I was having a late-night conversation last year with a group of friends when someone asked the question, “If you could own any business in the world, what would it be?” Someone went for Apple, another chose OpenAI, but my answer was a slightly random “Colman’s Mustard” which I got mocked over. Why did I choose it? Apart from being a fan of the condiment, I find that all the constant discussion of transformation gets exhausting, and I loved the idea of a business that has largely been the same for the last 200 years.
Every day we see messages that if we aren’t doing massive innovation or transformations, we are going to get left behind. I reckon that while you can never sit still and I do think of most businesses as having to operate in a constant state of start-up, I also reckon a lot of that narrative is crap.
There is something awesome about a 200-year-old business like Colman’s where you turn up, make a world-class product, don’t deviate from a time tested recipe or brand values, and don’t have to reinvent the wheel by Tuesday just to stay in the game. In an era of constant disruption, I think we could all use a bit more "mustard" in our strategy; there is something very powerful about a core identity that doesn't need to apologise.
Lately, it feels like we have all been beaten around the head with the AI stick. The narrative is relentless blah, blah, blah! While there is truth to the idea that we need to evolve, I think we are in danger of over correcting, focusing so much on the "how" (the tech) that we are forgetting the "who" (the person) and the “why” (our purpose). We seem to be losing sight of the simple truth that people do business with those they know, like, and trust. These three qualities are exclusively human, and in the latest Mood of the Sales Leader™ report, sales leaders listed the number one reason they win deals as Trust and Brand.
I was recently in Sydney speaking at an event for Seismic, a big player in the sales and marketing enablement space. You would expect that room to be 100% focused on technology, but I was heartened to find the consensus among the leaders there was clear: AI is here to make your salespeople better, not to replace them (well maybe it might replace a few lower level ones). The technology is the supporter, but the human is still the main driver.
If AI is the “Apple” of our industry constantly updating, shifting, and requiring a new version every year then the human connection is the "Colman's." It is the stable, dependable, trusted, and indispensable part of the transaction that hasn't changed in a hundred years. When everyone else is sending AI generated bollocks emails that feel like they were written by a con artist, the person who engages directly with another person to show genuine curiosity and empathy is still winning the battle.
In the battle of Human v Machine, AI can read words, but it can't read a room. It can’t pick up on context or the change in a person’s voice when you mention a specific pain point. AI doesn’t have a personality; it doesn’t have a shared interest in the football game or a mutual contact. It sucks at comedy, it isn't great at reading body language, and it doesn’t know when silence is golden or when it is time to talk.
Don’t get me wrong, use the tech which we 100% are, but in sales, use it to be better as a human. Use Apple to be the Mustard! I can't believe I just said that
