这期 A16Z 播客深入探讨了销售领域不断变化的格局，特别关注人工智能 (AI) 如何彻底改变传统的销售方法并重新定义客户关系管理 (CRM) 系统的作用。 讨论嘉宾是 A16Z 应用团队的投资合伙人 Jo Schmitt 和 Mark Trusco，他们探讨了销售策略和技术领域正在发生的变化。 播客首先强调了销售的永恒性，将其起源追溯到史前的物物交换。 历史上，跟踪客户互动和需求一直是一个手动过程，从书面记录演变为 Rolodexes（旋转索引卡片盒），最终发展到数字 CRM。 Salesforce 通过将 CRM 转移到云端，打破了这一模式，使销售代表可以更轻松地获取信息。 然而，讨论的关键转变是从人为驱动的数据输入转变为 AI 原生系统。 AI 现在可以被动地收集数据，无论是实时监控对话，还是主动与客户互动，而无需依赖销售人员手动输入信息。 这种变化为自动化任务、减少人工工作量和创建更智能的销售工作流程提供了重要机会。 播客强调了“记录系统”的概念，突出了拥有关于客户和潜在客户的集中真实来源的重要性。 历史上，像 Salesforce 这样的记录系统由于数据迁移的难度而具有强大的护城河。 该播客提到了“Salesforce 的消亡”，暗示了向非结构化数据收集和利用 AI 的转变。 这种转变侧重于跟踪成就而不是活动，利用真实的客户数据来指导销售策略。 播客讨论了几个 AI 影响的具体例子。 AI 可以带来重大改变的一个领域是简化销售开发代表的流程，AI 可以自动执行识别潜在客户、联系他们和安排会议等任务。 这使人类销售人员能够专注于建立关系、完成交易和提供卓越的客户服务。 此外，播客还探讨了 AI 在客户互动期间为销售代表提供实时指导的潜力。 AI 驱动的语音代理可以收听电话，并根据过去成功互动的数据提供即时建议。 这种信息的个性化方面使销售人员能够掌握最新信息的前沿，从而使他们具有优势。 个性化是讨论的另一个方面，它允许在营销中进行定制。 现在只需按一下按钮，AI 就可以根据个人的角色或最近的网站活动来定制演示文稿，而无需销售人员花费数小时。 在采用方面，AI 驱动的自动化在简化销售方面最受关注，销售团队正在接受培训并变得更加高效，因为 AI 正在简化销售流程。 最终，目标是将市场营销、销售、客户成功和客户支持统一起来，围绕一个共同的愿景：以客户至上。 通过模糊这些部门之间的界限，并使团队能够更有效地协作，企业可以提供更好的客户体验并推动增长。 播客最后强调了 AI 驱动的销售中情境的重要性。 通过接入各种客户反馈来源，包括电子邮件、Slack、Zendesk、社交媒体和调查，AI 可以更全面地了解客户的需求和偏好。 有了这种情境，AI 代理可以更自主地行动、做出更好的决策并推动更好的结果。 而且，凭借解决产品与销售之间问题的能力，AI 显然将继续存在。

This A16Z podcast episode delves into the evolving landscape of sales, particularly focusing on how artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionize traditional selling methods and redefine the role of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. The discussion features investing partners Jo Schmitt and Mark and Trusco from the A16Z apps team, who explore the shifts occurring in sales strategies and technologies. The podcast begins by highlighting the timeless nature of sales, tracing its origins back to prehistoric bartering. Historically, tracking customer interactions and needs has been a manual process, evolving from written records to Rolodexes and eventually, digital CRMs. Salesforce disrupted this paradigm by moving CRM to the cloud, making information more accessible to sales representatives. However, the key shift discussed is the move from human-driven data entry to AI-native systems. Instead of relying on salespeople to manually input information, AI can now passively gather data, either by monitoring conversations in real time or even by actively engaging with customers. This change presents a significant opportunity to automate tasks, reduce manual effort, and create more intelligent sales workflows. The concept of "system of record" is emphasized, highlighting the importance of having a centralized source of truth about customers and prospects. Historically, systems of record like Salesforce have had strong moats due to the difficulty of migrating data. The podcast references "Death of a Salesforce" which implies a shift towards unstructured data collection and utilizing AI. This shift focuses on tracking achievements rather than activities, leveraging real customer data to guide sales strategies. Several concrete examples of AI’s impact are discussed. One area where AI can make a substantial change is with streamlining the process of the sales development representative, with AI automating tasks such as identifying prospects, contacting them, and scheduling meetings. This frees up human salespeople to focus on building relationships, closing deals, and providing exceptional customer service. Moreover, the podcast explores the potential for AI to provide real-time coaching to sales representatives during customer interactions. AI-powered voice agents can listen to calls and offer instant suggestions based on data from successful past interactions. The personalized aspect of this information allows the salesperson to be on the edge of the latest information, giving them an advantage. Personalization is another aspect discussed, this allows for custom tailoring in marketing. Instead of sales people spending hours, AI can now customize decks based on an individual's role or recent website activity with the push of a button. When it comes to adoption, AI-driven automation is seeing the most enthusiasm when it comes to the streamlining of sales, sales teams are now being trained and becoming more efficient as AI is now streamlining the sales process. Ultimately, the goal is to unify marketing, sales, customer success, and customer support around a shared vision: to put the customer first. By blurring the lines between these departments and empowering teams to collaborate more effectively, businesses can deliver better customer experiences and drive growth. The podcast concludes by emphasizing the importance of context in AI-driven sales. By plugging into various sources of customer feedback – including email, Slack, Zendesk, social media, and surveys – AI can gain a more complete understanding of customer needs and preferences. With this context, AI agents can act more autonomously, make better decisions, and drive better outcomes. And with the ability to fix the product vs sales it is apparent AI is here to stay.