Welcome back to the ProfitSchool by MeasureU podcast Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer. Today's topic is Where Does AI Fit In Your Sales Funnel?

• Mercer and Jeff define the sales funnel in terms of awareness levels, progressing from unawareness to problem awareness, solution awareness, and finally product awareness.

• Jeff outlines a B2B sales funnel with distinct phases: impression, lead, qualification, pitch/proposal, purchase, and onboarding.

• AI significantly enhances the "impression" stage by transforming long-form content, such as podcasts or client calls, into short, digestible social media clips for broader reach and increased engagement.

• AI tools streamline lead capture by helping to create intelligent lead forms and automate processes for gathering contact information and initial permissions from prospects.

• AI assists in the qualification process by helping to establish clear business rules and criteria for ideal clients, automating aspects of prospect assessment to ensure a better fit.

• AI empowers the "pitch and proposal" stage by generating presentations, proposals, and even guiding pricing decisions, helping users overcome perfectionism and iterate faster.

Welcome back to the ProfitSchool by MeasureU podcast Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer. Today's topic is Podcast Marketing for Growth

• Mercer and Jeff examine podcasting as a growth strategy, differentiating between hosting a personal podcast and appearing as a guest on others.

• The hosts emphasize that podcasts effectively warm up an audience, acting similarly to webinars by introducing new concepts and building brand familiarity over time.

• Jeff notes that podcasting functions as an "at-home version of brand building," scaling relationship development more efficiently than traditional in-person networking events.

• Mercer highlights the value of targeting niche podcasts, stressing that reaching a smaller, highly relevant audience can be more effective than aiming for broad, mainstream shows.

• The discussion identifies "customer media marketing" as a significant benefit of podcasting, enabling deeper audience relationships through consistent content creation.

• Mercer and Jeff suggest practical approaches for securing podcast appearances, including direct outreach, networking, and leveraging AI for research and pitch generation.

Welcome back to the ProfitSchool by MeasureU podcast Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer. Today's topic is Automation First: Pros and Cons

• Jeff and Mercer emphasize that successful automation requires a clearly defined, repeatable process before any building begins.

• Initially, Jeff viewed automation negatively, associating it with spam and a lack of human involvement, but now recognizes its necessity and value when a human element is retained.

• The hosts highlight the "never too late to automate, but sometimes it's too soon" principle, stressing the importance of manually proving a process before automating it.

• Mercer and Jeff outline a nine-part automation framework, beginning with strategic planning to define the desired result, the business process, and feasibility before any technical implementation.

• The discussion stresses that the "build" phase, which many mistakenly start with, is the fifth step in their framework, occurring after thorough planning and technical blueprinting.

• A key benefit of strategic automation is the creation of reusable "Lego bricks" or interchangeable parts, allowing for easier maintenance and scaling of complex automation workflows.