“We’re going to build Scarlett Johansonn for Salesforce!” Adam Honig declared to his business partner after watching the Spike Jonez movie Her, starring the actress. Frustrated with Salesforce and other CRM services, he thought, why not have a virtual assistant, like the one voiced by Johansonn, to replace all of that extra work employees are tasked with. This led to founding Spiro, which, among other things, listens to phone calls and reads emails, to deal with those tasks not only faster but more efficiently. Ultimately, Spiro hopes to “kill CRM” and replace it with a new application theory it calls “proactive relationship management.”
This technology upgrade only works because it recognizes a pain point and offers a better solution to those currently available. In fact, a major problem with sales across the board, Adam insists, is that people constantly want a technological solution that is neither innovative nor efficient. More focus needs to be returned to good old-fashioned problem solving, and segmenting, to make sure the right message, and the right solution, are getting to the right person.
Serving your customer in need, not the one your ego is drawn to, should always be paramount. Hear who Adam’s biggest competitor is, why he compares the art of sales to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and which feature of LinkedIn might be making you look like a real ass.
Quotes:
“A lot of the new technology gets in the way. The emails, the subject, the body content, the calls to action, gloss over the most important thing that salespeople can be doing, which is really striving to understand the needs and desires of their prospects, to help them.”([4:13]-[4:33] | Adam)
“So you need to really understand the pain, and you need to be able to help people articulate that pain in a way that’s going to get the organization to take action.” ([9:43]-[9:53] | Adam)
“I love LinkedIn, it’s a great platform, but it kills me. The number of terrible pitches I get every day, I cannot believe. Everybody talks about, ‘Me, me me. Here’s my thing, in your face.’ And if I don’t respond, ‘Let me send you fifteen automated followups to that thing.” ([14:53]-[15:16] | Adam)
“My big competitor is Bill Gates with Microsoft Excel.” ([25:01]-[25:05] | Adam)
“You’ve got to know your segment. That’s the whole thing.” ([40:00]-[40:02] | Adam)
Connect with Brendan Dell:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell
Instagram: @thebrendandell
TikTok: @brendandell39
Buy a copy of Brendan’s Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926
Connect with Adam Honig and Spiro:
LinkedIn: @ Adam Honig
Twitter: @adamhonig
Check out Adam Honig’s recommended reads:
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780671027032
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781936661831
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780544273443
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About the Author
Brendan Dell
Brendan Dell is an author and the founder of The Daily Creative. As a freelancer he's worked with clients like Expedia, Cvent, Panasonic, Brother, Windstream and 100+ more to build unignorable tech brands. At The Daily Creative, he shares advice and lessons to help freelancers level up.
