Hello fellow Relationship Capitalists,
I’ve been thinking about how AI can now do a lot of the work salespeople used to hide behind.
It can research an account, draft an email, build a deck, prepare questions and summarise a buyer’s world in seconds. Great, right?
But as John M. Barrows reminded me in this episode of the podcast, there is one thing it cannot do:
It cannot care.
That may sound simple, but it changes everything.
“Touching base” needs to leave your vocabulary
For years, a lot of sales activity has survived on templates, weak personalisation, canned discovery and vague follow-ups like “touching base” or “checking in.” Buyers tolerated it because they had fewer ways to get answers on their own.
But now they have all the opportunities to do that.
Salespeople are the friction
By the time many buyers speak to a salesperson, they have already researched the market, compared vendors and formed strong opinions. If the rep simply drags them through a script, they are not adding value. They are essentially creating friction and in essence, they’ve always been the friction point in the process.
Don’t outsource yourself to AI
But John’s point is not that AI is the enemy. Quite the opposite - use it, let it do the heavy lifting, let it help with research, preparation and structure.
But then do the human work of reading what it gives you, understanding it, adding your own judgement, bringing context and nuance and asking questions. Show the buyer that you have thought about their problem before asking for their time.
That is where relationship capital gets built.
Curiosity is the only real advantage
One of John’s strongest ideas is that curiosity is a superpower. A curious person uses AI to go deeper. They ask:
“What am I missing?”
“What else should I know?”
“What would this look like from the buyer’s side?”
A non-curious person takes the first answer and copies it into an email.
That is the difference.
Trust wins every time
The future of sales will not belong to the people who automate the most. It will belong to the people who combine good tools with genuine care, strong fundamentals and the discipline to make every interaction matter. In the age of AI:
Trust still takes time.
Relationships still require effort.
And buyers can still tell when you are treating them like a person rather than a number.
To building meaningful connections,
Jason Masciarelli
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ubectwnr
Apple: https://apple.co/4vDFcRs
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/5n6bn2pj
RELATIONSHIP CAPITALISTS
Why Trust Beats Likeability in Sales ft. John M. Barrows
