Tip: work on your product capabilities AND your sales skills

at a convention last week, I was talking to a vendor about their AI product, and I was appalled by the sales rep. not on a personal level, but in the total lack of understanding of what the product could do for me. I kept trying to ask, in many different ways, what the AI tool does, and not a single answer made me want to even demo the tool. if it’s something I can already do easily, why do I need your product? if it’s something I can do with automation, why do I need an AI tool? if it’s something that’s already built into a basic function of existing and widely used software, why would I use your tool? the sales rep was not a tech person, was not a lawyer, and was of no use whatsoever. I went in open minded and walked out thinking that product can’t do anything better than a tech stack from 2010. nobody is buying your product because its interesting or well-made. the only reason to buy your product is because it can do something that will make or save money. if you can’t articulate to the client how your product will do that, and do that better than what they already have, you're just wasting their time - and they’ll never give you that again.