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Business Insider
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Salesforce sellers are using AI to improve their face-to-face client meetings and calls
After a long day of meeting with clients, Haley Gault, a Salesforce seller, received a last-minute ping from a customer saying they wanted to meet with her face-to-face within the hour. Gault started to sweat: The customer's business, electric vehicle charging stations, was not a topic she knew well. To get up to speed, she pulled up Salesforce's Slack AI chatbot, typed in "EV contractors," and received a dossier of previous sales, call recordings, and industry trends. "I don't have a vertical, so I'm no industry expert in regards to electric vehicle contracting," Gault said. "That's a way for me to really quickly get up to speed on who this customer is. What were the previous conversations with Salesforce? Who are the key stakeholders?" Gault isn't alone in harnessing AI tools for her sales role. When McKinsey asked about 1,500 companies about how they used generative AI, sales and marketing were the most common responses. Dan Gottlieb, Gartner's vice president analyst for sales, told Business Insider that sales professionals are an industrious group of self-starters who are actively searching for new AI use cases. They use artificial intelligence to compile research, develop leads, and even hone their pitching skills, Gottlieb said. But the increasing implementation of AI in sales raises the question: Could this integration diminish the power of human connection? Corporate selling is, after all, a fundamentally human process that relies on relationship building, typically via phone calls and client dinners. At Salesforce, its 25,000 sellers use AI tools to improve their human approach to sales, not erase it, Connor Marsden, the company's North America president of industrial, consumer, and energy, told BI. How AI can bolster seller goals The Columbia Business School professor Michael Brown said he'd noticed some sales professionals worrying about whether AI is dehumanizing the selling process. "I don't know any buyer who wants to be sold to by a copilot," Brown told BI. He added that there would always be client-buyers who want to have in-person conversations with sellers about pricing, discounts, and legal agreements. At the same time, Brown said he had a positive outlook on AI's expansion to sales processes, so long as it continues to enhance worker performance. To do that, sellers should think about applying AI to their daily unstructured tasks, like client research, brainstorming how to approach a particular situation, and making sense of large amounts of information quickly, Gottlieb said. Gault, for example, has shared parts of her favorite sales-related book with Salesforce's autonomous AI agent, Sales Coach. After Gault input passages from "Never Split the Difference" by the former FBI hostage negotiator Christopher Voss into her agent, it offered her advice based on Voss' techniques, like to acknowledge customers' emotions when they express frustrations. With Sales Coach, Gault said she could role-play and get a critique of her performance to prepare for client meetings. Gault, who works remotely from Pittsburgh, said these AI-powered tools help her prepare for customer interactions because she often lacks in-person colleagues to role-play with and receive feedback from. The evolution of AI use at Salesforce AI isn't new in Salesforce's operations, but its utility continues to change, Kris Billmaier, the executive vice president and general manager of Sales Cloud and growth products at Salesforce, told BI. He said the company had invested in predictive and assistive AI tools, as well as autonomous AI agents. For autonomous AI, Billmaier used the example of updating client statuses in Sales Cloud, Salesforce's platform for tracking sellers' statuses for each of their clients, from generating leads to closing deals. He said Salesforce's predictive AI used to make status-update recommendations based on its analysis of a sales lead's communications. To complete the process of approving and recording the status change, sellers had to review the AI's recommendation, then manually click "accept." But as sellers became more acquainted with the AI's suggestions, Salesforce began to use autonomous agents for that process. Now sellers can set up an agent to approve their status changes without human intervention. AI adoption requires employee awareness and accessibility Bringing AI to a workplace so dependent on human connection is no easy feat. Marsden said it's a "new motion" many sellers aren't used to. He said a solution is to ensure that AI-powered features are "living and breathing" in the tools that sellers use every day. When, for example, a customer tells Gault that they're using HubSpot, a competing marketing software, she looks to the right-hand corner of her screen. There, her Sales Coach autonomous AI agent is already populating ways other sellers have tackled objections from HubSpot users. Salesforce sellers can also find Slack's AI chatbot among their options for colleagues to message. "There's a baked-in incentive for them to be really good at using AI so they can come across authentically in front of their customers," Marsden said. "The human side is having the conversation, doing the discovery, and inquiring about what the customer's needs are," he said. "And then AI is there to complement, to help you make sure you captured all the needed feedback."
Associated Press
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Christopher Robin Gallego Named Best Documentary Producer in Los Angeles of 2025; Announces Completion of 'VINNIE PLAYS VEGAS'
Award-winning producer Christopher Robin Gallego unveils VINNIE PLAYS VEGAS after being named Best Documentary Producer in Los Angeles of 2025. United States, March 31, 2025 -- Award Recognition Meets Gritty Storytelling Best of Best Review has officially named Christopher Robin Gallego the Best Documentary Producer in Los Angeles of 2025, recognizing his achievements in independent film and his role in completing the feature documentary VINNIE PLAYS VEGAS. The award affirms Gallego's reputation for impactful, grounded storytelling and resilience in the face of adversity, while highlighting his ascent in the competitive entertainment industry. Gallego, a two-time art entrepreneur grant recipient from Arizona State University, has consistently blended creative innovation with practical production experience. With a body of work that spans high-profile television networks and international fashion media, his latest documentary marks a defining chapter in a career characterized by tenacity, versatility, and purpose-driven storytelling. Documenting a Cautionary Tale in the City of Illusion VINNIE PLAYS VEGAS explores the rise and fall of insult comic Vinnie Favorito, whose career was dramatically shaped—and ultimately undone—by compulsive gambling. Set in Las Vegas, a city where illusion and indulgence collide, the documentary uncovers a raw portrait of addiction, deception, and the high-stakes entertainment world. The project began in 2017, when director Brian Burkhardt invited Gallego to join after their collaboration on a reality series for Fashion One International. Despite intermittent funding and extended production timelines, the duo remained committed to completing the documentary. Gallego's production approach centered around capturing complex emotional narratives while navigating industry constraints. His time with MagicFlix, a magic-focused video streaming startup in Las Vegas, initially offered creative opportunity. However, it quickly turned into a professional challenge when Gallego and several others were abruptly fired. The unexpected termination left him locked out of his residence and without access to the hard drives containing critical footage for the documentary. Strategic Negotiation: Turning Loss into Leverage Facing what seemed to be an insurmountable setback, Gallego committed to reclaiming the lost footage. He immersed himself in negotiation strategies, ultimately turning to Chris Voss' negotiation framework outlined in Never Split the Difference. Employing techniques rooted in empathy and tactical communication, Gallego successfully negotiated with the MagicFlix CEO to recover the confiscated materials. The week-long exchange tested his patience and resolve. What began with denials and evasion gradually shifted as Gallego implemented subtle psychological techniques and created space for collaboration. The return of the hard drives became a breakthrough, both personally and professionally. 'This wasn't just about recovering footage—it was about taking ownership of a story that needed to be told,' Gallego noted. 'The process opened my eyes to the neuroscience behind human connection, and how empathy can be a powerful tool in conflict resolution.' A Project Nearing Its Final Cut Now nearing completion, VINNIE PLAYS VEGAS is expected to offer a nuanced examination of personal downfall and systemic vice. The documentary shines a light on the precarious relationship between success and self-destruction, particularly within the glitz and illusion of Las Vegas. Gallego's storytelling method—rooted in patience, precision, and emotional awareness—has shaped the documentary into a compelling portrait of both its subject and the broader human condition. His partnership with Burkhardt continues beyond this project. Currently based in Santa Monica, the pair also co-run a fence contracting company, a venture that reflects the unpredictable paths of creative professionals in a post-pandemic entertainment economy. Recognition that Elevates Visibility The Best Documentary Producer in Los Angeles of 2025 award, presented by Best of Best Review, serves as both a professional milestone and a strategic advantage in digital visibility. As more filmmakers and producers navigate search-driven discovery models, recognition from trusted sources improves SEO rankings and audience engagement. Gallego's inclusion among this year's honorees—alongside mental health providers and aesthetic specialists across the country—amplifies his work in a competitive field. His ability to turn real-world challenges into cinematic narratives positions him as a leading figure in the future of documentary filmmaking. About Christopher Robin Gallego Christopher Robin Gallego is a Los Angeles-based documentary and reality TV producer with a background in film and media production from Arizona State University. He is a two-time recipient of the university's art entrepreneur grant and a former finalist for the Time-Warner College Associate Program at TNT/tbs Originals. Gallego has worked on post-production teams for network series on CBS, NBC, Showtime, and Starz, and has contributed to global programming with Fashion One International. His diverse experience across production, cinematography, and editorial makes him a sought-after collaborator in independent film. His current documentary, VINNIE PLAYS VEGAS, represents the culmination of years of development, negotiation, and personal growth. Media Contact Email: [email protected] Website: Personal Website: Instagram: @mrchristopherg X (formerly Twitter): @mrchristopherg Contact Info: Name: Christopher Robin Gallego Email: Send Email Release ID: 89156558
