Sales Predictions 2025: AI, Authenticity, and the End of Sticky Sales

Summary

The Advanced Selling Podcast: Sales Predictions 2025 – AI, Authenticity, and the End of Sticky Sales

Released on December 16, 2024

In this insightful episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, hosts Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale delve into their annual sales predictions for 2025. As seasoned B2B sales trainers and business strategists, Bill and Bryan offer a comprehensive analysis of emerging trends poised to reshape the sales landscape. Their discussion touches on the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence (AI), the growing demand for authenticity, the decline of traditional sales tactics, the resurgence of in-person interactions, the importance of personal branding, and the impending shift in sales workforce demographics.

1. The Ascendance of Artificial Intelligence in Sales

Bill Caskey initiates the conversation by emphasizing the transformative role AI is playing in the sales profession. He highlights how AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are becoming integral in drafting emails and automating various sales processes.

“If you're not spending any time at all learning this tool, you are going to be left behind, and at some point you're going to lose your job or you're going to be demoted...” [04:53]

Bryan Neale echoes this sentiment, underscoring that AI should be viewed as a tool to enhance performance rather than a threat.

“It's not about that. It's about how... AI is just another tool to learn how to use to do your job better.” [07:08]

They stress the importance for sales professionals to familiarize themselves with AI technologies to stay competitive and leverage these tools for improved efficiency and effectiveness in sales strategies.

2. The Decline of Cheesy Tactical Cold Outreach

Moving forward, Bryan Neale predicts the “slow death” of cheesy, tactical cold outreach methods, such as overused email hooks and gimmicky subject lines. He argues that as these tactics become ubiquitous, their effectiveness diminishes.

“Cheesy tactical cold outreach is going to die.” [07:37]

Both hosts agree that buyers are increasingly seeking authenticity and genuine interactions, moving away from manipulative or formulaic sales approaches. This shift necessitates a more sincere and personalized engagement with prospects.

3. Legacy Media Gives Way to Personal Media Channels

Bill Caskey draws a parallel between the decline of legacy corporate media and the rise of personal media channels. He references Dan Sullivan’s prediction about the microchip revolutionizing media consumption, leading to individualized content sources like Twitter and Facebook.

“What does that mean for a sales professional? I think it means that you have to be your own media.” [11:08]

Bill emphasizes that sales professionals must cultivate their own media presence—through webinars, product demonstrations, and authentic content dissemination—to effectively attract and engage customers in a fragmented media landscape.

4. Resurgence of In-Person Sales Calls

Bryan Neale anticipates a comeback of in-person sales meetings as professionals seek deeper connections beyond virtual interactions. He posits that after extensive periods of reliance on Zoom and virtual platforms, both sellers and buyers will crave the personal touch and relationship-building that face-to-face meetings facilitate.

“I predict a resurgence and an encouragement for resurgence of defaulting to the live meeting over the Zoomer teams.” [14:30]

Despite recognizing logistical challenges, Bill Caskey concurs, reflecting on the yearning for more personal engagements and the enhanced experience that comes with in-person sales interactions.

5. The Rise of Personal Branding

Bill Caskey observes a significant uptick in interest around personal branding within the sales community. He asserts that establishing a strong personal brand will be crucial for sales professionals to differentiate themselves and build trust with clients.

“Next year is going to be the year of the personal brand. I really think that people are finally going to recognize that they will be left behind in their market if they're not building their personal brand.” [15:27]

Bryan Neale adds that everyone inherently possesses a personal brand and that consciously developing and showcasing it through various channels is essential for modern sales success.

“Your brand's your brand. It's who you are at your authentic, your authentic self and that's, that's what it is.” [16:09]

6. The Exodus of Baby Boomers in Professional Selling

The hosts forecast a significant departure of baby boomer sales professionals from the workforce, leading to a generational shift in sales teams. Bryan Neale predicts this exodus will create both challenges and opportunities, such as a scarcity of seasoned professionals and openings for younger generations to step into leadership roles.

“I predict this is going to be the last hurrah for a boatload of baby boomers in professional selling.” [16:59]

Bill Caskey adds that this transition will demand higher efficiency and adaptability within organizations, as the incoming workforce may have different expectations and skill sets.

“Businesses have to say, okay, we got to get more efficient with what we've got...” [19:12]

Conclusion

As 2025 approaches, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale provide a forward-thinking perspective on the evolving sales environment. Their predictions highlight the necessity for sales professionals to embrace AI, prioritize authenticity, develop personal brands, and adapt to demographic shifts within the workforce. By anticipating these trends, listeners can better prepare to navigate the changing dynamics and continue to achieve sales success.

“Just be you. Yeah. So I am going to predict a resurgence of the in person sales call...” [14:57]

This episode serves as a valuable roadmap for sales professionals aiming to stay ahead in an increasingly automated and authentic marketplace.

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Notable Quotes:

• “If you're not spending any time at all learning this tool, you are going to be left behind...” – Bill Caskey [04:53]
• “Cheesy tactical cold outreach is going to die.” – Bryan Neale [07:37]
• “I think it means that you have to be your own media.” – Bill Caskey [11:08]
• “I predict a resurgence and an encouragement for resurgence of defaulting to the live meeting over the Zoomer teams.” – Bryan Neale [14:30]
• “Next year is going to be the year of the personal brand.” – Bill Caskey [15:27]
• “I predict this is going to be the last hurrah for a boatload of baby boomers in professional selling.” – Bryan Neale [16:59]

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For sales professionals seeking to thrive in the coming years, adopting these insights and preparing for the anticipated changes will be crucial in maintaining a competitive edge and fostering meaningful client relationships.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back to the event selling podcast. The longest running sales training podcast, podcast history. I'm Bill Caskey.

[B]

I'm Brian Neal over here and we.

[A]

Are so glad that you join us and have done so every Monday in 2025 and probably every Monday since we started this thing back in 2016. But if you are new to us go to advanceellingpodcast.com and somewhere on that first page is a recap of the, I don't know, 15 to 20 episodes. So if you don't want to start from scratch 1800 episodes ago, find the top 20 and start there. I think it'll be good.

[B]

I think you should.

[A]

We're glad that you're with us here. We are ending the year 2025.

[B]

If you're listening to this, you've done that twice. You said all the episodes of 2025. I'm like man, scaring me a little bit. I thought it was in a time warp. Well these days you just don't know. You know what I mean? With all the stuff going on, I'm like did we just skip a year? You never know. So. So we're going to do. This is our prediction show. Our annual prediction show. I love going back. I've not listened to one of our old predictions a time or two haven't. We should probably do that. But we've done prediction show. So what, what do Bill and I have predicted is going to happen in the world of professional selling for the year 2025? Before we talk about that I had. We're recording this in December of 2024 and I had the good pleasure of traveling in the on the heaviest travel days in the United States on Thanksgiving weekend. Bill. And you know what I saw more of than I've seen in a long time? Service dogs. Service dogs that aren't service dogs. They're millennial owned dogs who can't leave their or board their dog for the weekend. So they go to Amazon. They have $15 service dog sleeve and they take their golden retriever or their Australian labradoodle onto the plane to go home to their parents house. The grandparent of the dog. Do you humanize your dogs Bill? Like do you are you do you're a dog dad? No. That guy or dog mom or a dog grandma. No.

[A]

No. I never have.

[B]

No. It's a thing but it's a little. But people do. People do.

[A]

Just offended half our audience.

[B]

100 and it's not a. It's just. There's just a thing. Ask anyone who travels frequently about the uptick of service dogs. Now, that is not to take anything away from people who legitimately need a service dog. If you need a service dog, you know, but here's what to think about. You just know. No, you sleep well at night. If you have a service dog, you're good. If you're pretending that your dog's a service dog and you're taking it with you on the airplane, you know that, you know that I don't have to say anything to you. So I'm not worried about offending people. It's just, you know, it's a.

[A]

My rule on things like that is whether it's service dogs or, or where, where to park and the parking is. Is. What if everybody did that, right? What if everybody, everybody. I'm just talking everybody had a service dog at an airport, Wouldn't that be a thing? What would happen?

[B]

Busy airport, dirty.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

It's crazy, isn't it? It's a thing. I don't know.

[A]

Well, okay, I've got a quick thing here.

[B]

Yeah, what do you got?

[A]

Yeah, we got time.

[B]

I'm thinking of my predictions. Go ahead.

[A]

I'm going to. I was going to an AI conference in Cincinnati.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I was. It was going. It was happening a couple weeks ago, but I was getting ready to go and it was, it was over there and the lady who was running it was really smart. I've heard on a couple podcasts really like her vibe and her voice is kind of annoying, but so is mine. But I was going to go over there and. And then it's. At the last second I thought, I really want to drive to Cincinnati. It's only a couple hours, two and a half hours for a two hour thing and then come back and it's dark and it's rainy and it's snowy and it's like, I don't think so. I thought, oh, perfect, I'll just dial in. I mean, I'm sure there's a zoom. I'm sure they have a virtual. It's a. I. Nope. No, I said you don't have any. Oh, no, we wouldn't know how to do that. I'm like, what? Why don't you ask AI how to do it? I bet Chat GPT will send a person over and hook you up.

[B]

You know what I've been using Chat GPT for here, right? Recently?

[A]

What's that?

[B]

Christmas shopping.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

It's a great thing to just ask and just explain who the person is you're buying for and explain. It's really great. Really great. And it's instant. I love Chat GPT. I know you use a different version, but, man, I'm a fan. Such a fan. We should use Chat GPT for our predictions, Bill. Maybe we should do that. Maybe we'll do this and then we'll do later. Well, same here. I mean, it takes forever, doesn't it? But maybe we can do ours and then we'll see how the compare GPTs. That would be fun.

[A]

And then we won't listen to them next year.

[B]

Exactly. And then we'll see if Chad GBT is more accurate than we are. Okay, so we hit on 2025. You got one. Go ahead.

[A]

I got one. And it's. And the reason I jumped in here is because it's exactly what we're talking about, and that is the impact of AI. For those of you that don't know what AI is, artificial intelligence on sales, on the sales profession, on the buying of your solutions, on the interactions with buyers and buying companies, on the content that you create to inspire a lead to come in or a conversation to start happening. I see a lot of people, probably 50% of my clients are using AI to draft an email. And that is. That is the bare. I mean, okay, that's great, but that leaves 99% of possibilities wide open. And we don't even know what all the possibilities are. But you've got to figure out a way to get to know, get familiar, get cozy with AI, learn about it. You can take a course in it. There's a lot of good courses. You can just watch video or listen to podcasts. Michael Stelzner at Social Media examiner has one called AI Explored. He has great guests on. I've learned so much about how to write prompts and things like that, but if you're not spending any time at all learning this tool, you are going to be left behind, and at some point you're going to lose your job or you're going to be demoted or that your territory is going to be shrunk because somebody in that organization is saying, why do we have salespeople? Why don't we just use AI?

[B]

Seriously, it's the truth. I know. Now, I will say you get an approach. I'm going to add on, not add on, but give my commentary on bills. Because I believe, too, AI, I mean, you know, if you're not talking about AI, it's like, what, are you going to Iraq? It's like. Or you're like, oh, everybody's talking about AI is to see it for what it Is which is a tool to help you perform better versus an enemy that's going to take your job. And this is what I think people do. They resist it because, like, you know, they tell themselves, no, no, no, no taking my job. Humans want to deal with humans. I'm like, it's not about that. It's about how and all you have to do, if you're nervous about this, go through your history. Most people that are nervous about this have been in the sales game for a while. That's why they're nervous.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

And at one point in their sales game, they didn't have a cell phone and they resisted having a sales phone because they didn't want to be that accessible. And then they didn't have a laptop. They didn't have a laptop or an iPhone or an iPad or whatever they have now that they use every day. They never texted texting for teenagers now. They can't not text all day, every day. So AI is just that. It's just another tool to learn how to use to do your job better. Just look at it for what it is. I agree with that one.

[A]

Yeah, totally agree.

[B]

For sure. The next trend that I see, I think there's going to be a. A slow death that's been happening that's going to become an expeditious death of cheesy tactical cold outreach. I think cheesy tactical cold outreach is going to die. So those people that use email marketing with hooks and subject lines, they're looking for the thing that hooks things like, he's super famous, but, you know, little things like Chris, what's his name? Chris Voss. You know, he tells everybody, as soon as someone goes, you know, someone you delay or something, just ask him this, send him a note and say, have you given up on this? Well, the problem is with the. The way that ideas, little tricks like that spread so fast, they get watered down really fast because everybody hears it. So as soon as someone says, have you given up on this? I'm like, you're a Chris Voss guy. You know what I mean? All the sticky things that. That's all going to go away. It's just going to go away. I believe in 2025 it may not disappear completely. It's going to get.

[A]

That is what's behind the going away.

[B]

Do you think the intention behind it is finally catching up to everyone, that buyers are just getting more authentic and real and they just don't have time for the game playing at all? The sticky, the hooking, the reversing to pick whatever thing you want. The going negative, the, you know, the email, the meme, whatever, you know, it's all sticky. You know, I think sticky's going away. I really do. And I'm not talking about, like, not interesting swing. Yeah. So I, I don't. Be. Be real. Be real. And if your real is shticky, then be shticky. But most people's isn't. Most people's isn't.

[A]

You know who I think is leading this and that, and this is going to come out of nowhere, just like you did to me last episode, is Joe Rogan. I think Joe's podcast is like him or not. It's a very real conversation with people without shtick, without notes, without agendas. It's just him in a room with another person for a couple of hours asking questions that you and I might ask if we were in that same room with that person. I think guys like him are, are leading the way to this authenticity movement. Daniel Priestley is one of my favorite authors in England. He's, he's really good when, when he's on camera, you don't feel like he's sticking. You feel like that's just who he is. Man, if I saw him, he'd be the same guy. And I struggle with that. When I'm doing video. Sometimes I will shoot video. And I've been taught, told, or coached. You know what? You gotta, you gotta bump up your energy level a little bit. Well, if you bump it up so much that it's not you, then you're going to come across phony and fake. And I think this goes along with this whole shticky sales thing. Is that because. And are you, are we giving ourselves permission just to be who we are?

[B]

Right.

[A]

Isn't that good enough?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Because that's our true power, right? Who we are.

[B]

Yeah. So.

[A]

Yeah. All right, so the, the death of.

[B]

The death of stickiness. Sticky death. Sticky death.

[A]

Okay. I think, and I'm going to go a little political here in that I, I noticed it in this past u. S. Election is the death of the legacy and mainstream corporate media. And I think we've all seen it coming. Dan Sullivan predicted it 10 years ago when he said it all began with the microchip. The microchip was invented in 1970 something and it's taken 50 years for the microchip to finally destroy corporate media, legacy media. So you ask people where they get their news now. They don't sit down around the dinner table and watch Peter Jennings anymore. It' all throughout the day it's all Twitter, Facebook, it's all different, all different locations. So what does that mean for a sales professional? I think it means that you have to be your own media. You're not going to, you're not going to find anywhere that can do better than you can about producing your own media. Whether it's media as like a webinar media, whether you are doing a product demonstration video, maybe you're on zoom calls all day, maybe you record some of those and that becomes a part of the media that you can throw out to the world and let people know who you are, how you do things, the kind of value you bring. So I think we've all got to look at ourselves as our own media channel. And it doesn't mean you're publishing every day, but it means you're responsible for putting something out into the zeitgeist that's going to help you attract customers.

[B]

That's brilliant. That's absolutely. And what a great trend be. Because it's going to be. It hasn't caught on yet, so to speak, in professional selling. And so no, it's, it's. The grass is green man run now. It's wide open for you right now and all those things. And don't be shticky with it. Just be you. Yeah. So I am going to predict a resurgence of the in person sales call. I think people are going to continue to now that we get further away from the COVID epidemic and people get a little tired of just doing Zooms the whole time that both buyers also though you as a seller listening to this need to work on and should work on in 2025, defaulting to live meetings over zoom meetings whenever possible. And I see this in Bill mentioned. Was that. Did you talk about Cincinnati, this episode? You did, didn't you? That's a choice. I'm not dissing the choice that Bill made. It's a different, different thing. But it's a two hour drive. And if I had a prospect in Cincinnati, I live in Indianapolis, I've got two choices. I can do it on Zoom and the efficiency people. That's really efficient. It's easy. What if though, I got in my car and drove over there, what else could I do when I'm there? What's the impact of live meeting? Steph and I, we went to St. Louis to visit a prospect and I can't tell you how different the experience has been with just. And you only do it once, you know, you have to the whole time through. But I think I predict a resurgence and an encouragement for resurgence of defaulting to the live meeting over the Zoomer teams.

[A]

I don't know about that one. I, I would like to think that's, that's going to happen. I'm just convinced that until people come back to the office, and I think most people are back certain days of the week, I don't know, I mean, I don't know what the average is, but until they come back, it becomes hard to do face to face meetings. But yeah, but I think you're probably right. I think people are starved for that. Actually.

[B]

That's what I think. And maybe less of a prediction, maybe more of a hope and an encouragement because I also think it's green grass. Think of what it means to someone. Think of someone selling to us. We're in indie. Like, we can hop on a Zoomer team. Say, you know what, Indy's not that far away and I got some other people I can visit. Would you guys be up for grabbing a cup of coffee? Like, sure. Think of how different our experience would be with that person who would be selling to me and Bill, it's night and day compared to hopping on a 30 minute zoo or 20 minutes in.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So that's mine.

[A]

Okay. My last one here is. I've noticed as I create content that there's more and more interest in personal branding than there has been. I think that we, we went through a couple years there where people were just trying to survive and they really weren't concerned about their personal brand. And I've noticed in the last six months to a year, there's a whole lot more interest around that. And I think next year is going to be the year of the personal brand. I really think that people are finally, finally going to recognize that they will be left behind in their market if they're not building their personal brand. It's not just about publishing a whole bunch of content. It's really about understanding what you stand for, who you are, where you're going, where you take people. Where do you take your customer? Do you take them on a journey to a destination they want or you just are just trying to sell them stuff? So I think there's a whole lot about branding other than just, you know, good, good photos and good images. It's really more about what's in your heart. And I think that form of branding is going to be much bigger next year because people are starving. Your customer wants to know who you are behind the facade of spreadsheets and, you know, yes. Business and I, I know I don't do enough of that and I'm committed to doing more just personal interest stuff. But that's, that's part of the personal brand I think will be a big factor next year.

[B]

I love that. And I, I think with the, the comment I would have on personal branding that people don't realize until someone, I heard someone say this, you already have a personal brand. It's not about building a per. You have one. Ask your friends and your family, what do you like? What's Bill like? What's Brian like? We all have a personal. We carry with us everywhere we go. We can't help it. This is just about putting that personal brand out for the world to see in a different mechanism is all it is just picking a new channel. So if your normal channel is a, you know, six foot radius around you, wherever you're standing, your new channel becomes a podcast or your new channel becomes LinkedIn. But your brand's your brand. It's who you are at your authentic, your authentic self and that's, that's what it is. So yeah, my last prediction, I predict this is going to be the last hurrah for a boatload of baby boomers in professional selling. I think there's going to be a huge exodus of people, both sales leadership and sales people. That's going to cause some pain and some opportunity on both sides. It's going to cause some pain because it's going to be harder to find seasoned people who've got a lot of experience in things and it's going to create opportunity for a lot of people in other generations. Probably more millennials and Gen Z's than Gen Xers. And so be ready. Be ready. That's what I would think.

[A]

They're going to leave the workforce or do you think they're going to not want to be in sales?

[B]

No, I think they're going to leave the workforce or throttle down the workforce. Semi retire, work optional.

[A]

I think 50s.

[B]

Is that 50s, 40s and 50s you would have been. That would be. So it would be born before 64, I think is the one.

[A]

Baby boomer.

[B]

You're baby boomer.

[A]

So it's generation after that.

[B]

No, no, it'll be you, I'll be me. Your group will be. Yeah, I don't think you will, but I think so.

[A]

I think some of your peers will.

[B]

And like that either throttle down, you're like, you know what? And you've got, you know, your investments have done well over the past 15 years and it's like you Know what? You know, the grind just isn't worth it anymore. And you'll do purposeful work and you'll still be around and doing things. Not everyone's going to go play golf. I just think it's going to just accelerate, that's all.

[A]

And so what does that mean? What does that mean to the rest of the workforce?

[B]

That because the number of bodies coming up behind the baby boomers is significantly smaller, so the number of Gen Xers and millennials just head count wise is way smaller. So businesses have to say, okay, we got to get more efficient with what we've got, or you know, these people that, you know the opportunity is going to show yourself. So if you're 35 and all of a sudden you, there might be a chance for you to be the, the Chief Revenue Officer. We need to be ready for that.

[A]

If you're listening, I like that. I think that's a whole episode. Next year maybe we do on. Given the macro trends, population and career and retirement, all that, how do you become ready for your next opportunity? Whether it's with the current company or whether some somebody else somewhere else. Are you, are you setting yourself up for success on the next thing? Yes, and I think most people don't think about that. We're more in the grind of the day to day and what do I need to get done today?

[B]

And yes, or, or they're entitled to it just by nature of being entitled to it and they've not put the work in. Or I coach a couple groups and there's a person in each group that is that. And, and the lack of awareness of that is just astonishing. Where this person's performance, if you look at it, is just so obvious that they're not even on the radar for a leadership role. And then the boss puts him on a PIP and says, or we want to move you to another job. It wasn't a pip, it was another. He said, well, is there a leadership opportunity in this new role? It was a prep. It was a pip. Yeah. Just served up as a new job. So.

[A]

A new opportunity.

[B]

Exactly. I got a new opportunity for you. And he said, is there a leadership opportunity here? The guy's like, no, but you look at your results like you're not going to get a leadership role with what you've been doing anyway.

[A]

Yeah, well, we have thoroughly enjoyed 2024, as I said earlier.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

I have a great year and thank you all for listening. It's always, it's always a pleasure and this time of year is a good time. To reflect back on our great, our gratitude for you being a part of this journey that we're on.

[B]

It's just awesome to think back on all of it and, and the organic nature of what we've done with podcasts, with people that listen. They just found us and we found them and we just do our deal and we love doing it and we love the community that we built up and it's just fun to see running into random people like hell listen to your podcast or they figure that out. And we've never promoted it one time. Like, you know, we've never like bought advertising or anything like that.

[A]

So, so Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, happy holidays, whatever you celebrate and we'll see you next year.

[B]

All right.

[A]

We're going to keep doing this until somebody tells us we can't go to 20.

[B]

Going to 20. Going to 20.

[A]

All right.

[B]

All right. See you. Bye.