Why Relevance Is Becoming Sales' Biggest Competitive Advantage: A Conversation with Eric Quanstrom

I recently sat down with Eric Quanstrom, VP of GTM Engineering at Apollo.io, to talk about what he's seeing across thousands of go-to-market organizations.

During our conversation, Eric observed that AI is making relevance—not activity—the most valuable asset in modern selling.

For years, sales teams have been trying to solve pipeline problems by just doing more. More touchpoints, more emails, more sequences, more automations. More! But (surprise), more no longer equals better. Buyers have adapted to sales processes, and AI is accelerating both sides of that equation. 

Watch our full conversation here.

More Activity Doesn't (Necessarily) Create More Opportunity

One of the first things Eric pointed out is that it's never been easier to build what he jokingly called a "spam cannon."

With AI, sales teams can generate messaging, identify prospects, and launch outreach campaigns at a scale that simply wasn't possible a few years ago. But… so can everyone else. 

When every seller suddenly has the ability to send thousands of highly personalized messages, personalization stops being the differentiator.

Now, the question isn't, "Who can I reach?" It's, "Who should I reach?"

Prioritization, Eric says, is the new differentiator.

The Best Salespeople Know Themselves Before They Know Their Buyers

One framework Eric shared that I really liked was surprisingly simple.

Know thyself. Know thy buyer.

The first part sounds obvious, but I think it's often overlooked. Once you understand your own business, then you can focus on understanding the buyer.

 Great sales organizations have a deep understanding of who their best customers actually are. They know what problems they solve, what buying signals matter, which opportunities are worth pursuing, who’s a good ICP fit.

Understanding your audience and what problems they’re actually trying to solve is where relevance comes from.

Buyers Have Raised the Bar

One observation Eric made perfectly captured what many sellers are experiencing today.

Buyers are busy, bombarded, and often bewildered. Every executive has more meetings than they want, an inbox that’s overflowing, and dozens of vendors banging down their doors to promise similar outcomes. 

The result is that buyers have been forced to become remarkably good at filtering out noise.

The bar for earning someone's attention keeps rising, and simply getting in front of someone is no longer enough. They need a reason to care that resonates with their real challenges.

Trust Starts With Relevance

One part of the conversation really resonated with me was when Eric posed the idea that relevance is what creates trust. 

That feels exactly right to me. 

The best salespeople don't establish credibility because they researched my LinkedIn profile for thirty seconds, but because they demonstrate that they understand my business and the challenges someone in my role is likely facing. Then, importantly, they have a perspective on those things that’s worth listening to. 

The interaction shifts from proving you did research to showing you have something valuable to contribute. 

AI Makes Great Salespeople Even Better

Eric believes AI should handle the work humans aren't particularly good at: analyzing signals, identifying patterns, prioritizing accounts, and surfacing opportunities.

What it shouldn't replace is judgment. In fact, I think AI is making judgment even more valuable.

When everyone has access to the same information, the competitive advantage shifts to interpretation.

Who can identify the right opportunity, connect the dots, make a conversation feel immediately relevant?

After talking with Eric, I came away thinking that the future of sales will belong to the teams that make every interaction feel worth the buyer's time, not the ones that are doing the most outreach. 

To watch our full conversation, visit us here on Youtube.