If everyone has access to the same AI tools and can scale outreach faster than ever, how do you stand out from all the noise?

We sat down with John Eitel, Chief Growth Officer of Orum and a 7x sales leader, to talk B2B sales, AI adoption, and why human connection is becoming the real competitive advantage.

In this episode they get into:
- Cold calling making a comeback
- Running events that are prioritizing connection
- The cost of handing your whole sales team access to AI & more

AI makes good sellers better, but it doesn't create them. If you want to know how to use AI to sell smarter without losing the human side of selling, give this episode a listen!

Timestamps:

0:00 Welcome to the show
0:32 Guest introduction
4:00 How is B2B selling changing right now?
6:35 Usage-based or seat pricing – which wins?
8:42 How do you break into accounts in 2026?
11:19 Selling a sales solution as a seller
12:55 Why don’t buyers buy tools anymore?
13:24 When is a prospect not worth your time?
15:06 Is cold calling really back from the dead?
17:07 How has cold calling gotten harder?
18:26 Do top execs really take cold calls?
19:27 Breaking into your target accounts in 2026
21:16 Why are in-person events suddenly back?
23:40 Throwing events in 2026
26:10 Putting John’s entire sales team on Claude
29:10 Is “token-maxxing” just hype?
30:26 Is AI quietly making reps worse at selling?
31:15 Who should own your AI tools?
33:29 Where does AI create real sales value?
34:45 Why is AI just a “PhD-level intern”?
35:55 Rapid fire - best cold-call opener?
36:27 Rapid fire - worst sales advice still around?
37:26 Rapid fire - biggest red flag in a hire?
37:48 Rapid fire - most underrated sales methodology?
38:44 Rapid fire - a CRO’s most important job?
39:19 Rapid fire - the one metric that matters?
40:44 Can Ding freestyle a sales rap on the spot?

#b2bsales #b2bmarketing #coldcalling #salesstrategy #aiinsales