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predictive lead scoring

What An MBA Didn’t Teach You About Sales

The sales profession is challenging. You need to work hard at it to succeed. You need to learn from the best. You need to improve your skills continuously. If you think you can sell since you are a hit at parties and have a lot of friends, you may soon find that you are a failure as a salesperson. Blunt truth:

because the sales profession is so hard, you have to focus on doing everything in sales very well, or you will be considered a failure.

I call this blog, Skinned Knees because I try to relate all of the learning that I have done over the past 4+ decades (while skinning my knees in the learning process).

I hope that you learn from my mistakes so that your business will grow!

Sales Management in the Age of AI: Aligning Marketing, Messaging & Revenue Generation

When it comes to modern B2B revenue generation, the conversation is shifting: it’s no longer just about cycle time or activity metrics, it’s about intent, predictive insights, and sharpening your approach to lead engagement. In this post, we unpack how artificial intelligence (AI) can reinforce your sales management discipline, refine your sales processes, and elevate your team’s business acumen.

Many sales organizations still rely on traditional lead-scoring models: “five points for a white-paper download, ten points for visiting the pricing page.” These rules-based frameworks sit at the heart of countless debates over marketing-qualified lead (MQL) vs. sales-qualified lead (SQL). Yet research shows that such arbitrary scoring systems often perform little better than chance.

By contrast, predictive lead scoring powered by AI changes the game: algorithms ingest data from your CRM, marketing automation, website activity, firmographics and behavior patterns. They then compute each lead’s statistical probability of converting, turning your outreach efforts from scatter-shot to precision-targeted.

In value selling, the objective is to engage high-potential buyers with meaningful differentiation—messaging that resonates with their specific business challenges. When your team is handed leads that reflect a 90 %+ probability of conversion, the conversation changes: it becomes strategic, not just transactional. Your reps spend less time chasing noise and more time facilitating high-impact dialogues.

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The Future of Prospecting: Using Artificial Intelligence to Read Buyer Intent

The modern salesperson faces two extremes: total blindness or total overload. Some still cold call a list of fifty prospects hoping one will answer, while others drown in dashboards flashing with “intent data.” Both approaches fail because neither interprets what the data truly means.

The future of sales management lies in balance — using artificial intelligence to translate buyer behavior into clear, prioritized action. AI can read digital body language, scoring every click, visit, and download to reveal genuine purchase intent. This isn’t about replacing salespeople. It’s about enabling them with sharper business acumen and faster, more precise decision-making.

When sales leaders align technology with disciplined sales processes, they move from guesswork to guidance. Value selling becomes tangible because messaging is timed to the buyer’s journey, not to the rep’s quota. The best teams build standardized playbooks for each stage — from early curiosity to re-engagement — and rely on revenue management data to decide when to act.

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