In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Ben Hills, Founder and CEO of Iris, to discuss how to scale presales teams effectively while avoiding burnout. They explore the difference between healthy high performance and unsustainable overwork, the role of AI in streamlining repetitive tasks like RFPs, and practical strategies for building scalable processes that enhance rather than replace human expertise.

To join the show live, follow the Presales Collective's LinkedIn page or join the PSC Slack community for updates. The show is bi-weekly on Tuesdays, 8AM PT/11AM ET/4PM GMT.

Follow the Hosts

• Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/

• Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/

• Connect with Ben Hills: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminhills/

Links and Resources Mentioned

• Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack

• Iris: https://heyiris.ai/

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome

04:04 Iris

05:14 Ben's background

14:29 Healthy high performance vs burnout

21:55 Common scaling mistakes and the headcount trap

29:14 Effective AI tools for presales teams

35:04 The future of AI-to-AI RFP processes

37:46 Final advice on embracing AI

Key Topics Covered

1. Understanding Burnout vs. High Performance

   • Why burnout isn't just about hours worked

   • The importance of connecting work to larger purpose and outcomes

   • Creating time-bound periods of intense work with clear endpoints

2. Scaling Without Adding Headcount

   • The "mythical man month" problem in presales

   • Building playbooks and processes before hiring

   • Separating "in the business" vs "on the business" work

3. The Rocks, Pebbles, Sand Framework

   • Planning for big quarterly tasks (rocks)

   • Managing predictable weekly activities (pebbles)

   • Handling unexpected fire drills (sand)

4. AI Tools That Actually Work

   • RFP automation and response generation

   • Call transcript analysis for product feedback

   • Demo automation with synthetic data

   • Why AI SDRs haven't lived up to the hype

5. The Future of RFPs and AI

   • Model Control Protocol (MCP) for AI-to-AI communication

   • Maintaining personalization in automated processes

   • The buyer's perspective on RFP proliferation