In this episode, we hear from Scott Coleman, an experienced inside sales rep at Copy.AI, about his approach to cold calling. Scott shares insights on:

Combining cold calls with other outreach methods:
"You cannot talk about cold calling without talking about also having emails in your sequences and connecting on LinkedIn... just trying to create any amount of recognition leading up to your calls."

Researching prospects before calling:
"You need to know a little bit about them. You need to know a little bit about their company and you need to formulate an approach for that phone call."

Moving quickly but not blindly:
"Move with speed, move with velocity, but don't move blindly."

Scott's cold call approach includes:
• Using a hook or opening line
• Acknowledging it's a sales call
• Asking how the prospect is doing
• Inviting them to hang up (as reverse psychology)

On maintaining energy and motivation, Scott advises:
"If you feel your mood slipping... the best thing to do is take a moment... refocus your energy and re-center yourself however you do that."

For new or discouraged sales reps, Scott recommends:
"You need to know yourself. You need to know how to get yourself in a good mood... Don't try to fight through the bad feeling by doing nothing or just keeping on keeping on."

Scott reminds us of cold calling realities:
"It is a tough game. Most people are not going to pick up the phone."

But with the right mindset and approach, cold calling can still be an effective sales strategy.

In this episode of Future Proof, Aaron Adza, an inside account representative at Copy.ai, shares his insights on effective cold calling techniques in sales.

Key takeaways:

1. Parallel dialers boost efficiency: Aaron uses technology that allows him to call multiple numbers simultaneously, maximizing talk time and data validation.
2. Strategic voicemails generate callbacks: A vague yet intriguing voicemail can prompt prospects to return calls, opening doors for meaningful conversations.
3. Adaptable conversation starters: Aaron employs various opening lines to build familiarity, like "Does that ring a bell?" to engage prospects naturally.
4. Balancing quantity and quality: While focusing on high call volumes, Aaron emphasizes the importance of genuine interactions over "spray and pray" tactics.
5. Leveraging AI in sales: Copy.ai's tools help generate account research, contact information, and even draft cold emails, streamlining the outreach process.
6. Mindset matters: Handling rejection, embracing "cringe" moments, and staying motivated are crucial for SDR success.
7. Evolving outreach methods: There's a shift from email-heavy to phone-heavy strategies, adapting to market saturation in email outreach.

Aaron's approach demonstrates that cold calling remains a viable and effective strategy when combined with modern tools and a resilient attitude. As he puts it, "If you can handle a little cringe... I think you can do it."

Cold Calling Strategies That Actually Work

In this episode of Future Proofed, host Nathan Thompson speaks with Brianna Stout, an inside account representative at Copy.ai, about effective cold calling strategies. Despite claims that cold calling is "dead," Brianna argues it remains a powerful tool for understanding prospects and facilitating human connections.

She shares key insights on:

• Preparation: Researching prospects and having relevant talking points ready before calls
• Breaking the ice: Addressing upfront that it's a cold call to disarm prospects
• Bringing humanity: Making interactions feel personal, not robotic
• Focusing on relevance: Tailoring outreach to each prospect's specific situation

Brianna emphasizes the importance of having the right mindset, including:

• Approaching calls with humility and empathy
• Not taking rejections personally
• Speaking confidently but without pressure for specific outcomes

For those managing cold calling teams, Brianna recommends:

• Providing proper tools, resources and talk tracks
• Enabling reps to speak credibly about products/services
• Setting up team members for success

She also discusses how AI tools are enhancing cold calling by:

• Assisting with prospect research
• Allowing reps to work more strategically
• Saving time on preparation

While many claim cold calling is obsolete, Brianna argues it enables deeper prospect understanding and human-to-human conversations that other channels can't match. With the right approach, cold calling remains a valuable and effective outreach strategy.

In this episode of Future Proofed, host Kyle Coleman interviews Srinivas Attili, who leads the Center of Excellence for Data and AI at Juniper Networks. Srinivas shares insights on leveraging AI and machine learning to drive hyper-personalized marketing at scale.

Key highlights:

- Juniper achieved a 9x increase in email open rates and 46% higher lead-to-meeting conversion through AI-powered personalization
- They developed a real-time activation system that monitors web analytics and sends contextualized follow-ups within minutes
- An AI safety model vets all generated content to ensure brand consistency and truthfulness
- Attili advocates for combining ML expertise with generative AI capabilities
- Future plans include developing an "autopilot" system for marketing functions using agentic AI frameworks

Attili emphasizes the importance of having a strong data foundation and experimenting strategically when adopting AI. He also discusses balancing innovation with governance to mitigate risks.

The conversation highlights how enterprise B2B companies can apply B2C-style personalization tactics by leveraging AI, while maintaining brand standards. Attili's insights offer a glimpse into the future of AI-powered marketing automation and decision-making.

In this episode of Future Proofed, host Kyle Coleman interviews Ayalla Goldschmidt, a Solutions and Product Marketing Leader at ServiceNow, about their AI implementation journey.

Key highlights:

1. Bottom-up AI adoption: Ayala's team started small, experimenting with AI tools like Copy.ai for product marketing tasks. This grassroots approach allowed them to demonstrate value before seeking wider organizational buy-in.
2. Practical use cases: Early applications included researching industry trends, developing personas, and content creation assistance. The team found AI particularly helpful for adapting content for different audiences and formats.
3. Overcoming skepticism: By showcasing concrete examples and encouraging experimentation, Ayala's team was able to generate excitement and drive adoption across the marketing organization.
4. Scaling implementation: What began as a small pilot expanded to over 200 licenses across product marketing and digital teams, with potential for further growth.
5. Best practices: Ayala emphasizes the importance of learning effective prompting techniques, having humans review AI outputs, and codifying processes into reusable workflows.
6. Change management: Ayala highlights the critical role of change management principles in driving AI adoption, including stakeholder buy-in and demonstrating value.
7. Tool selection criteria: ServiceNow chose Copy.ai for its ease of use, pricing model, and long-term workflow capabilities that aligned with their company DNA.

Ayala's advice for AI implementation:

• Start small with early adopters
• Learn to prompt effectively
• And focus on removing friction from existing processes.

By taking an iterative approach and demonstrating clear value, organizations can successfully integrate AI into their workflows.

In this episode of Future Proofed, host Kyle Coleman speaks with Jim Holben, CMO of Defendify, about leveraging AI to scale marketing efforts and drive efficiency.

Want quick access to Jim Holben's AI Cheat Sheet? Click here to get the 9 AI Content Workflows that Jim uses to save $200,000/year in content.

Key Themes Covered:

1. AI as a Marketing Multiplier: Jim discusses how AI allows his small team to produce content at scale, turning "a couple of hands into seemingly 10, 15 hands." He emphasizes viewing AI as a productivity tool rather than a job replacement.

2. Content Creation Workflows: Jim outlines his AI-powered content creation process, which includes using technical writer briefs to generate blog posts, social media content, and executive thought leadership pieces.

3. Human-AI Collaboration: Both Jim and Kyle stress the importance of human oversight and strategy in AI workflows. As Jim notes, "Even while we're leveraging AI...there is a human element to creating this stuff."

4. ROI and Efficiency Gains: Jim estimates his AI initiatives have added over $200,000 in content value this year. He advocates for an "AI-first" mindset to maximize marketing ROI, especially for early-stage companies.

5. Future of AI in Go-to-Market: The discussion explores how AI could break down silos between marketing, sales, and customer success to create more unified customer experiences.

Notable Quotes:

• "We are out of that growth at all costs era. We're in the growth at the right cost era." - Jim Holman
• "Multiplying the impact of the strategic thinkers, the domain experts who know what good looks like, that's the value of AI." - Kyle Coleman
• "AI is not the Ozempic for content, right? Like you still have to go to the gym. You still have to put in the work, build those muscles." - Jim Holman

This episode provides valuable insights for marketers looking to harness AI's potential while maintaining quality and strategic focus. Jim's practical examples and ROI calculations offer a compelling case for AI adoption in marketing workflows.

In this episode of Future Proofed, host Kyle Coleman speaks with Jean English, CMO of Juniper Networks, about successfully implementing an AI strategy across marketing and go-to-market teams.

Key Highlights:

• Jean emphasizes the importance of data quality and architecture as foundational elements for any AI implementation.

• Juniper standardized processes and workflows to enable AI-powered content creation and personalization at scale.

• To drive adoption, Jean focused on empowering all team members to use AI tools like Copy.ai, rather than setting strict productivity goals.

• Results have been dramatic, with 9x higher email open rates and 4-5x more sales meetings generated.

• Cross-functional alignment through an AI governance council helps ensure responsible use across the organization.

By standardizing processes, improving data inputs, and empowering teams, Juniper transformed marketing from reactive to proactive - delivering more personalized, relevant content with greater efficiency. Jean sees AI as a "superhero cape" that allows marketers to focus on higher-value strategic work.

The key is starting with some simple use cases, demonstrating value, and building on that success across the organization. As Jean notes, "Success breeds success."

Podcast Recap: Go-to-Market AI Strategy for Sales Leaders

In this episode of Future Proofed, Kyle Coleman discusses go-to-market strategies and the critical role of AI in shaping modern sales approaches.

Key Themes:

1. Shifting from siloed approaches to integrated go-to-market strategies
2. The emergence of Go-to-Market AI (GTMAI) and its impact on sales processes
3. Balancing AI automation with human expertise in sales workflows
4. The importance of cross-functional alignment in AI implementation
5. Leadership mandates for developing cohesive AI strategies

Kyle emphasizes the need for sales leaders to think holistically about GTMAI, moving beyond point solutions to create interconnected processes across marketing, sales, and customer success. He cautions against over-reliance on AI or single-channel approaches, stressing the continued importance of human oversight and strategy.

The discussion highlights how AI workflows can codify best practices, reducing administrative burdens on sales teams while maintaining personalized outreach. Kyle notes, "Now I get to read the book, I don't have to write the book," illustrating how AI can free up time for core selling activities.

Looking ahead, Kyle urges sales leaders to develop comprehensive AI strategies that span the entire go-to-market engine. He concludes, "There is a mandate for you as a leader, sales leader, to have an AI strategy. Number one, you cannot defer, delegate that AI strategy too far down the chain."

For more insights on implementing GTMAI, listeners are directed to copy.ai/book, where Coleman and his team have published a comprehensive guide on future-proofing businesses through AI-driven go-to-market strategies.