AI-Driven Advisor at Telarus Summit === [00:00:00] AI, is it going to replace you and maybe replace your employees? Mm, probably not, but there's definitely a lot of AI tools that are coming out down the market right now that have a lot of value, and those were on full display at the Telarus Partner Summit, specifically looking at the B2B space. And I was one of the vendors who was there for the day job, but I walked around with the mindset that I bring to every single episode here of CX Without the BS, What BS is being presented as the gospel, the truth at these different types of trade shows? Well, I had some thoughts as to what I heard, what I saw, but most importantly, what the conversations that were happening on the trade show floor sounded like. So let's talk about that on today's episode of CX Without the BS Speaker: So this year, the Telarus Partner Summit took place in Grapevine, Texas at the Gaylord, and it was a phenomenal event. Just to kinda set the stage here, I had a great time. I know [00:01:00] every single person I've talked to, both during the event but also after the event, all had a great time, and the reoccurring theme was that there's a lot of value there in being able to build relationships with people that you normally would just have a Zoom call with, right? And I touched on this a few episodes back about the Channel Partners event that took place earlier this year, and how it just kinda fell flat. Well, the Partner Summit here that Telarus put on was night and day, and one of the things that I thought was really valuable was that they were addressing some of the BS that we've talked about here on CX Without the BS. Namely, that AI is going to be this magic bullet, this magic solution, this easy button that is gonna replace your people, it's gonna replace you, and that's not the case. And this was the reoccurring theme, once again, at the Telarus Partner Summit, talking about not just AI helping people, but the AI-empowered technology advisor, and the idea that technology advisors who [00:02:00] use AI are gonna be the ones who win versus the ones who do not use AI. And when we look at AI It's a tool, right? and this is something I think a lot of folks, especially folks who don't spend every day living in this tech world, they get wrong about AI. AI is not meant to be this do everything solution. It's not this, this PFM, this pure effing magic that I've heard so many people present AI as, but rather it's a tool. It's a tool that's gonna help you do your job more efficiently, more effectively, hopefully make you feel a little bit more empowered in doing your job because maybe you feel you have a little bit more information that you didn't have before. And that's something that AI, a- along with helping you see more information to help better gather context or to help make sure that really important tidbit that was on that meeting isn't forgotten, those types of tools that people will be using are important. And that's, again, not just what we're presenting to customers, but what advisors need to take [00:03:00] into the conversation as well. I, I see this a lot too, and I'm gonna pick on some advisors, not by name, but by the solutions that they're trying to bring to the table where it's AI everything. AI, AI agents doing phone calls on their behalf. Outbound phone calls, not a great way to start a first impression, or getting an AI, email every single day from an advisor that's very obviously AI-generated, or using AI to become part of your customer experience as an advisor. Like, I see the value in trying to be more efficient and lean and use those tools, but there's a line, right? And this is, what's your role as an advisor? is your role to be someone who just copies and pastes who you are with AI tools? Or is your job to be the differentiator and use AI tools to help you highlight your differentiators better, right? When you're going through a sales discovery, using AI to make sure you're answering questions in a more efficient way, but also making sure you're not getting off track, paying [00:04:00] attention to your talk time versus what your customer, you're talking to's talk time looks like, making sure that those important dates that are on the, the timeline for onboarding or provisioning or implementation or go live aren't missed, right? There's things that AI can help you do, pull triggers, reminders, help craft content, when you're actually going through and trying to do outbound campaigns, but not ever writing the content and just relying on AI to send it, and then using AI to do outbound calls. Listen, I've tried it, and I've actually, I've tested some AI tools like this, and there's a lot of cool things it can do, but it's inherently not a human. You can tell. It's not a person. And if you're trying to differentiate when a customer is going through the tech buying experience by then using an AI tool How is that differentiating you as the difference versus the tool as the difference? Why, why another advisor coming in with the same type of tool, why not choose them versus what you are [00:05:00] doing? So that's the thing advisors, again, need to pay attention to, and what I think the re- reoccurring theme we heard at the Telarus Partner Summit was that it's the AI-empowered advisor who's gonna win, not just the AI advisor, right? The AI advisor is not going to win because that advisor is showing no real differentiators, but also the advisor who's not relying on any AI at all. I mean, that would be like being a tech advisor and saying, "Yeah, I'm not gonna use a cellphone. Just nah, I'm good." I mean, sure, you can choose not to use a cellphone, but there's gonna be obvious consequences To not using a cell phone, right? You're gonna limit your opportunities. You're gonna limit the number of times a customer can reach out to get help if they ever needed help, or you're gonna miss that call back when you're leaving a voicemail for someone. So these are areas where you can more or less have one of t- choices. One, embrace the change and utilize the tools as they are, tools to help you do your job more efficiently, effectively, and again, feel more empowered. [00:06:00] Or you can put your head in the sand and pretend that these tools are just a passing fancy, and they have no real value in the marketplace, and it's a, it- it's these tech advisors who are using this that they're just gonna be wasting their money. You can have that mentality, but we're seeing the results, right? And this was something that was reiterated at the Partner Summit, is that it's the advisors who are using these tools that are moving more, more quickly. They're going through the sales processes faster because they're empowered with data and tools to help them do their jobs, again, more efficiently, more effectively, and feeling more empowered. And I keep on going back to those three E's, because those three E's are exactly what's gonna help a tech advisor differentiate themselves from another tech advisor. and listen, I know we, we were looking at all the tech advisors there and all giving high fives and handshakes, but at the end of the day, if we're going after the same customer, we're kind of competition. And I say we're, you're. You're kind of competition, 'cause I come from the vendor side. But when we're looking [00:07:00] at how a tech advisor differentiates, using AI is one of those tools. It can help you stand out differently. I use AI all the time, right? Whether it's helping edit videos or use AI to help edit down, my, my long rambling thoughts into coherent monologues. But using AI to help me refine, right? is the idea. To use it as a tool, not to have it replace me. Like I fiddled with this idea once of, I was on a trip up north visiting family, and I was stuck in, in northern New York during a winter snowstorm, which for anybody who's visited upstate New York or any place that gets lake-effect snow, you know when you're stuck, you're probably stuck for a few days. So I did not have my recording equipment, and I had to get an episode out. So I was like, "Heck, I'll use this AI voice tool. It'll voice clone me. Let's see what happens." It was obviously not me. I could tell. Everyone could tell. And I was like, "Oh, God, I feel icky, like putting this out there." And trying to present it as me. And I was like, "Never again am I gonna do that." And that was [00:08:00] for another podcast I do. But that is something for an advisor. Don't, let AI replace you. You are still a differentiator in the tech buying experience. Or at the very least, the value that you bring to the table, right? If you're gonna help a customer do something different, right? Help them do it faster, help them do it more efficiently, right? Whatever that might look like, use AI as a tool to help you, be able to make those, those decisions easier for the customer. So that's my thoughts on AI, and now I wanna give my thoughts on the Telarus Partner Summit, because I've talked about this again in past episodes. We've seen the transformation, specifically in the tech channel, where it's less about the big event, the, the Channel Partners event that took place, takes place in Vegas every single year. But I'm feeling and I'm hearing from other advisors and other players in the channel from the [00:09:00] provider side and the TSD side that more of those TSDs, the technology service distributors, that their events, they are becoming more of the flagship events, whether that's the Telarus Partner Summit or Avant Special Forces or name the TSD event that you like to go to. And that is where the value is coming from. And I can't agree more, because when I was at the Partner Summit, I saw that the conversations I was having with advisors were much more focused on, "Okay, how do we get this rolling so we can work together?" Versus Channel Partners just feels more of like a, "Hey, can you work with me? Let's see. What, what, what TSD are you with? Oh, what, you know, what do you guys sell? Oh, you're, you're not even selling anything in the tech space? Oh, oh, you're not a good fit? Okay, bye. And, and then it's like, let's go take pictures in front of the Venetian to say we took pictures in front of the Venetian, and then post it on LinkedIn, and everybody gives high fives and stuff. And I just, I don't, I [00:10:00] don't get that. I don't like that. I, I think it's a waste, and I think a lot more of the tech advisors and the vendors are starting to say so out loud, and they're investing more of their time in these respective landmark events for the technology service distributors, or doing more direct events with the advisors themselves. That's what I do when I'm doing things for my day job. So when we're talking about events like the Telarus Partner Summit, it is the future, right? Because... And I'll give you my personal experience. I, for the day job, am a ch- am a channel manager for a UCaaS, unified communications vendor, and my role is to go and build relationships with people in person. And to be able to do that in one spot, knowing that every single advisor who's at the Telarus Partner Summit can immediately sell my company's services by the nature that we're part of the Telarus ecosystem from the vendor side, and they're part of the Telarus ecosystem from the s- the [00:11:00] technology advisor side. There is less friction and more ability to bypass the can we work together and more of the how do we work together? How do we find our relationship to get the most out of it for both of us, right? And not just in a what's in it for me, but then what's in it for you, the advisor, and your customers, right? Your, your customers are the ones who you're doing this for, beyond a paycheck, right? But when you're talking to customers, what separates you from everybody else? And when you're part of a TSD network as an advisor, you, you get access to literally hundreds of vendors who are there, and that's huge. That's something that you, you really- you can't find anywhere else. Literally, the Gaylord was filled with 1,000-plus technology advisors, and then add in all the vendors, the suppliers, the, the folks from Team Telarus. I mean, 1,500 folks probably in, in, in total. And it was an amazing [00:12:00] event, right? For the time that I g- I spent there, I'm walking away myself with well over 100 warm conversations and leads that I can carry forward into the next few months as setting up next steps. And it's not just like a, you know, "Hey, we saw each other. High five. Yeah, let's, you know, have a, a quick chat for five minutes." Speaker: Like I'm going into these conversations able to start having legitimate roadmap, strategic conversations of how we can start to find wins together, immediate opportunities being brought over my way because of these conversations that started at the Partner Summit. So I, I say all that, when you are a tech advisor and you're looking to see, what do I do in terms of growing my network to get the most value? I cannot recommend enough, please go find a technology service distributor and, and look at becoming part of their ecosystem. Because yes, yes, there's gonna be the TSD tax, right? [00:13:00] But the value that you will get from these TSDs, I'm telling you, it is, it, it is invaluable in terms of being able to take it, apply it, and then actually see it help your business grow. Now, if you're a tech buyer and you're going out and you're sourcing these types of solutions in the tech space, I would strongly suggest to find a tech advisor who's under one of these TSD umbrellas because you're gonna get someone who has access to all the different players, but also companies like, for example, Telarus. They have an entire solutions engineering team that's gonna be there to help the, the advisor make sure that they're building the right solution for you. So it is important, I would say, to not go directly to these vendors dir- like themselves, the suppliers. A- and I say that, I'm on the supplier side. Go through a, a technology advisor. Go through a TSD. It's an added layer of support for the advisor, but also it's an added layer of support and resources for you [00:14:00] as the customer. which by the way, that's a great transition into what BS I am seeing here in the industry. And, and I j- I must say it is this idea again of AI everything. And I saw this at the partner summit, and I'm not gonna point out any vendors by name, but this idea of AI replacing people. Folks, I'm sorry, that is in fact BS. And listen, if your company bought the AI boom narrative, lie, call it what you will, if you guys bought into it and you're like, "Oops, now what?" It's okay, right? Like, it's okay to admit you were wrong. Tons of companies have done it. look no further than Klarna, Microsoft. I mean, the list goes on. Amazon. A lot of big companies, so don't feel bad. but I would... It- I would make the suggestion, right? Don't buy into whatever the, the blinking light is, [00:15:00] right? The, the, the shiny object syndrome is what I used to teach my SDRs. When you are always looking at what the new shiny object is that you're chasing, what ends up happening is that you forget the core competencies. You forget the things that actually matter. And in your case, as a buyer of these solutions, what you care about is something that actually works, and it doesn't make your life more difficult, it doesn't make your customer's life more difficult. So if you're bringing CX solutions to the table to your customers and then layering in AI after AI after AI that's all customer-facing, And then you wonder why customers complain about your customer service? Okay, there's a data point for you. Go back to what works, right? And what works is people. People work. People buy from people. People empathize with people. People relate to other people. So if you are in a people industry, guess what you need? People. So, with that being said, [00:16:00] that's my BS I'm gonna call out here is stop AI-ing everything, including the tech side from the vendor as well as from the buyer side. And if you've already gone through and tried to AI everything and are starting to have, buyer's remorse, have no fear. There are options. There are things you can do. like for example, I've heard a lot of folks in my world, in the unified communication space, go to today's sponsor, Level365, which also is where I carry the badge for the day job, And that is from a unified communications, otherwise known as business voice perspective. Because at Level365, yeah, we have AI, but we don't really talk about it that much. What we talk about is support, supporting your customers, if you are a customer, supporting you through the onboarding to a brand-new phone system, 'cause yeah, it can be a little scary handling all the porting of numbers, implementation, provisioning, et cetera, all the way to go live. And then once go live happens, making sure you don't feel left high and dry, actually having a support team that will proactively assist you through any moves, adds, changes, and of course, continuous training to make [00:17:00] sure you and your employees feel up to snuff when it comes to utilizing the phone system, wherever it is they may be, whether that's at their desk, on their computer, or on their mobile app. And by the way, Level 365 is by default month to month, meaning you are never locked into a long-term contract. You always have the ability to look at other options. But I guarantee our 100% US-based support with a live answer from a real human being in under 10 seconds will have you sticking right with us. And by the way, you wouldn't be alone. 98% of our customers agree, and they stick with us year over year. So if you wanna learn more about how Level 365 can help your business communication platform, or if you're a tech advisor and you wanna learn how Level 365 can help strengthen your UCaaS portfolio, shoot me a message at bnichols@level365.com. But with that being said, folks, thank you for joining us on today's episode of CX Without the BS. I'm Brian Nichols. We'll see you next time.