The Content Crib Podcast
The Content Crib Podcast is where bold ideas meet real execution. Hosted by Eric Anderson and Chris Grosse, this show breaks down how to turn content into trust, attention into opportunity, and your story into strategy. No fluff. No filters. Just what works. Welcome to the Crib.
The Content Crib Podcast
How Hybrid Sellers Use AI Without Losing The Human Edge
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We bounce from snowstorm chaos and AI anxiety to a grounded idea: automation can speed up sales work, but it cannot replace trust. We also share a new book project, why marketing is now part of the job, and an open invite to Content Crib in Bentonville.
• the shift from being a great salesperson to becoming a great marketer
• the AI bot social network scare and questions about government regulation
• data centers, energy costs, and why communities push back
• why many companies struggle to justify AI spend and prove ROI
• how a stalled Google Drive draft becomes a real book plan
• “You Can’t Automate Trust” and the hybrid rep blueprint for the AI era
• why callbacks beat volume and how trust shows up in real deals
• newsletters and long form content as a practical growth engine
• Content Crib logistics, community vibes, and a few spots left
Please, if you want to come, shoot us a message. We’ll love to talk to you about it, see if it’s a fit for you. And you know, let’s do it March 20th and 21st in Bentonville.
Learning Marketing The Hard Way
SPEAKER_02I'm no expert, but it's like anything else that we talk about on this podcast. You know, we learn by doing and we learn by what the market is telling us. And I was a really good in-person salesperson in the beginning of my career, and I was a terrible marketer. And now we both know that you need to be a great marketer now to get the meetings to sell the product or the service. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see how it does. Um, you know, maybe I should have, you know, there is a chapter that does talk about, you know, marketing and and how important it is.
SPEAKER_01And Snow Mageddon 2026. Yep. Chris is alive and he's able to podcast for the next several days because he's going to be in his house.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep. Uh it's been soul crushing. And um my wife decided that she wants to put in a pool this year, which I can't be more excited about, but I don't think we're ever going to melt the snow enough to put one in.
SPEAKER_01So well, when you open it up September 4th, it'll be awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. So might have to might have to splurge for the heater.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, I was uh, and people are listening to this. This is right after the Northeast got their, I think what is it, like the second biggest storm of all time or something they're saying in some places the biggest of all time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean there's some towns that are still digging out. And that yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, we're gonna bring sunny, cheery information to our listeners today and not worry about the snow anymore.
The AI Bot Social Network Fear
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. You you had uh started off telling me we we've talked a lot about the fear of the AI bot uh the AI bot social network, which is a uh essentially a um I guess Facebook for for AI bots that are plotting to take over the world. And you told me that there's some recent news out that they're gonna take it down.
SPEAKER_01There's some security. I think there's some gonna be some governmental stuff that they're gonna step in because apparently it started when it started talking to each other, it started creating a language outside of so the humans couldn't understand. And so it would they were communicating and nobody knew what they were really communicating about, and um it became very scary about some different things that they were trying to create. The AI agents. So uh all that being said, I don't think that's going to uh I don't think it's going to be around much longer. How about that?
Data Centers Power Bills And Water
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I mean it's just insane. It it's what when is the government gonna step in into this AI world and start points and regulations? Not only on the the safety and these bots taking over and and uh terminating all of us, uh, but more uh before that, so I have a little bit extra money to maybe pay for this pool is like my electric bill, considering all the data centers that are going up and being subsidized by us regular citizens somehow.
SPEAKER_01I was just talking about that with somebody the other day. Like, you know, it's it's a well I've noticed that um where I go in the summer, they they voted down an AI uh or a data center, not an AI, a data center that they were gonna put in Wisconsin, Maine. They they twofold because of all the energy, and also I guess it sucks all the cold water out of the rivers, and the rivers, their water levels go down. So that's another bad thing that they do. I guess that's what they use to cool everything in the in the data centers. I didn't know that one either.
The Harsh Economics Of AI
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean it's wild. There's there's not enough margin to be made in AI. Um they're clearly noticing that. I mean, companies are seeing that there's not enough productivity, you know, that's being squeezed out of AI. I mean, people like us, I think, use it to benefit us to to you know 10x our productivity in whatever we're doing, whether it's our you know, day job projects, businesses, et cetera. But companies have a real hard time implementing it and justifying any additional cost on using it. And if you just take a broad look at AI, it doesn't really make a lot of money. I mean, considering how much it costs, and then we have to pay an extra$150 a month that we didn't choose to sign up for these data centers that are being put in because they can't afford to pay for them.
SPEAKER_01Well, and it's it's it's kind of that evolution of technology where you go. Everybody, there was the crazy stampede to AI, and everybody wanted to be a part of it, and and all these different companies have popped up, and now you kind of the reality of it all, when you look in the mirror and you go, Did we really need an AI agent to tell us you know people's favorite bands and how the music you know what I mean? Like it's just it they tried to parse it down to these just really minuscule subsets for the the AI technology, and in the end, nobody really cares. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So it's 100% accurate.
SPEAKER_01Um but then talking about AI, somebody wrote a book that was in their Google Drive and it was just sitting there forever, and then finally it emerged. Wait, I think did it emerge during the snowstorm?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it kind of did. Well, actually, you inspired me because I um last year I I I have to put things on my uh Apple calendar. I probably like four years, three or four years ago, I started doing that. I'm like, I actually need to start making a list every day in between my meetings of things I want to accomplish, otherwise, I'm not gonna do them. So beginning of uh the end of 2024, I decided I wanted to do this, and I had a lot of thoughts and structure around it, and then I put it on my calendar. I'm like, you're gonna commit, you know, half hour a day to do this. So I could just delete it off my calendar.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02Um, and you probably notice that when I have to have our podcast like on a calendar, and I'm sorry for the extra emails it causes you. Works. But if I don't stay regimented, I'll miss things and I'll mess it up. But I'm sorry about that. Anyway, so I I took the better part of um the end of 2024, into 2025, writing the book. Um and I had you know, I've been, you know, typing and organizing and like restructuring the chapters and updating stories and whatnot. And then I kind of let it let it sit for a few months now. And then you inspired me with that do anything app. Um, because I was kind of just stuck on do I want to send it out to editors? Do I want to use an AI app to edit it? Do I need a you know a book cover? And you're like, use this use anything AI, and it could do anything. I'm like, well, I need a book cover that's gonna like at least get started. Not you know, I want to have someone actually professionally design one, but I um had that app do anything, like make a book cover just to like get me inspired again on like you know, let's get this thing potentially published. Um and yeah, so I did. So then I'm not now I'm jumped back into it. I'm gonna put the pedal down, I send it off to the to the editors and uh yeah, put a little teaser out yesterday of you know, releasing it this fall. I still want to, you know, um get it edited a couple times, read it a couple more times, add some updates um to it. But essentially, well, I'll tell you what the name is so everybody can know, but it's called You Can't Automate Trust, the hybrid rep blueprint for the AI era. Very awesome.
SPEAKER_01I love that title.
Why Trust Still Closes Deals
SPEAKER_02Thanks, yeah. Well, I I was inspired um to start writing it because I've been you know I forced myself to to learn these LLMs and I'm nobody near near an expert. I'm definitely still a layman. Um but I I guess you'd still consider you know you and I in that top probably 10%, maybe somewhere closer to 5% of users, but also understanding like not to overuse it, right? So just spending the last 15 years and some form of sales and the last three to four watching AI eat into every part of the sales process process, you know, it's everywhere now, it's in everything. You know, prospecting outreach, fallout proposals, there's a tool for all of it. And I use some of them. But what I'm learning is AI is winning the efficiency game, but it can't win the trust game, and the trust is still the only thing that actually closes the deals if you're in a meaningful industry that deserves that sort of trust, which I think a lot of people are smarter and buyers, buyers are smarter than ever. And most recently, in the last seven years of being in the hybrid selling role of being remote and in person, mixing digital tools with old school relationship building, you know, I've seen this one pattern repeat itself over and over. And it's the you know, the rep who sends the most emails doesn't win. The rep who gets the call back does. And you get the callback because, you know, in our world, healthcare doctor, decision maker, clinic owner has decided somewhere in the back of their mind this person is different, this person actually shows up. And AI, AI can't build that. You know, it can buy you time to build to that point, but it can't research your prospect as well as you want before you walk in. It can't handle, you know, it can handle the follow-ups, you know, dropping the balls, but it can't make you look pre more prepared, more consistent, more professional on the level that you want to be. And, you know, in that moment of truth when that client has these questions that need to be answered or you have the ability to deliver, you know, a custom deal that's really tailored to what they're looking for. You know, that's what this book's about. You know, using using AI as a weapon for your for your humanity, not as a replacement. And, you know, I I hope that you know it's for those reps that are kind of, you know, there's there's a lot of fear out there, right? And I think that, you know, doubling down on being human and uh but also utilizing the tools, you know, people still have the opportunity to really thrive.
Selling Books Means Marketing Too
SPEAKER_01I think it's a great idea. I love the book title. I think it's I mean, what a perfect time for a launch of a book like this. I mean, I you you know that and I why I think your book is gonna be wildly successful, and this is what why I truly believe this is you're you understand the marketing piece of it. You understand, and that's you know, they say 99% of books don't really make a lot of money, and it's because the vast majority of authors are not marketers slash understand media, social media, and things of that nature. They just don't, but you do, and I think that's gonna be a huge asset for you.
Snowblowers Igloos And Bad Ideas
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well thank you. I appreciate that. It means a lot, and I you know, I'm trying not to put any expectations on it, and uh, you know, frankly, I don't have a lot of capital I'm throwing towards it. I'm putting a little bit more money than I probably would on because I do believe in it, and maybe I should invest a little bit more in in into you know the build-out of it and the marketing and all that. Um But yeah, I'm gonna go, like you said, I'm gonna go with the gorilla marketing that I've been trying to practice and learn and and do the last few years. Um I I'm no expert, but it's like anything else that we talk about on this podcast, you know, we learn by doing and we learn by what the market is telling us. And I was a really good in-person salesperson in the beginning of my career, and I was a terrible marketer. And now we both know that you need to be a great marketer now to get the meetings to sell the product or the service. Um, we'll see. We'll see, we'll see how it does. Um, you know, maybe I should have, you know, there is a chapter that does talk about you know marketing and and how important it is. And you know, someone should write, I bet there is several books out there that are, you know, market, you know, you your best set sale is is done in your own marketing, you know. I'm sure that could be a great book too. Um yeah, but I'm excited. You know, that thank you for bringing it up. Thanks for mentioning it. It's a little, you know, um kind of nerve-wracking, it's kind of crazy. You know, I I didn't, you know, I it kind of sat there forever, and I'm like, not forever, but like last few months, I'm like, I don't I don't know if I'm ever gonna do anything with this. And then the snowstorm hit. What the hell? And then the snowstorm hit, and uh and I'm curse, I'm cursing everything that exists because Mother Nature and uh you would have laughed at me with my um 1982 John Deere 32-inch snowblower, which has been amazing. I love that thing, but it couldn't even get but the snow is above the deck, so I'm like lifting it to like go down. Oh, that sounds that sounds like an injury waiting to happen. I was very nervous. Yeah, I was I was I'm like, man, I might cut my leg off today. This is real concern. And this is a path to my back gate to the back driveway. This is in the yard. This wasn't even in the driveway.
SPEAKER_01Now, but you told me that you're you're for real, your neighbor is is constructing his own igloo right now.
SPEAKER_02It's a 20-foot igloo. I should I probably could drag the camera and point out the window that you could see it, but uh yeah. What are people they're a bunch of five I I'd probably drink and yell at each other. I I don't hear them as much, so maybe it's blocking their you know, blackout drunk on the porch evenings. They're like 50-year-old bachelors that are just a little live together. It's kind of a strange situation. So I think they're just drinking. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01So well, I don't know if it's gonna work out. We should do a podcast from the igloo. You're looking at me like, no, I don't want to go outside. So no, we're not gonna do that.
Newsletters And Long Form Content Plans
SPEAKER_02I don't know. You know what? You know what's funny? You know, it get me out of my seat. Maybe someday it will. That's a good idea. I know you and I we need to put on the calendar when we're gonna go to a new studio in person. Um maybe maybe we figure that out for content group coming. Yeah, I think it's a good idea.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, because we've been talking about it. Um I'm I'm gonna be diving big time into long form content here coming up here in this summer is my plan of attack. And I kind of went into it a little bit and stopped where I'll just kind of bumped along in, but that's that's what I think my my my mood is taking me.
SPEAKER_02Well, you I mean, do I yeah, I mean your newsletter, I don't miss it every week. Well, it's you know uh our conversation you write it, I think it's fantastic. I think it's uh thank you.
SPEAKER_01It's um it pretty much is what hits me throughout the week, and usually it's a story that um essentially has happened to me that week, and I go, you know what, I'm gonna talk about this because this is something that I should be doing or talking about, and I bet it helps somebody else. And that's usually what it is. Usually it's about how it's a blank sheet of paper and I couldn't write anything, or you know, stuff the normal stuff that happens to everybody.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it um I you know I think I think your what your view rate's up in the 50s, right?
SPEAKER_01I mean, that's pretty good. It's it's um it's pretty good, yeah. It's exciting. So and again, it's one of those things where I don't have a ton of subscribers, but the subscribers I have are so engaged and it's pretty cool. You know, I get messages all the time after it comes out. Thanks, Eric, for this. I I appreciate it. And in all seriousness, it's just it's a something that happened to me throughout the week, and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna write about this. This is what the calling is. I can tell you there are some Friday evenings when it's due, it's due on Saturday morning, and I'm like, hmm, what are we gonna go with? And then all of a sudden something comes to me. Or I'm very upfront and honest that absolutely nothing came to me. So this is what I had to do to try to figure it out. And that's one week what the newsletter was about that I had absolutely nothing come to mind.
Content Crib Dates And Last Spots
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean we have you know a couple spots left for content, Crib. I'm sure you're gonna you know get a couple more add-on spots from just a newsletter alone.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's the plan. Hopefully, we we I think we have two or three spots left. And um, we do have some people who you know have some scheduling conflicts that are coming up and they can't make it, and um you know, meetings and things like that. So two or three spots left. Please, if you want to come, shoot us a message. Um we'll love to talk to you about it, see if it's a fit for you. And uh, you know, let's do it March 20th and 21st in Bentonville. And um it's gonna be fun. Bentonville will uh spring will have started by then in Bentonville, Arkansas, so that's always a good thing.
Airbnb Rules New Faces And Wrap
SPEAKER_02Is our Airbnb lady still mad at all? Uh she is, I think.
SPEAKER_01You know, it's so funny you bring that up. I I have to send her a note saying, hey, we're coming back, and uh we might have some people over, so I don't know what that means. Did we book what or I booked it the day that we did we did it, but then she's that's when she sent me the little note like, hey, you can't have a gathering. I think we only had like 10 people in the backyard. It was so it's like we didn't, you know, there were no keg stands, no beer pong involved, and none of none of that. So I don't know. Anyway, yes, but thank you for reminding me. I've got to contact her and see if she's okay with us having a little gathering.
SPEAKER_02Will Lori be there?
SPEAKER_01The uh architect of Content Crib will be there. She is coming. Um she she can't believe it we pulled off the last one without her help. Um so this one will go a lot smoother. It was it was touch and go for that.
SPEAKER_02Um, she did.
SPEAKER_01She stepped in. She will not be coming to this one. Um, but she's she did say even for somebody who's you know 22 uh years old, she did say, I think I'm gonna miss not being at this content crib. I'm like, I don't know what that means, but I think that's good. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I think that's a good thing. I think we're uh keeping up with the I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Well, I don't know about that, but you know, we're at least we got something going on. I that's for sure. No, she was she she she even said to me, she goes, There's so many cool people there, just pe nice people that wanted to talk and and share. And I'm like, Well, you're right. You should come to this one.
SPEAKER_02Well Yeah, I mean, I you know, I'm actually kind of proud that we resonate with the younger generation because you know, one of uh Mike Nathan's interns that was there and and presented um she in one of her posts um about her internships at like one of the their favorite moments was um being at the content crib, meeting everybody and being with the team.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I that's I think it's great. I think you know, I think it's hard to resonate, you know, different generations, and uh I think that you know we're a pretty forward-thinking group, even though our you know our median age is you know, I don't know, 40 plus.
SPEAKER_01Speak for yourself. I mean, I don't know. Um yes, yes, I would totally agree with that. I mean, I was being generous, it's probably a 50 plus, but that's all right. That's all right. Um well and then there's Matthews. There's no, I'm just kidding, I'm kidding. Yeah, exactly. Um, I guess on that note. On that note, we're gonna get we're gonna get where we are. We are in trouble officially. So yeah, content crib 6.0 March 20th and 21st. We let's make sure um if you're interested, let us know and uh let's talk.