I’m sure you’re familiar with the countless ads on social media. At their core, they advertise fully automated systems that generate leads at the touch of a button and automatically generate new customers for you.
It sounds too good to be true. No more tedious sales calls, no more countless hours spent searching for the perfect fit, and most importantly, no more expensive sales reps on the payroll.
Really? Does it work?
We put a few of these proposals to the test (under false flag ;-)) and would like to share the results with you.
1. Automatic appointment setting
We tried 2 “systems”. One company advertised pay-per-lead and for a price where you really don’t have to think twice. But the conversation was different. On the one hand they wanted a setup fee and on the other hand you had to book a training where you would learn all the secrets of lead generation.
The goal was clear: Sell the site’s products, not make money from lead generation.
The second agency worked similarly, but without the mandatory training. The catch was that their definition of “lead” was not what we had in mind. The sales rep said quite clearly that it can happen that someone books an appointment that does not suit us. The system is not perfect. But you still have to pay.
By the way, you also have to pay for no-shows. Date booked = money. We did the math. Monthly we get a little over $5,000 just for booking and we have no control over who books into our calendar. Oh yeah… the contract only runs through cold mailings. No one calls in person.
2. Automated sales funnel for lead generation
Ok… this makes sense. We tested two AI-based system vendors.
We’ll make it short: After 4 weeks, not a single valuable contact. The explanation was always that it can take up to 6 to 8 months for the system to take hold. So we pay 6 to 8 months without getting a single lead.
3. AI based phone systems
Unfortunately, we only “heard” or saw a demo from 2 vendors. Both advertise AI automated outbound calling. We listened to demo calls and quickly came to the conclusion that this might be something for inbound, but outbound will not be very successful.
Are sales reps superfluous?
A very clear NO. Tools do not (yet) transport emotions. But they are a good support for prospecting. After all, the products from the AI systems are all similar and the mails are not very personalized. If there is personalization in the mails, it is always in the same pattern.
That is why we strongly believe that in the future, a new deal will still be sealed between two people. Agrre?