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Why now is the time for MSPs on AI
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Why now is the time for MSPs on AI
It’s an interesting time for MSPs who are looking at delivering AI to customers. On top of unraveling the technology itself, we also have to build a messaging framework from the ground up – one that effectively communicates to customers the why of AI and where the value will be felt.
Struggling with the storytelling of AI in this brand-new world? I can’t stop thinking about it myself, and I know I’m not alone. That’s why I recently welcomed Beate Chelette, a business growth strategist with a one-of-a-kind background, onto a bonus episode of The Business of Tech.
From selling a business to Bill Gates to advice on saving the world from a doomsday AI scenario, here’s what we got into:
Chelette’s Background
Chelette’s own story has quite the logline: she went from being over $100k in debt to selling a business directly to Bill Gates.
Chelette, who’s originally from Germany, leveraged her photography background to create a stock photography syndication – which eventually caught Gates’s eye for its ability to get digital assets in front of the right people.
Though this was a technology-based business, Chelette’s creative skillset from the fine arts enabled her to tell the right story about her product.
Helping Visionaries Structure and Sell Their Ideas
Flash forward to today, and Chelette specializes in growth strategies for creatives and innovators who have big, complicated ideas, but don’t know how to ‘land the plane.’ She loves working with people who have a million puzzle pieces in their heads but need help lasso-ing everything together.
And as you can imagine, this type of advisory work is all about AI these days. For example, a recent client was a data scientist who wanted to develop a framework for ethical AI for search engines for luxury brands:
“I would be lying to you, Dave, if I would tell you that I understood everything that she said. But what I was able to do is pick the pieces in the right order and help her to articulate it so she could sell it to somebody who didn’t speak the language because the decision makers don’t often speak the language.”
A week after working with Chelette, that client landed a $50k deal.
The Communication Gap in Tech
Even if you’re not ideating an AI startup right now, Chelette’s expertise overlaps with what MSPs and IT service companies deal with on the communication front. A lot of us have highly technical, deep skill sets, but struggle to tell the story of their services in a way that attracts customers and builds productive relationships.
I asked Chelette to unpack a bit of that disconnect in technical fields, and she confirmed that technology has a bigger communication gap than most other fields. Why? In short, she too often comes across technical people who believe that if you don’t understand their complex ideas, you’re not smart.
High IQ is valued in our field, and for good reason, but this has its drawbacks:
“I think specifically in information technology that there is a reward for being geeky or being super smart, and there’s not enough emphasis on how to land these planes that are in your head so other people can understand it,” she said.
And in order to sell to clients, people have to understand what you’re selling.
Messaging for an AI World
So what’s so important about this particular moment? You already know the answer: AI. But Chelette emphasized that the current problem is less about the specific AI tool you’re pitching to customers, and more about navigating the bigger picture AI conversation about ethics and long-term implications.
She explained that non-techies are hearing a whole of narratives that have them worried. They’re asking questions like, if we build a system that is by machines for machines, who is going to run the economy? Then there’s going to be people that own the machines, and then there’s going to be the machines, and everybody else is dead? So what does that even mean?
So, that’s where we come in. In Chelette’s own words:
“I think this is the time where we have an obligation in technology to say, allow me to raise my hand. These are the good things, these are the questionable things, and this is really, really, really bad. So why don’t we teach what we know that is not going to cause permanent damage? Why don’t we keep it in check?”
In short, Chelette’s message is this: “Get your value proposition out. Nail the message. Nail the unapologetic value proposition. Go out there and help people not to screw this up for everybody.”
How to Storytell and What to Avoid
As we demystify AI for clients, I asked Chelette to share some ideas and sentiments we should help clients avoid. Her answer was simple: keep clients from latching onto AI as a purely cost-cutter solution. In her view, people who use AI to budget cut, replace jobs, and drive up short-term revenue growth are going to be the most reckless AI users.
So what messaging should we focus on instead? Here are some of her tips:
Crawl into the mind of a potential customer and imagine what type of misconceptions they might have already formed about AI (like how it can cut X many salaries and drive up X revenue). Try your best to address and replace these notions.
It’s not about dumbing down AI – it’s about education, because non-techies truly don’t know what AI is all about right now.
Don’t be arrogant – be the person who helps a client have a revelation. If you start to notice a puzzled face and glazed eyes, you’ve officially over-complicated the conversation.
For example:
“Take a piece of paper, and I want you to put three lines on this piece of paper. The first one is what the problem is that they see. At the line on the other side, all the way on the other side in the third column, you put in the solution that they want. That’s the only two things you talk about. The piece in the middle, what you know and your solutions and how you do it, you do not get to talk about.”
This goes back to Business 101: focus on the business outcomes.
Want more of Chelette’s insight? Head to www.GrowthBlockerQuiz.com and www.UncoverySession.com to take some introductory quizzes and access her many learning resources.
That’s it for this week’s newsletter! As always, I’m available for stories, takes, insight, and more at [email protected].
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