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<p style="margin-top:3px;margin-left:11px;font-family: sans-serif;font-size: 10px; color: gray;">Powered by <a class="redcircle-link" href="https://redcircle.com?utm_source=rc_embedded_player&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=embedded_v1">RedCircle</a></p>

Caroline from Dayton, Ohio asked a question a lot of salespeople are wrestling with right now: How do you use AI efficiently without losing your human touch?

It is a great question. And the answer is simpler than you think, even if most people are getting it completely wrong.

Let me be direct with you. We are living in a moment of unlimited intelligence. For the first time in human history, if you need information, research, a first draft, or prep for a big proposal, you can get it instantly. AI does not sleep, does not charge by the hour, and keeps asking if it can do more for you. That is genuinely extraordinary.

But here is what I want you to understand: in a world of unlimited intelligence, wisdom is scarce.

Your instinct, your read on the room, your ability to sense hesitation in a prospect’s voice, your gut feeling that the copy is not visceral enough to capture someone’s heart. That is yours. AI cannot replicate it. And the salespeople who figure that out are going to be living large for a very long time.

How to Actually Use AI in Sales

I will give you a real example. I was working on copy for our fractional sales leadership service. In the past, I would have spent hours writing it myself, or hired an agency who would have sent me something I did not like and I would have rewritten it anyway. Instead, I went into Claude, worked through what I was looking for, and it gave me a draft fast.

It was not right. It lacked the visceral quality I needed. So I rewrote it, fed my edits back in, and the AI actually said, “I see where you’re going with that. You’re trying to capture people’s hearts.” The intelligence got me moving. My wisdom made it work.

That is the model. AI handles the prep, the research, the first draft, the administrative work. You bring yourself to everything that touches the buyer.

When I have a big proposal meeting, AI now helps me get prepared in an hour instead of half a day. That time I saved? I spent it with people. That is the point. AI should give you more time to be human, and make the time you spend with people richer.

If it is not doing that, you are using it wrong.

Three Types of Salespeople Right Now

There are three kinds of people in sales today, and only one of them wins.

The first group understands that emotional intelligence combined with smart technology is an unstoppable combination. They use AI as a force multiplier. They do not lose their humanity in the process. These are the apex predators.

The second group is replacing human relationships with technology entirely. They are blasting out AI-generated emails to everyone, automating everything, and hiding behind their screens. They are afraid to pick up the phone. Some of them are afraid to have any human conversation at all. Sooner or later, they will starve. And when they do, they will figure out how to talk to people. But right now, they are going to live in a mediocre space.

The third group is refusing to adopt anything. They are going to get left behind.

Be the apex predator.

The AI Email Problem Nobody Is Talking About

Here is something Caroline and I got into that I want you to really hear.

When you send someone an AI-generated email and they know it, they do not just delete it. They block you. And when they block you, you do not lose one conversation. You lose access entirely. That is a very different outcome than the old days when a bad cold email just got deleted.

Companies learned this the hard way two years ago when AI-blasted campaigns burned their entire lists in 24 hours. The smart ones woke up fast.

Here is the flip side of that: right now, if you look human, you stand out. I talked to a CEO who got an email from a rep that had a few grammatical mistakes in it. He was excited. A real person wrote this. Think about that. Being authentically human is now a competitive advantage.

And in-person prospecting? You walk into a business and they practically celebrate that you showed up. I have never seen anything like it. They will take you back to meet the owner. Because nobody is coming to see them anymore.

What AI Actually Punishes

AI is not going to kill sales. But it is going to punish mediocrity.

If you do not know how to write, AI-generated copy will still fall flat, because you will not know how to fix it. If you do not know how to sell, AI-generated outreach will get you blocked. If you cannot hold a real conversation, no amount of tech will save you.

The reps who win long term master the fundamentals first and then use AI to do more with less time. Not the other way around.

Use AI to prepare. Use AI to research. Use AI to draft. Then bring yourself to every single moment that touches the buyer.

Your credibility, your empathy, your instincts. Those are the things buyers pay for. And no AI has those. Only you do.

Got a sales or business question you want Jeb to answer? Submit it at salesgravy.com/ask and you could be featured on the next Ask Jeb episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast.