The Growth Signal

Paul Burani says AI is coming for a lot of what you do all day. He also says that's good news. Paul is the co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Atlas Primer, and he joined Alyssa Nolte to argue something most people miss: if everyone has access to the same AI, the advantage moves to the things AI can't do for you. Here's the part that stuck. We all agree practice makes people better. We all know role play works. And almost nobody wants to do it in a room full of their coworkers. Paul's argument is that we've been asking people to build human skills in the one setting guaranteed to make them feel judged. Take the judgment out, and people will actually practice. If you lead a sales, service, or enablement team, this one is worth your time. You'll get a different way to think about training, and a better answer to the question your reps keep asking: why am I sitting in a workshop instead of talking to customers? Three things to take with you: AI takes the tasks, not the trust. Cold calling, complex enterprise deals, a call center handling upset customers... they all come down to building rapport with a person. Paul says that's where we should be doubling down, because it's the part nobody is automating. Most companies have nowhere to practice. You get an onboarding workshop, and maybe a manager willing to give you honest feedback. Paul calls that a set of constraints, not a training program. Practicing with a machine that never judges you, and forgets the session afterward, removes the awkwardness that stops people from trying. Learning and selling aren't separate calendars. Alyssa and Paul both push back on the two-day kickoff model. As Paul puts it, ten minutes of practice right after a call that went badly may do more for a seller than two days at a sales kickoff in Vegas. There's also a good stretch on growth mindset, and why so many of us will ask Google a question we'd never say out loud to another person. The Growth Signal is a weekly show about rethinking the future of customer relationships. Mentioned in this episode: Paul Burani, co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Atlas Primer. Find him on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/pburani or at atlasprimer.com. He says he loves hearing from strangers. Jonathan Hull, Chief Operating Officer of ThingLink, a Finland-based company building immersive learning experiences. Paul's answer when you asked who else we should be listening to, and he recommends him for reasons that reach well past learning and development. Find Alyssa Nolte on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte Read her writing on Substack: alyssanolte.substack.com

If your team can't make a move without checking with you first, this one's going to sting a little. Nathan Wolter is a professional EOS implementer, and he opens with a hot take most business owners feel long before they can name it. Every business eventually starts running at the capacity of its owner. Not because you're a bad leader. Because nothing got built that runs without you. And the good news hiding in that? If you're the problem, you also get to be the solution. Alyssa Nolte takes it somewhere practical. What do you actually do when you've got 100 things on your plate and you're giving each one about one percent of your real skill? She tells the story of the moment someone held up a mirror to her on a podcast, and she realized she'd built an entire persona around being the one who makes it happen. The martyr. The only person working 75 hours a week so everyone else could have balance. Then an employee told her that not delegating was holding back their growth. Worth 25 minutes if you've ever caught yourself saying you'd rather just do it yourself. Three things you'll take away: Delegating the task is only half of it. If your team still checks every small decision with you, you handed off the work and kept the ownership. Give them the task and the trust. When people keep asking how you want things handled, that's usually a clarity problem. Confused teams don't move. Say where the company's going and what the top priority is, and most of those questions answer themselves. Ask what your highest and best use actually is. Alyssa borrows the term from commercial real estate, where a busy corner should hold a coffee shop and not a factory. Can you do the task? Sure. Should you? Different question. Nathan also makes the case that the internal work is what makes external growth possible. Take care of your people and they'll take care of your customers. That's a real part of rethinking the future of customer relationships... it starts inside the building. People and resources mentioned: Nathan Wolter, professional EOS implementer. Find him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nathan-wolter Hitting the Ceiling podcast Choose Strong podcast with Sally and Eddie McRae Find Alyssa Nolte: alyssanolte.substack.com linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte

AI is getting blamed for layoffs it may not actually be causing. So what happens when fear moves faster than the technology? Victoria Pelletier joins Alyssa Nolte to challenge the idea that companies are already replacing huge parts of their workforce with AI. Her take: many leaders are using AI as cover for cuts they needed to make anyway. The bigger risk may be what that story does to trust inside a company. Alyssa and Victoria talk about what AI can really do today, why companies need better AI governance, and how leaders can help employees prepare for the changes ahead. They also explore why human skills like creativity, empathy, problem-solving, and relationship building may become even more valuable as AI improves. If you are trying to figure out what AI means for your job, your team, or your customers, this conversation offers a much more useful answer than "AI is coming for everyone." It is about rethinking how humans and AI work together...and how leaders can build trust while doing it. 3 Key Takeaways AI may not be the real reason behind many layoffs. Victoria argues that most companies are not using AI at enough scale to explain major workforce cuts. In many cases, AI may simply be the easier story to tell. AI adoption requires more than buying a tool. Companies need clear guardrails, data governance, employee training, and honest communication about how AI will change people's work. Human skills may become even more valuable. Creativity, empathy, problem-solving, relationships, and good judgment are harder to automate. Learning AI matters, but so does getting better at the things humans do best. People and Resources Mentioned Victoria Pelletier victoria-peltier.com Leadership Transition Guide by Victoria Pelletier Influence Unleashed by Victoria Pelletier Influence Activated by Victoria Pelletier Mo Gawdat Former Chief Business Officer of Google X and guest on The Diary of a CEO Scott Galloway World Economic Forum skills research Follow Alyssa Nolte alyssanolte.substack.com linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte

What if your customer success metrics are measuring the wrong thing? Jacquelyn Goldberg believes NPS and strong relationships are not enough. If customers cannot see real business value, even customers who love you may still leave. Alyssa Nolte and Jacquelyn Goldberg rethink what customer success should look like when budgets are tight, AI is changing how work gets done, and leaders expect clear results. They talk about moving past "do they like us?" and toward a harder question: Are we helping the customer achieve something that matters to their business? Jacquelyn also shares how Unframe approaches AI transformation by starting small, solving a real problem, and earning user adoption before trying to change an entire company. Alyssa and Jacquelyn explore why critical thinking, experimentation, and the ability to adapt may become some of the most valuable skills in the AI era. Why listen? If you work in customer success, sales, SaaS, AI, or business transformation, this conversation will make you question some common ways companies measure success. You will also hear a practical way to think about AI adoption without starting with a massive transformation project. 3 Key Takeaways Customer success needs to measure business value. NPS and strong relationships matter, but they do not prove that your product is helping a customer reach their goals. AI transformation works better when you start with one real problem. Instead of trying to change everything at once, solve one useful problem, prove the value, and build from there. Critical thinking matters even more with AI. AI can help people work faster, but humans still need to question the answers, test ideas, and know when the technology is wrong. People & Resources Mentioned Jacquelyn Goldberg Unframe: unframe.ai LinkedIn: Search Jacquelyn Goldberg Louis Gersh Founder and mentor mentioned by Jacquelyn Also mentioned: Harvard Business Review ChatGPT Gemini Wikipedia Alyssa Nolte Substack: alyssanolte.substack.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte

Getting customers is hard. Keeping them is even harder. Alyssa Nolte sits down with Shawn Boehme to rethink one of the biggest mistakes businesses make. Most companies think they have a sales problem, a marketing problem, or a customer success problem. Shawn argues they actually have a communication problem. If your customer journey feels disconnected, this conversation will help you see why. From the first marketing message to onboarding and long-term customer success, every interaction shapes trust. Alyssa and Shawn explore how small communication gaps between teams turn into broken promises for customers. They also discuss why leadership has to own the customer experience across every department, not just within individual teams. Key Takeaways Every customer touchpoint is a promise. Each interaction either builds trust or breaks it. Sales, marketing, and customer success must work together. Silos create a confusing customer experience. Great customer relationships start with clear communication, realistic expectations, and consistent follow through. If you're looking to improve customer experience, customer communication, team alignment, or customer retention, this episode will give you practical ideas you can apply right away. People and resources mentioned: PanTerra Networks Mike Brooks (Mr. Inside Sales) Alyssa Nolte Substack: http://alyssanolte.substack.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte