The Pocus Unlocking Revenue Podcast The death of traditional prospecting and the future of AI agents: Frank Perkins
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Aug 4, 2025 Frank Perkins, CRO Chief of Staff at Datadog, transforms our understanding of sales prospecting. With his extensive background at Salesforce and Apple, he reveals how traditional methods are rapidly becoming obsolete. Expect AI agents to handle the early sales cycle, while humans engage later in the process. Perkins shares his innovative approach from predictability to efficacy, highlights the rise of 'agents selling to agents,' and sparks debate on AI's impact on critical thinking in sales. The future is here, and it's digital!
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From Commission Sales To Signal-Based Selling
- Frank started in commission-only sales, then worked at Apple during the iPhone launch and spent 14 years at Salesforce.
- Those experiences shaped his focus on pipeline programs and signal-based selling.
Predictability In Outbound Is Broken
- Prospecting's predictability has collapsed since the shift to virtual interactions around COVID.
- Volume-based activity no longer maps reliably to revenue because outcomes depend heavily on individual and context.
Design Around How Buyers Want To Buy
- Focus on buyers first and respond to how they want to be educated and evaluated.
- Engineer processes to give buyers hands-on value moments before forcing salesperson interaction.