Artificial intelligence may be transforming the tools available to media sales teams, but Ryan Dohrn believes the biggest misconception in the industry is that technology alone can create better sales performance.
During a recent E&P Reports conversation, the Emmy Award-winning sales trainer, author of Selling Backwards and CEO of Niche Media argued that AI is becoming one of the most powerful productivity tools ever introduced to media sales, but only when used correctly.
Many salespeople, he said, are approaching AI with the wrong mindset. “They’re using it as a search engine,” Dohrn explained. “That’s what most people are doing wrong. They’ve tried to replace Google Search with ChatGPT, and it is a tremendous waste of time because you’re not utilizing the tools really for what they’re designed for.”
Instead of treating AI as a shortcut, Dohrn believes sellers should view it as a way to become more prepared, more relevant and ultimately more valuable to advertisers. “A lot of salespeople are wasting time doing the wrong things,” he said. “What can we do to be more efficient and make our sales lives better, not just run down rabbit holes?”
The new advantage is relevance
One of the biggest opportunities Dohrn sees is using AI to dramatically improve pre-call research.
Rather than entering meetings armed with generic questions, sellers can now identify a prospect’s likely challenges, priorities and opportunities before making contact. “We’re living in a world of economic uncertainty,” Dohrn said. “When people are economically uncertain, they are very adverse to risk.”
That reality makes relevance more important than ever. “I can now use AI to drill in in advance on a jewelry store or John Deere as a national client and find out what pain points are by what is being expressed in the news, what’s currently being promoted,” he explained.
The result is a more personalized approach that immediately captures attention. Instead of asking for a broad conversation about marketing strategy, Dohrn recommends demonstrating an understanding of what the client is already trying to accomplish. “I’d want to reach out and say, ‘Hey Mike, I saw on your website you’re promoting this. I have a way to get that on the air, in the magazine, featured in the newspaper, put in an e-newsletter,’” he said.
That level of preparation creates what he calls relevance, which remains one of the strongest drivers of engagement. “When a salesperson is relevant to me, I tend to engage with them,” Dohrn said. “When a salesperson is generic to me, I’m kind of like, ‘Yeah, maybe for another day.’”
Using AI to understand people
Beyond research, Dohrn believes one of the most underutilized AI applications is personality profiling.
By analyzing publicly available information, AI can help sellers better understand how prospects communicate, make decisions and evaluate opportunities. “I don’t think a lot of salespeople are using AI to build personality profiles,” he said. “They’re doing things like find an email format, find out the name of the marketing director. And for the most part, that’s pretty flat.”
Dohrn acknowledged that some may find the concept unsettling. “Some people are like, ‘Wow, Ryan, that’s really creepy,’” he said. “I like to say it like this. It’s creepy cool.”
The goal isn’t manipulation, he explained. It’s creating stronger and more meaningful connections faster. “It’s super cool for me to be able to find out things so that I can better connect with a client,” Dohrn said. “I can potentially sell them faster, and then I can cut through a lot of the clutter.”
Today’s buyers often have less patience for lengthy relationship-building exercises. Instead, Dohrn says they are looking for what he calls “quick connects.”
“What can I do to build a quick connection, build quick trust to potentially get a meeting set?” he asked.
What publishers may be overlooking
Dohrn also sees opportunities beyond individual salespeople. Publishers can use AI to uncover new revenue opportunities, automate workflows and improve advertiser reporting.
One of his favorite prompts is surprisingly simple. “What am I missing?” he said.
By feeding competitive information, market conditions and operational data into AI systems, publishers can gain new perspectives on threats and opportunities. “I think if every person that watches and listens … just went and said, ‘What am I missing as it relates to my industry?’ you’d be surprised,” Dohrn said.
He also believes publishers can use AI to better demonstrate advertising value. “Most advertisers feel like we can’t give them reporting on what we do in print, and we can,” he said.
New AI-powered reporting tools can combine digital performance metrics with print exposure data, creating more comprehensive advertiser reports and helping publishers better demonstrate return on investment.
The human element still matters
Despite his enthusiasm for AI, Dohrn remains adamant that technology is not replacing the core skills that drive successful media sales. “It doesn’t have a place in original content creation without human oversight,” he said. “It needs human interaction.”
The same principle applies to sales. While AI can improve writing, research, timing and preparation, it cannot replace authentic human relationships. “The ability to take information from AI and spin that into a relationship-based conversation with a client, that’s something AI is not going to be able to replace,” Dohrn said.
For publishers wondering whether AI will eventually replace salespeople, reporters or customer-facing teams, his answer remains consistent. “People buy from people,” he said. “Especially in the sales business.”
The winners, according to Dohrn, won’t be the organizations with the most AI tools. They’ll be the ones that combine those tools with strong human skills, deeper preparation and a renewed commitment to relevance.
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