SalesTechStar Interview with Parry Malm, CEO and Co-Founder of Phrasee

Emerging technologies are playing a significant role in redefining how sales and marketing tools are built including how teams use these technologies (like AI) to their greater benefit. Catch this interview with Parry Malm, CEO and Co-founder of AI-Powered Copywriting technology company Phrasee where he discusses his thoughts.

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Tell us a little about yourself Parry? What’s a typical day at work like for you at Phrasee?

I’d love to say that every day is different, but as we’ve been on lockdown since March, every day is pretty much the same. But that’s not a bad thing – the continuity and routine of work has helped me and my team get through this bizarre period with our sanity largely in check.

How and why according to you should tech marketing and sales teams use AI-powered tools to boost their overall processes and eventual outcomes?

AI should be used to solve a problem. It is about the application of AI and technology you choose to use to solve that problem. The challenge is to define the initial problem, and then find an AI solution that can help. The inverse of this doesn’t work and takes much longer, you can spend £/$ millions on every different AI solution out there, but if you don’t know why you are using it, then it’s pointless.

Read More: Improving Your Overall Customer Experience In Times Of A Pandemic

Given your time in programmatic tech, how would you advise sales and marketing teams to capitalize on programmatic and database marketing to achieve goals faster?

As a marketer, you have to ask yourself some fairy fundamental questions right now…

How do you boost digital marketing engagement and deliver a quantifiable, sustainable increase in opens, clicks, conversions, while ensuring the tone of your marketing language is right? How do you deliver high quality, on-brand marketing copy at scale across multiple channels in a cost-effective and time-efficient way? How do you manage double the pressure, with half the budget?

These questions can all be answered with AI technology.

How have you seen the typical role of the B2B technology sales / marketing executive evolve over the years? We’d love your observations on how you’ve seen the impact of the changing salestech landscape play a role in the transforming sales development process.

Yes. Now is the time for the marketer of the future to shine. And in fact, the current global pandemic has provided even more clarity on what the marketer of the future looks like, and how they need to behave to enhance the performance of their brands and stay one step ahead of the competition.

There are some common characteristics of the marketers who are challenging the status quo. They are digital-first and technology-savvy, and notably:

• An analytical risk-taker.
• A brand-focused forward-thinker.
• A maverick ready to lead the charge.

Read More: 4 Tips To Plan A Better Go-To Market Strategy Post COVID-19

What are the biggest takeaways you’d share with sales teams the world over (who are now forced to be remote) given the current world situation due to Covid-19 and related challenges?

The problem with sales these days is people have tried to deconstruct sales into a big machine. This removes any of the human aspect from the sales process – and yes, I’m an AI guy who is saying that! Sales don’t follow a linear path, so it seems foolhardy to expect the vagaries of prospects to follow a serial process just because that’s what your CRM system can handle.

Most technology sales and marketing teams are focusing on developing business relations during this time, without actual selling – what are some of the ways you as a sales leader are making changes to business plans given current challenges?

Right now, it is as much about looking after individual customers as is about prospecting. People will remember how brands behaved in this time. At Phrasee, we’ve focused on making changes to our AI algorithms to reflect our customers changing needs. We are also making a push on hiring to reflect our current needs

How would you advise technology marketers and sales teams to pivot their strategies and plans given the current business challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic? What should they be doing as part of their revised strategies to help ensure business continuity?

Positioning your brand and its marketing to make the most of the opportunities the post-Covid-19 recovery presents could be the key differentiator between the brands which thrive in the months to come, and those which stumble out of the gate.

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning will play an increasingly important role in the evolving relationship between brands and consumers. Embracing these powerful tools and putting them to work building a more effective, data-based approach to building and marketing your brand is becoming more crucial to marketing success with every passing day.

Read More: SalesTechStar Interview With Ben Budde, VP Of Sales At Groove

Tag (mention/write about) the one person in the tech/startup/salestech industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read!

I follow @DHH (the Basecamp guy) on Twitter. 50% of what he says annoys me to no end, and 50% I find myself nodding in vigorous agreement. But I love reading what he has to say – if you only listen to tech bros or sycophants then you never expand your own frame of reference.

Your favorite Sales/SalesTech  quote and sales leadership books you’d suggest everyone in Sales reads

I would highly recommend reading Candide by Voltaire, which outlines the difference between rarity and scarcity better than any book du jour.

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