Frank’s Question on AI Demo Content for Outreach
Q: I’m looking at some of the AI demo content shared yesterday. If I have vet clinics as prospects for a demo, how should I approach the sales process regarding messaging, content from our library, and outreach sequence steps?
A: The outreach doesn’t necessarily need to contain information about the demo early in your funnel. For direct outreach, you could say something like “I’m a Denver area AI specialist working with veterinarians. I have tools I’ve built for vet practices. Would you like some details?” This aligns with the program scripts.
Demos are most valuable in introductory conversations and training sessions where they showcase your experience and preparedness. You can mention in your outreach that you’ve helped similar businesses (e.g., “I helped a veterinary clinic speed up their process by 20%”), but the demo itself works better as something you have ready when they express interest rather than as the lead magnet.
Having a demo prepared gives you confidence in your outreach and helps you quickly respond when prospects ask to see what you can do, which demonstrates competence. It can also help you identify who your prospects should be.
Sascha’s Question on Target Buyers
Q: I’m transitioning my digital marketing agency to AI transformation consulting. My clientele has 25+ employees. Who should I target as buyers between HR, IT department, and management?
A: Avoid selling to the IT department if possible, as they’re typically “do-it-yourselfers” who will think they can implement solutions themselves. Similarly, avoid selling to engineers who generally aren’t good buyers for consultants because they believe they can handle technical matters themselves.
HR and management both have benefits. If choosing one, target management because they’re closer to financial decision-makers. However, HR departments do have data analysis, workflow, and automation needs, and some consultants in the program work specifically with HR.
For company-wide AI adoption training, HR might make the decision since HR staff are accustomed to paying for trainings. However, for strategy and implementation work, management (VP level) would be better because HR typically can’t make financial decisions beyond training budgets.
If you perform trainings first, workflow questions often arise afterward, which may involve different stakeholders and essentially become separate sales processes within the same company.
Bennett’s Question on AI and Sustainability
Q: I’m working with architecture groups and sustainability advocacy people in LA. “Sustainability” can be a dirty word that people think means “expensive with poor ROI.” How do I truthfully approach conversations about AI not being sustainable but still helpful for business?
A: The future is likely data centers plus solar power. While solar has its own environmental impact from mining minerals, no industry path forward relies purely on fossil fuels. Solar is already cheaper than natural gas, coal, and oil in many scenarios and will continue to improve over the next 30 years.
When you combine AI business opportunities and efficiency gains with increased solar adoption, AI’s carbon footprint will decrease significantly over time. There’s a clear path to reducing carbon emissions from data centers, unlike other high-emission industries like air travel or cruise ships.
New data centers, especially those being built in places like Texas, are increasingly designed with solar in mind, both for cost efficiency and environmental benefits. The southwest location provides better solar potential.
The honest conversation is acknowledging that electricity use today isn’t as clean as we’d like, but that doesn’t mean we should stop using electricity for productive purposes. We should focus on cleaner electricity sources while recognizing the benefits that AI brings. Some people won’t accept this trade-off, but most will understand the balance, especially knowing we can make energy cleaner in the future.
Julio’s Question on Cold Email Outreach
Q: With various cold email outreach strategies (webinars, training sessions, surveys), do you recommend using a simple benefit approach or mixing multiple offerings?
A: Your email should ask one question at the end that recipients can easily say “yes” to. Make fewer unique points in the earlier paragraphs to keep the message clear, as people scan emails quickly rather than reading them in detail.
Focus on one thing per email rather than mentioning multiple services (training, survey, webinar). Save discussing your full service menu for after they’ve responded. Structure your email with:
- First sentence: Establish connection (same location, industry, etc.)
- Second sentence: Provide proof if available (what you’ve done for others)
- Final question: Phrase it so they can easily say yes
Use direct, simple subject lines rather than mysterious or heavily sales-oriented ones. The goal is to connect based on common interests and get them to chat with you.
Q: Should I add an extra sentence showing I read their website beyond just noting their city?
A: Adding a personal observation in the first sentence or two is great, but only if it’s genuinely meaningful and relevant. It should increase human connection, not sound generic or robotic. It’s better to omit this than to include something that sounds insincere or like it was generated by AI.
You should research your prospects, even if just for a few minutes on their site, and mention something specific that stands out to you in a meaningful way.
Clare’s Question on Account Access
Q: When working with smaller clients (perhaps just one person), how do I safely work with their accounts with automation tools?
A: There are several approaches:
- If clients don’t have a preference, it’s easier for you to own the accounts and have them pay a retainer for maintenance
- If they have an IT department that wants ownership, they might give you temporary access to their Zapier, Make.com, or OpenAI keys
- For Google accounts, they can create an account for you in their workspace and share access to specific folders
- For email access, you may need credentials temporarily, perhaps walking them through setup via screen share
For automation tools:
- N8N is better than Zapier for sharing because it makes team accounts more affordable and manageable
- N8N allows multiple team members (about $20/month per member), who can log in and add their credentials
- Zapier team accounts exist but are clunkier and more expensive
- N8N offers better long-term features for sharing, importing/exporting, and even self-hosting, though it has a steeper learning curve
There’s no definitive answer about who should own which accounts – it often depends on client preferences and comfort level.