Jason Zintak on How AI Makes Sales Smarter and Measurable

Sales teams are perpetually eager to uncover new data. 

The challenge doesn’t lie in data discovery but in extracting meaningful insights. This realization calls for a paradigm shift: filter out the noise with technology. 

When competition is fierce and customer expectations soar, embracing new technology is vital for staying ahead of the curve and unlocking true potential. But making use of technology to deliver a customized buying experience is something many businesses still need to crack. 

According to Jason Zintak, one of the biggest challenges today in the B2B go-to-market (GTM) is the inefficient use of new technology, data, and information. It leads to missed opportunities, wasted resources, and poor decision-making. 

Formerly the CRO of Responsys and later the CEO of Platfora, Jason Zintak is now CEO of 6sense, an ABM platform transforming the B2B buying and selling experience through AI, big data, and machine learning. He has over 20 years of experience scaling marketing and sales organizations in growth-stage B2B software companies.

In the latest episode of GTM Innovators, G2 Chief Revenue Officer Mike Weir sat down with Jason to discuss how sales and marketing teams can eliminate the guesswork and make sense of data to make their GTM strategy more targeted and efficient.

Singing from the same sheet of music

It's echoed time and time again: sales and marketing alignment is crucial for improving business performance and growing revenue. Jason emphasizes this by talking about the importance of sales and marketing teams operating from a mutual playbook – or, as he likes to put it, “singing from the same sheet of music” – and how data lies at the core of this initiative.

Sales and marketing historically track success metrics, where sales is all about closing rates and marketing is focused on marketing qualified leads (MQLs). Ultimately, every business wants to know whether its sales and marketing efforts have any real impact.

According to Jason, this is where technology creates alignment by bridging the data gap. Integrating technology and data eliminates sales and marketing silos, facilitates better communication, and gives teams insights into each other’s daily workflow. 

"We can finally work off one data set and create a cohesive plan with sales and marketing to go after the same annual goals," says Jason. "Many technologies out there help businesses measure their actions' efficacy and share insights on what to do next."

He further explains how GTM teams can leverage AI, big data, and machine learning to combine data from different sources and create the ultimate data lake. Centralizing data and insights with technology allows businesses to filter out irrelevant components, making it easier for sales and marketing to work toward the same targets.

In a time when teams must do more with less, a data-driven approach to B2B sales and marketing can point you to in-market accounts, eliminating the cost of missed opportunities. 

“AI doesn’t do the job for you. It just makes human efforts more meaningful, productive, and focused.”

Jason Zintak,
CEO at 6sense

From silos to synchronized success

While there’s a lot of data accessible today, it’s common for GTM teams to underutilize it. Sales will have a long list of buyers but not necessarily ones more likely to purchase. And marketing teams can’t tell what’s working and what isn’t. 

Jason shares that the move toward sales and marketing alignment requires collaboration. GTM teams need to identify their total addressable market (TAM) and the ideal customer profile (ICP) within that TAM. “Anything we could possibly measure around our TAM is out there,” he says.

But data is often siloed across the organization, which makes it difficult for sales and marketing to collaborate. Moreover, data is usually formatted with complexity, making it challenging to use. These factors make it difficult for sales and marketing teams to find the right information at the right time. 

“There's too much data out there for any human being to understand without using big data, machine learning, and applied data science.”

Jason Zintak,
CEO at 6sense

Jason recalls how ten years ago, people were wondering if there was a better way to understand all the information at hand. You can get the insights, check the analytics, and apply machine learning, but then what do you do with it? “It's just not enough to have the insight; you need to be able to execute a tactic,” Jason says. 

Today, it’s possible to sift through all this data by leveraging machines to help sellers and marketers do a better job by applying their efforts meaningfully. MarTech and sales tech have gotten far more exciting with different technologies aligning their forces to achieve success. 

Jason also touched upon how smart integrations have altered how vendors approach business competition. Vendors today know that one platform can’t offer everything. But with a robust partner network, they can join forces to provide an "intense supermarket with integrated flavors" to the audience. 

“The ability to have a partner network, whether it's on the inbound or outbound, enables you to know anything. And once you know, you can do, which is the key,” he adds.

The shift to responsible marketing

One of the most notable shifts in this data-driven era with greater marketing and sales alignment is that companies are becoming more targeted. They cater to people who are in-market and ready to buy. Technologies like machine learning enable the processing of intent data, narrowing the funnel faster and leading to a better customer experience. 

Jason mentions how every organization is evaluating its tech stack today to see what works, what doesn’t, what needs consolidation, and what delivers returns. "We all need to be critical of what we're using. The advances in generative AI will help all of us," he recommends.

With AI, businesses ‌can generate high-quality pipelines that convert, helping teams prioritize so they never miss another opportunity for revenue growth. Jason believes this is what responsible marketing is all about. If your team sends out fewer emails, engagement and response rates will be higher when targeting people who want to buy from you.

Plus, a technology-based approach makes measuring your efforts more tangible by bridging the data gap. For the first time, sales and marketing teams can share the impact of their targeted spending with senior leadership.

“Every boardroom or CEO wants to know the true ROI of their sales and marketing spend,” says Jason. “But the answer has been elusive for almost the entirety of my career. So that is where we see the opportunity in the market for technology.”

Best practices for implementing tech solutions

With smarter buyers in the market, revenue teams must operate more efficiently. “Buyers are smart. Give them credit,” Jason suggests. “They know how to research and figure things out without contacting the vendor until the very last moment.” 

Identifying ways to reduce waste and uncertainty in your GTM strategy is crucial. Vendors can use modern technology solutions to explore the “dark funnel” where customers conduct their research and extract meaningful engagement points. 

To provide value to their teams using these technologies, businesses must apply consistent and accurate insights across the buyer journey and their tech stack. The key to reinvention is finding new areas to apply AI and simultaneously enhance productivity and job satisfaction. 

Tune in for the full episode on YouTube to hear more from Jason. Learn from other GTM experts by subscribing to the GTM Innovators podcast today - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, and more.