admire the advanced technology behind it; they will more likely address its value to their business. It’s less about ‘the AI that powers it’ and more about ‘how it helps my business.’” Outcome-based selling requires spending time building trust and rapport and getting to know each customer’s specific needs and challenges. By listening to the customer and identifying pain points, it then becomes possible to narrow down specific solutions and outcomes. Adopting an outcome-based strategy also can help avoid promoting the wrong type of AI. For example, you might approach a customer such as a retailer thinking they are a potential fit for gen AI. But during the discovery process, it might become apparent they are struggling with sales or supply chain forecasting. In this example, gen AI or large language models (LLMs) may not apply. “GenAI is not a silver bullet, even if it may seem that way due to its popularity,” explained Gartner senior director Leinar Ramos via Fierce Network. “In fact, it is often not the right fit for most AI use cases. For instance, for prediction and forecasting large language models (LLMs) and GenAI are not the best fit. LLMs are not currently designed to do the kind of numerical predictive and statistical modeling required for things like demand prediction, sales forecasting, timeof-arrival estimation, weather forecasting and supply chain forecasting. Supervised machine learning might be a better fit in these instances than current generative AI models.” AI-Native vs. Embedded AI Many business leaders are still behind the curve with AI, which puts them at a disadvantage when selecting and implementing solutions. Customers in this position are more likely to buy into marketing hype and rush emerging technologies into production. Considering this, it helps to educate and upskill customers by providing access to articles and videos, as well as engineers and technical advisors. To start, partners can make certain that customers understand the fundamental difference between AI-native products and services and those which leverage AI to automate specific functions. “AI native is the concept of having Please select the top three reasons you chose to or plan to invest in AI for your business. (Select up to three responses.) Make my team more productive 42.12% Get ahead of competition 40.32% Strengthen marketing efforts 30.94% Develop more innovative products/services 26.55% Improve customer service 25.15% Improve the employee experience 21.36% Streamline admin tasks (scheduling, payroll, taxes, etc.) 19.36% Reduce headcount 15.77% Address challenges of labor shortages 11.58% Stand out as a market leader 9.78% Source: Cox Business 2024 SMB Owner survey In what areas of your business would you like to use AI in 2024? (Select all that apply.) Marketing 43.51% Customer service 40.52% Buesiness forecasting 38.53% Product/service development 30.54% Payroll/bookkeeping 28.74% Shift scheduling 27.74% Sales 20.96% Appointment/reservation scheduling 25.15% Appointment scheduling 16.37% My business will not be using AI in 2024 13.17% Other 5.39% Source: Cox Business 2024 SMB Owner survey To remain competitive with AI, partners are encouraged to start focusing less on AI features and benefits and more on specific outcomes during consultations. 29 THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK
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