AI didn't kill the sales fundamentals. It just made everyone forget what they actually are.

In this episode, John sits down with Kristie Jones, Author and Founder of Sales Acceleration Group, to talk about why the buyer now wants to talk to a human 80 to 90 percent of the way through their own research, why the post-mortem meeting needs to be replaced with a pre-call meeting, and why AI is forcing sales leaders to teach objective judgment for the first time in their careers.

If you are in sales, sales leadership, RevOps, or GTM, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about writing a role brief for the AI tools on your team, replacing the post-mortem with a pre-call meeting, testing for objective judgment instead of just tactical skill, and why the old playbook is dead even though playbooks aren't.

Want to build a sales team that can think critically in the AI era? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

What You'll Learn

• Why the buyer now wants to talk to a human 80 to 90 percent of the way through their own research, and what that means for how a rep opens the call
• Why the post-mortem meeting needs to be replaced with a pre-call meeting built around objective judgment
• Why every AI tool on your team needs a role brief, the same way every hire needs a job description
• Why Kristie tests candidates by making them argue with an AI generated plan live, not just use one
• Why the four skills sales leaders need now are systems thinking, workflow design, decision leadership, and accountability clarity

Kristie Jones is the Author and Founder of Sales Acceleration Group, where she works with sales organizations on hiring, training, and leadership development. She's the author of Selling Your Way In and the upcoming The Sales Leadership Gap, releasing October 2026, which looks at how AI is forcing a fundamental rethink of how sales leaders hire, coach, and make decisions.

Visit kristiekjones.com to learn more about Kristie's work and get updates on The Sales Leadership Gap.

Connect with Kristie Jones:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kristiekjones

Website: kristiekjones.com

Instagram: instagram.com/kristiejones.sales

YouTube: youtube.com/@kristiekjones

John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.

Connect with John Barrows:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows

Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows

TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages

Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter