.
AI is a tool, not an item. Each phase of the technology wave through history gives opportunities. Technology creates new tools and new ways to do something faster. It has always been a Tech arms race. Companies need to adopt technology fast and use the new tech or be left behind the competition.
AI has autonomous agents that do things for you. In theory, this should make your business more efficient, efficiencies gained by the assistance of AI. They can handle complex tasks like AI search. In the future, you’ll be able to use AI for research in seconds, as opposed to the past using an intern and it would take hours or days.
AI CRM will make the sales people better, by taking away the repetitive work. Can automate processes like, the FAQ of a sales process
Junior sales people, or SDR usually make the initial contacts to qualify prospects. SDR stands for sales development rep, and entry-level sales position. Then you have the higher up levels like an enterprise rep or an account rep.
Sofie labs is providing you an AI sales assistant who works 24 hours a day. The AI program can set up appointments and track leads. Follow up and sales could take anywhere from 30 days to a year.
SDR is costly, lots of training and recruiting. What typically happens with an SDR is either quit the job at a frustration or get promoted to be an account rep. Much of Sales op and Cap spend is on sales marketing and the sales process overall. You need sales to create scale in your company and grow.
Seg 2
Sofie Labs is running a pilot program inviting sales companies to test their software. Typically looking for a startup company that has a sales process.
There are many ways they can benefit companies, including startups with automated building of the sales organization. For example, a small company could have one SDR vs 10. The SDR would manage the virtual SDRs.
Ask the question what CRM should look like with AI?
Use the first principles process. Scientific process created by Richard Fineman, and made popular by Elon Musk of Tesla. Basically step back and look at the problem with a fresh set of eyes and review the facts in front of you.
First principal process comes from science and engineering, find the truth, breakdown the problem, analyze elements, and reconstruct the problem.
The rush by many companies to add AI is not always organized. AI is one more tool in the new tech that provides an opportunity to solve the same old problems.
What are CRM supposed to do? How can Sofie compete with big players in the industry like salesforce and HubSpot.
The answer is disruption of the old business model. It is tough for a large company like Salesforce to cannibalize their current business model and switch to an AI model.
It is rare to see big companies like FB / Meta who are able to pivot to AI in the virtual world. Will Salesforce be able to?
It is the Innovator’s Dilemma where large company needs to figure out how to pivot and build a business side-by-side. Amazon was able to do this with AWS.
Building the true AI will be the next tech era. This is not a temporary shiny object. There have been three big errors in tech the Internet, mobile, social media, and now the newest one AI.
Every new wave of technology gives a better way to solve the same problems.
A lot of times large companies will acquire startups and the IP technology they’ve created vs trying to pivot their current business model.
Old business question, buy or build?
Many companies have to decide whether they should build in house or use M&A and just buy the best winner. There’s no guarantee if you build in house it will succeed.
Seg 3
AI CRM
Sofie labs is the disruptor, building a business from the ground up with AI.
Marketing and sales is life blood of business. A business has to know how to create awareness to generate leads. B2B business process is, you create demand and lead generation.
People need the product, and because of the awareness, they think of your business. You have to analyze traffic flow and see what converts. This is a lot of busy work.
Tools and tracking on your ad spend. What is the efficient use of these tools and ad spend tracking.
Create a customer profile, and customize a template for the CRM. Using AI you describe the custom and set up you want. It’s like an onboard wizard with no more sequences.
You don’t have to go through the cumbersome process of a Salesforce.
You’re using the best practices, like the Michael Jordan no CRM.
It also has marketing approaches built-in, and the sales playbook. Can do your lead generation and contact list. Get to the right person and set up the meeting.
The comparison is like a World War II B2 bomber vs a modern day drone.
Also, the email processes are correct, not spam. Do your best to catch people in the buying cycle, and reach out effectively.
Inbound engagement process, if no response in the first 5 minutes from an inbound lead then 90% chance they go somewhere else and you lose that lead.
Speed matters for contact and potential demo process. With a virtual AI CRM it can automatically respond to incoming leads. The AI can also give a custom response to leads, depending on what part of the sales cycle the lead is in.
Sales need the human touch, more complex the product, more of a need for the human touch. AI assistant from Sofie Labs is just here to make sales easier, automate the processes and get rid of the menial tasks.
Make the whole process more efficient with tools like automated proposal writing.
Steve Jobs had a classic quote, ‘Computer is the bicycle of the mind’.
If that is so, then AI is the 3-D printer - speeds the process up.
These are new tools for sales, infrastructure, and the sales person has less chores.
Create documents like contracts with prefilled process. Helps you with follow-ups to get signatures. In the future, it will deal with account management, invoices, and a follow up process for reviews and renewals.
Customer relationship is always ongoing in sales, referrals, and then new sales.
All relationships need the human touch, the AI assistant from Sofie Labs helps you with your CRM to lesson and repetitive chores.
Sofie Labs is doing a pilot for the sales test, a sales playbook and process would be needed for all applicants.
Related Show:
Zero to One - Peter Thiel Contrarian Thinker + Disruption
AZ TRT S04 EP50 (213) 12-17-2023
What We Learned This Week
- Contrarian Thinking – think for yourself and differently than everyone else
- Innovation great companies have unique products that go from Zero to one, vertical
- Founders are important and challenge the Status Quo to change the world
- Competition is for losers, strive for a Monopoly
- Secrets – What Great Company is No One Building?
- Disruption in Business & Tech World - How to Handle The Innovator's Dilemma
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future (c- 2014)
Show Link: HERE
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