Human + AI: How to Build Relationships, Create Conversations & Grow Revenue

There is no shortage of AI tools, automation platforms, sales technology, data, and information available to us today.

The bigger question is: How do we use all of this technology without losing the human relationships that actually drive business?

That was the focus of my conversation with Scott Schilling from ScottSchilling.com.

Scott has spent decades in sales, communication, training, consulting, and professional speaking. He has participated in more than 3,000 live events and built his career around understanding how people communicate, build trust, make decisions, and take action.

What I enjoyed most about this conversation was how practical it became.

We weren't talking about choosing between AI and people.

We were talking about finding the right combination.

Use AI and automation to help us identify the right people, become more efficient, stay organized, follow up consistently, and eliminate repetitive work.

Then use the time we save to do the things technology still can't do very well: build trust, ask better questions, listen, understand what someone really needs, create relationships, and have meaningful conversations.

That combination is where I believe the opportunity is.

1. What has changed about selling and what hasn't?

A lot has changed.

Buyers have more information available to them than ever before. They can research your company, your competitors, your people, your pricing, your reviews, and your reputation before they ever agree to have a conversation with you.

Scott made a great point during our discussion:

Knowing your own product isn't enough anymore.

You need to become a student of your industry.

Your prospects expect you to know your solution. What gets their attention is when you also understand their business, their alternatives, the competition, and the problems they're trying to solve.

But one thing hasn't changed.

People still do business with people they trust.

In fact, with all the information, automation, AI-generated content, and noise coming at us every day, trust may matter more today than it ever has.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Does my LinkedIn profile build trust before someone ever talks with me?

• Does my content demonstrate that I understand my prospects and their industry?

• Am I educating prospects or simply talking about what I sell?

• If someone researched me before our meeting, what would they find?

Action Steps

• Review your LinkedIn profile and digital presence through the eyes of a prospect.

• Learn more about the competitors and alternatives your prospects are evaluating.

• Create content around the problems your buyers are trying to solve.

• Look for ways to establish credibility before you ever ask for a meeting.

2. Create an environment where people want to buy

One of my favorite comments Scott made was:

"I don't ever want to sell you anything. But I do want you to buy a lot from me."

That may sound like semantics, but there is a huge difference.

Nobody wants to feel like they're being sold.

People want to make good decisions.

Our job isn't to pressure somebody into buying something. Our job is to understand their situation well enough to determine whether what we offer can actually help them.

Scott described the difference between manipulation and persuasion.

Manipulation primarily benefits the seller.

Good persuasion helps the buyer understand whether taking action could benefit them.

That's a very different approach to sales.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Am I trying to convince people or understand them?

• Does my sales process focus more on my solution or their problem?

• Would my prospects say they felt heard during our conversations?

• Am I comfortable telling someone when my solution isn't the right fit?

Action Steps

• Spend less time explaining what you do early in the conversation.

• Spend more time understanding the prospect's situation.

• Don't present a solution until you understand the problem.

• Be willing to walk away when there isn't a fit.

3. The best sales conversations start with curiosity

This was one of the strongest parts of the conversation for me.

Scott believes qualification may be the weakest part of the sales process for a lot of people.

I agree.

Too many salespeople diagnose the problem before they've done enough discovery.

Scott referenced a great line from Jim Cathcart:

"Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice."

The same thing happens in sales.

We start prescribing our solution before we've figured out what's actually going on.

Scott reduced sales to four words:

Identify problem. Provide solution.

That's simple, but it's powerful.

I also shared something I've carried with me from Brian Tracy:

Ask questions skillfully and listen carefully.

I've built on that over the years by using six basic questions:

What? Why? When? Where? How? Who?

You can have an incredibly productive business conversation simply by learning how to ask those questions at the right time and then listening to the answers.

Questions to Ask Your Prospects

• What's the biggest challenge you're dealing with right now?

• If you could improve one thing in your business, what would it be?

• Why is that important to you?

• Where is that problem showing up today?

• What have you already tried?

• What happens if nothing changes?

• Who else is involved in solving this problem?

• How would things look different if you solved it?

Action Steps

Before your next sales call, write down five questions you want to ask.

Then challenge yourself to stay in discovery longer.

Don't rush to prove how smart you are or how good your solution is.

Get curious.

4. Stop pitching and start having business conversations

Scott explained this in a way I really liked.

Think about a monologue versus a dialogue.

A traditional sales pitch is usually a monologue.

The salesperson talks.

They explain.

They present.

They tell you why their company is different.

They keep firing information at you and hope something sticks.

A good business conversation is a dialogue.

Scott shared a simple question that can change the entire conversation:

"If you could improve one thing in your business right now, what would it be?"

That's where the conversation starts.

Then I like following it with:

"Why did you say that?"

Now we're getting somewhere.

You start moving below the surface.

You begin understanding the pain, problem, frustration, goal, or aspiration behind the answer.

And now you have something valuable to talk about.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Am I creating a dialogue or delivering a monologue?

• How quickly do I start talking about my company?

• Am I asking questions because I'm curious or because I'm waiting for my turn to pitch?

• What would happen if I talked 30% less during my next sales conversation?

Action Steps

Use this simple approach:

Observe → Ask → Listen → Clarify → Understand → Respond

Earn the right to present your solution.

5. The seven stages of the sales cycle

Scott walked us through seven stages of the sales process:

1. Prospecting
   Find the right people.

2. Marketing
   Get your message in front of them.

3. Qualification
   Understand the prospect, their needs, and their problems.

4. Presentation
   Present the appropriate solution.

5. Objection Handling
   Address legitimate questions and concerns.

6. Closing or Securing the Agreement
   Help the buyer make a decision.

7. Follow-Up and Referrals
   Continue the relationship and create the next opportunity.

What I liked about this framework is that the last step can lead right back into the first one.

Follow-up creates conversations.

Customers create referrals.

Referrals create prospects.

The cycle continues.

Score Yourself

Give yourself an honest grade of A, B, C, D, or F in each category.

Sales StageYour GradeProspecting___Marketing___Qualification___Presentation___Objection Handling___Closing___Follow-Up & Referrals___

You probably don't need to rebuild your entire sales process.

Find your lowest grade.

Start there.

Action Step

Pick the one area where improving from a C to a B would have the greatest impact on your revenue over the next 90 days.

Work on that first.

6. Use technology for efficiency and people for relationships

This is where Human + AI really came together.

There are parts of business development where technology can make us dramatically more productive.

Scott identified areas such as:

• Prospecting

• Marketing

• Initial qualification

• Follow-up

Those activities can benefit tremendously from data, AI, automation, digital outreach, CRM systems, and other technology.

Then there are places where the human side becomes much more important:

• Building rapport

• Developing relationships

• Understanding needs

• Presenting value

• Handling objections

• Securing an agreement

That's the balance.

I don't believe the goal should be to automate the entire sales process.

The goal should be to automate the repetitive work so we have more time for the valuable work.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Where am I spending time doing repetitive work?

• What could AI do faster than I can?

• What conversations am I avoiding because I'm busy doing administrative work?

• Where would a personal phone call or Zoom conversation make a bigger difference than another automated message?

Action Steps

Map your sales process from prospecting through follow-up.

Next to every activity, mark it:

Human
AI/Automation
Both

You may quickly discover that you're spending too much human time doing work technology could handle and too little time actually talking with people.

7. Don't let automation turn you into a commodity

One danger Scott pointed out is what happens when we remove too much human interaction from the sales process.

If prospects can't understand the difference in value between you and everybody else, the conversation eventually comes down to price.

And if price becomes the only differentiator, somebody can always be cheaper.

That's a race I don't want to win.

The human side of sales helps us understand someone's needs, wants, and desires.

That's where value gets created.

One of the best questions you can ask is simply:

"Why is that important to you?"

Then listen.

And ask again.

The first answer is often logical.

The deeper answers usually explain what someone really cares about.

That's where trust becomes important.

People don't share meaningful information with salespeople they don't trust.

Action Steps

When a prospect asks about price, don't immediately start defending your price.

Go back to the problem.

Clarify:

• What are they trying to accomplish?

• Why does it matter?

• What is the cost of doing nothing?

• What would solving the problem be worth?

• What does success look like?

Then connect your solution directly to what they've told you.

8. Follow up without becoming a pest

I spend a lot of time talking about follow-up because this is where a tremendous number of opportunities are lost.

People get busy.

Priorities change.

Budgets change.

Timing changes.

A prospect not buying today doesn't automatically mean they aren't interested.

Scott introduced a phrase I really like:

Release with dignity.

There comes a point when you've asked for the business, explained the value, and the prospect still isn't ready.

Don't keep hammering them.

You can say:

"It sounds like this is still something you'd like to solve, but the timing may not be right today. Would it be okay if I checked back with you in 30 days?"

Now you've created permission to continue the relationship.

You can also share a resource that helps them while they're deciding.

That is the difference between becoming a welcome guest and becoming a pest.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Do I have a real follow-up process?

• Am I adding value between conversations?

• Do prospects know why I'm following up?

• Am I getting permission for the next conversation?

• How many qualified opportunities have disappeared simply because nobody followed up?

Action Steps

Create a follow-up rhythm that combines:

• Personal messages

• Helpful resources

• Phone calls

• Email

• LinkedIn

• Relevant content

• Scheduled check-ins

Don't send another generic "just checking in" message.

Give people a reason to welcome the conversation.

9. Use AI to buy back your time

One of the biggest opportunities I see with AI isn't simply creating more content.

It's getting time back.

Every one of us gets the same 86,400 seconds every day.

The question is what we're doing with them.

During our conversation, I shared a simple framework I've used:

ELIMINATE | AUTOMATE | DELEGATE | ELEVATE

Look at your workload and ask:

Eliminate

What am I doing that doesn't need to be done anymore?

Automate

What repetitive work could technology handle?

Delegate

What am I doing that somebody else could do well?

Elevate

What work requires my relationships, judgment, experience, creativity, and unique abilities?

That last category is where I want to spend more of my time.

AI should help us get there.

Action Step

Take 30 minutes this week and make four columns on a sheet of paper:

Eliminate | Automate | Delegate | Elevate

Start moving activities into the appropriate column.

Then actually make the changes.

10. Three simple ways to create more conversations

We finished the conversation talking about things business owners can do now to generate more opportunities.

One of Scott's recommendations was incredibly simple:

Ask.

We all have blind spots.

Ask somebody you trust:

"What opportunity do you see in my business that I may be missing?"

Then listen to the answer.

Another strategy is to rekindle old relationships.

Think about all the people you've met throughout your career.

Former customers.

Old colleagues.

Past prospects.

Friends from previous companies.

People you met through associations, conferences, networking groups, sports, community organizations, and past businesses.

You don't need to reconnect with them by sending a sales pitch.

Reach out and ask what's new.

The third opportunity is to simply keep meeting people.

One relationship leads to another relationship.

One conversation leads to another conversation.

One introduction can create an opportunity you never knew existed.

30-Day Action Steps

• Reconnect with five old relationships each week.

• Ask three people what opportunity they see that you may be missing.

• Schedule more conversations without making the meeting about selling.

• Ask people what's new and exciting in their world.

• Look for opportunities to make introductions before asking for one yourself.

My Biggest Takeaway

What I took away from my conversation with Scott is pretty simple.

We don't need less technology. We need to become better at using technology to create more human conversations.

AI can help us research.

Data can help us find the right prospects.

Automation can help us stay consistent.

Digital outreach can help us create familiarity.

CRM systems can help us follow up.

But at some point, somebody still has to have the conversation.

Somebody needs to get curious.

Somebody needs to listen.

Somebody needs to understand the problem.

Somebody needs to build trust.

And somebody needs to help the buyer make a good decision.

That's where the human side of business development becomes even more valuable.

Your Next Five Moves

If you're looking at your own sales and business development process, here's where I would start:

1. Grade yourself on Scott's seven stages of the sales cycle.

2. Identify the weakest part of your process and improve that first.

3. Use AI and automation to remove repetitive work.

4. Replace more sales pitches with questions and business conversations.

5. Build a follow-up process that creates value, trust, and permission for the next conversation.

The companies that figure out how to combine the efficiency of AI with the power of genuine human relationships are going to have a significant advantage.

And for me, that's what Human + AI is really about.