Sales Rewired: Technology, Talent, and Tomorrow's Strategy

In this episode of AMS Illuminations, host Brad Carlson sits down with Dr. Raj Agnihotri, Raisbeck Endowed Dean, Morrill Professor, and Mary Warner Professor of Marketing at Ivy College of Business-Iowa State University. Together, they explore how technology is reshaping sales, from social platforms and automation to AI in everyday practice. Dr. Agnihotri shares insights on digital mediation, the evolving role of relationships in selling, and the skills tomorrow’s sales professionals need to thrive. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or practitioner, this conversation sheds light on the future of sales—and why human connection still matters most.

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Transcript

Brad Carlson: Welcome to AMS Illuminations, the podcast that brings marketing research to life with real conversations, fresh insights, and just enough edge to keep it interesting. I'm Brad Carlson, and whether you're listening between meetings, on your commute, or killing time at the airport gate, I'm glad you're here. This is an AMS professional development series, but let's be clear. This isn't your typical academic lecture. We're talking career moves, old ideas, new research, and the occasional hot take on where marketing is headed next. Today we're diving into a space that's changing fast, sales, and this episode's called Sales Rewired: Technology, Talent, and Tomorrow's Strategy. Sales has always been about relationships, but now it's relationships, plus data, plus platforms, plus tech tools, plus a buyer who probably did all their research before ever picking up the phone. Everything's shifting, so the big question is, what does modern selling actually look like?

We've got a few things to unpack; What tech is really transforming B2B engagement, and what's just hype? What skills do the next generation of sales pros need to stand out, and how do we prepare for a future that's fast, digital, and constantly evolving? Helping us tackle all of that is someone who's been shaping this conversation for years and has quite literally written a textbook on it, Dr. Dr. Raj Agnihotri. Raj is the Raisbeck Endowed Dean and Mary Warner Professor of Marketing at Iowa State University's Ivy College of Business. He's also Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, a top five global sales researcher, and co-author of the best-selling book, ABC's of Relationship Selling. He's published over 80 journal articles including several FT50s, and his work on digital mediation and sales has influenced everything from research agendas to corporate strategy. He's trained sales teams around the world and consulted with big names, like Microsoft, PwC, and the Cleveland Clinic. Raj, thrilled to have you here.

Dr. Raj Agnihotri: Thank you so much, Brad, and when you were talking all those kind words I was thinking, "Who you are talking about?" But really appreciate it, Brad. Really appreciate your kindness, and thank you for the opportunity.

Carlson: All right, so let's rewind the tape for a second. You've got this big reputation now: professor, author, dean, global consultant, but what first pulled you into the world of sales, and what is it about this space that still gets you fired up?

Agnihotri: I've been fortunate, Brad. I would say that I met good people. I talk about my journey. I talk about, after coming out of engineering college, getting into the sales, it's all about people. What attracted me to this fascinating career in the beginning, when I was 22, 23-year-old, was people. I was looking where I can contribute and continue to learn from smarter and better people around me, and in sales, I saw an opportunity. So, from a thinking perspective of, starting a career as a sales engineer, right? I mean, you're shaking hands, you're meeting smart people, you're learning, you're listening, and later I found out, actually, those are the skills needed to be a good salesperson, and moving on, even when I came for my MBA to Oklahoma City University, again, I met people, some amazing faculty members, professors, who told me and who showed me the path of sales research. So, from selling, to doing sales research, to teaching sales, it's all about sales.

Carlson: Excellent. Thanks for that insight, and one thing that I hope listeners picked up on, you definitely talk about surrounding yourself with great people. I think that probably informs a lot of your perspective, and with that, I want to get into one of your sweet spots. You've done a lot of work on how tech is transforming the sales game, especially this idea of digital mediation. Obviously, that sounds fancy, but what does it actually mean, and how is it changing the way people sell and connect?

Agnihotri: This whole issue of sales technology, I remember 2006, a paper came out, [inaudible 00:04:12] in general marketing effective sales technology. I was a doctoral student reading that, and I said, "This makes sense, but I definitely need more exploration on what a journey this has been." SFA, more internal orientation of technology, and then CRM at the interface of internal versus external, right? How we learned about clients to serve them better. Then, really, what caught my attention was social platform, social media technology. That's where I really, really got deep into this area.

I remember there was an special issue in 2012. Aaron and Rapp were co-editors on that, general personal selling and sales management, and a special issue was surrounding social media and sales. We were working on a paper. We were trying to develop a conceptual piece, and more I read, more we research, and more we talk to practitioners and managers, we say, "Wow. This is a whole area that needs a lot more exploration," so what digital mediation, that thought came to my mind, is because I'm a firm believer of people, I'm a firm believer of networking. I'm a firm believer of relationship, so my angle always have been is, "Technology builds bridges, rather than replaces them."

Carlson: With that, let's get into something that everyone thinks they're good at, LinkedIn. We all see the endless posts, the connection requests, the just checking in DMs, but what does effective social selling actually look like, and who's doing it right?

Agnihotri: Thank you. Thank you for giving me an opportunity on that front. It's a risky business, and let me explain to you why I say that with confidence. We have done many studies supported by empirical evidence to very reasonable level, because you're talking about an academician, right? We never say anything with 100 percent, right? Everything is 95% confidence, but I can say, with reasonable confidence, that LinkedIn could be very risky business if not done correctly. We did a paper in 2016. We were talking about social media utilization in B2B sales setting across organizations within the US here, and that was my first foray into empirical model testing for social media use.

LinkedIn was a heavy presence in that data set, because that was the one that salespeople were thinking that they're using, and what we found out, Brad, was that use of social media, especially in LinkedIn, was not turning into anything very good for salesperson, in terms of performance or even satisfaction, particularly in that model, so we got shock, 440 volt shock, what's going on here? What we found out, actually, and that's why I say risky business, that if LinkedIn, not done correctly, can actually hurt customer satisfaction. So, what we found is responsiveness, right? Reliability component, the continuity of dialogue. These are the things, if not included in this conversation, actually is going to hurt.

Carlson: Now let me stir the pot a little. Because people love to say the traditional salesperson is a relic, that everything now is automated, it's inbound, it's AI powered, but is that really true or is this just sales [inaudible 00:07:40]?

Agnihotri: Absolutely not, Brad. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Actually, these tools are reconfirming that relationships matter. Traditional role is not going away. I think that quote, if you think death of a traditional salesperson, I think death could be the word traditional. Yeah, you need to use different tools, but salesperson is not going away anywhere. Relationships are not going anywhere. It is just the mediation, right? We used to write postcards and letters, think about it, right? And now we emails, now texting. We still talk. Core is talking, right? Core is talking. How we are talking is changing.

Carlson: So, your book, ABC's of Relationship Selling, it's been a global go-to for years and for good reason, but if you're adding a chapter right now, which you very well may be, you might be in that revision cycle, so in a world where AI writes emails and buyers ghost after demos, what would that new content focus on?

Agnihotri: I would modify each chapter, so there will be a separate chapter, but I think I would modify each and every chapter, from prospecting to approaching, to negotiation, to closing, right? Just like, remember, ethics conversations? And we tried to teach ethics in one chapter or one hand class. It didn't work, right? So, we all, academician, got it. I said, "No. Ethics should have a conversation in every class, in every chapter," and I see artificial intelligence and these futuristic technologies, I want to call them. I think they will find a spot in every chapter, Brad.

Every stage of the sales process, from pre-approach to approach to presentation, to need identification, to negotiation, to objection handling, to closing, to post-sale service, every stage will be impacted, but the chapter I would add towards the later side of the paper is how, and I think we do a lot of things in terms of telling salespeople how to use it, but we don't provide that enablement. We don't provide that comfort to salespeople. So, I don't know where the spot is, but that is what will be for managers, for companies; how you help salespeople accept and adopt this change.

Carlson: I love that point. To share with you, I was in class yesterday with MBA students, and something that I do now is I incorporate AI into every assignment they have. I require it. It's a human driven cycle, multiple iterations, and I was going over this my first meeting with students, and a couple of hands went up.

They're like, "Do we have to use AI?"

My response was, "Yes, you do," because businesses are using this. It's the reality," and even if you have great ideas, it gives you multiple perspectives to consider, that may or may not enhance what you're doing. I see that as a very real problem that extends even beyond the sales arena, but let me shift gears just a bit. Automation is everywhere, and it's tempting, right? Fewer cold calls, faster follow-ups, cleaner pipelines, but how do great sales teams use automation without making everything feel robotic, and should we say soulless?

Agnihotri: Number one, you're not inventing the rocket here. I mean, it's not a rocket science. It is common sense, to be honest with you, and I think if you keep relationship at the core, if you're customer-centric, I think your first step would be that. First, you need to build a philosophy. We think about technology, we talk about technological terms. You can't have appropriate effective use of technology unless you have the intentions right. That's why, even when I present about this relationship selling process, I say you have to invest a lot in terms of changing the philosophy. What is the purpose of using this technology, right? And if that purpose, if that intent, that purpose is clear that we are trying to use this technology so that we can help customer in a better way, you will have a different type of confidence.

Carlson: But you've also trained people across four continents. It's not just a line on a Vita. That's a global resume, so what's one thing that's really surprised you in how different regions or cultures adopt or resist sales technology?

Agnihotri: Excellent point and vast differences, I'm going to tell you. Some Asia, Southeast Asia, I've done some work. China, I have worked with a couple of scholars there, in terms of developing the contents. They are different. Where they are in the evolution of technology is different. Another thing I've noticed, what type of technology is prevalent? That is also very interesting. If you are doing,. In certain parts of the globe, social media means WhatsApp in certain parts of the world, it is all about developing small videos. TikTok is somewhere, right? Somewhere we are talking about LinkedIn is prevalent, so I think what technology they're using, it starts all the way from that basic. Each society unit, communities have developed their reliance and love affair for different type of technology performance.

Carlson: You've given a lot of background. Now it's crystal ball time. If we fast-forward five years, what's a trend or shift in sales that you think people really aren't paying enough attention to right now?

Agnihotri: I think how we are training salespeople is going to be totally different. We know we are already involving chatbots and AI for role plays, right? So, how we are training those students who are going to go and work for these organizations? It starts all the way from there, right? How we are training them, how role plays are happening, how we are educating them, and then when they're in the workforce, how they're assimilating the information. I think that would be big time, technology driven.

Carlson: So, for someone just getting started in sales, maybe a student, maybe a first year rep, what's the one piece of advice you wish everyone got on day one?

Agnihotri: You walk into company and you think your job is done when it comes to learning. Actually, that is a false claim. I think the first day, first hour you walk in a company, the real learning starts, and learning doesn't happen in training sessions or product knowledge session. Learning happens at the water cooler. Learning happens in the cafeteria. Learning happens when you're chatting with finding mentors, talking to coaches, talking to peers. One thing, if you want to remember, as a salesperson, you are not working if you're not networking, internal as well as external. That's who you are. That's your currency. That's the only thing that will stay with you: your networking, your relationships, internally and externally.

Carlson: I love that quote. I'm going to switch things up just a little bit with a lightning round to get some kind of quick hits, so here's how it works. I'm going to give you a handful of rapid fire questions and you're going to have 60 seconds to answer each one, so here we go with our first one. Go to sales tech right now. What's in your toolkit?

Agnihotri: ChatGPT.

Carlson: Now, I'm just curious. Do you feel that that particular tool is better than Gemini?

Agnihotri: No. I don't, but I think it's easily available, and I think it's very much evolving, but I would not say it is for everyone, because it is producing a lot of, I don't want to use the word junk, but junk. I think it is at my level, where I can decipher what is right and what is wrong. I think I can see that, but as a doctoral student, if I'm suggesting someone, don't do it, because they would not understand whether this paper is from sales or not, right? So that kind of thing. I think if you have the wisdom, if you have the background, I think it's a very good tool to have.

Carlson: Cold calling still has life in it or time to retire it?

Agnihotri: It has evolved. I don't think there is anything like pure and pure cold calling. I think, even if cold calling is happening, that salesperson should have done some research online before making that call. Truly cold call, I don't know how much outcome it will produce, so it's kind of warm calls, I would say, not the absolutely cold call, but the process remains. You pick up the phone and you call. I think that is not going away.

Carlson: Okay. Most over-hyped sales trend in the last five years.

Agnihotri: Can I say it?

Carlson: You should.

Agnihotri: Challenge your sales model. I'm sorry if I'm hurting anybody's feeling here, but I think it's a powerful tool, a powerful approach, powerful strategy, but in a very specific industry.

Carlson: Last question for you.

Agnihotri: Yes.

Carlson: By 2030, what's the one skill every salesperson will need to master?

Agnihotri: How to effectively use technology.

Carlson: So, just a follow-up, is that unique to sales or is that just...

Agnihotri: Yeah, I think so. I think in next five, six years, the majority of the workforce is who have some kind of college degrees or who have understanding and appreciation of technology, and in that time, if anybody wants to join that workforce, I think they need to have some kind of learning experience of technology. That goes for all my sales academicians if they're teaching sales classes or sales program; you've got to include some form of technology, sales technology classes, analytics, CRM, AI, something in the curriculum as well.

Carlson: I love that insight. I share that perspective. These are things that we have to embrace and encourage others to embrace as well. Raj, this was fantastic. Thank you for being here, for sharing so much insight. It's clear that the future of sales isn't just about new tools. It's about rethinking how we connect, communicate, and create value, bridging those relationships through technology, and to everyone listening, if this conversation sparked an idea, made you rethink something or just gave you a new perspective, do us a favor, share it with a colleague, leave a quick review, and follow AMS Illuminations for more conversations like this one. Raj, thank you so much.

Agnihotri: Thank you, Brad. I really appreciate, and thank you AMS for starting this innovative series, so kudos to everybody involved in this process. Thank you, Brad.

Carlson: Thanks for all the listeners. We hope you listen next time.