Jason M. Lemkin says salespeople who don't understand their product will be replaced by AI, but those who can explain how it actually works and delivers value will survive. Deep knowledge of deployment and real-world implementation is what separates a replaceable AE from one who can't be automated away.
Well, listen, let's be honest, got to be honest. In the age of AI, most, most sales reps have no idea how to sell value. You can't sell value unless you're a product expert. You cannot sell value. It's dead in the water. Value based selling is providing value. You cannot provide value in the age of AI if you do not know the product called ideally how to deploy it and how to get it going and deploy real value. Not to have a valuation calculator on your website that says 18 months down the road the product will work. They use them every day, just sell the tools, you know. But I think we're going to see AI is not going to replace the AE the way it is already beginning to replace the SDR has already replaced support, is already replacing customer success. But it is going to replace a lot of AES that aren't product, don't know the product hold. They just know how every nook and cranny works, how every, how to, how to, how to, how to get past feature gaps, how it all works. And, and we're just not going to tolerate mediocre sales reps in the age of AI. We're just going to buy from somebody else.
