New Motivation AI Matters podcast host Lisa Spira, VP of Content Intelligence at Persado, sat down with Taylor Holmes, VP of Solutions Consulting at Persado. You might remember Lisa from our first episode. As the head of content intelligence, Lisa is focused on language, what makes language “good,” and how we use it to achieve our goals. At Persado, she trains our Motivation AI to create language that inspires action. In this new format, she interviews guests on how they use language and what makes language good for them.

During this episode, Lisa and Taylor discuss how Taylor uses language to take Persado’s features and turn them into tangible business value. The role of solutions consultants at Persado is to work with the sales team to better understand potential customers and their goals during the sales process, and to make sure everyone works together to optimally achieve those results. She sets up Persado customers for success by making sure their systems, goals, and expectations are aligned.

In order to get to the heart of what a potential customer wants, Taylor must ask the right questions. Since one word answers often aren’t helpful, the language Taylor uses to ask key questions is vital to driving optimal results. Throughout her time at Persado, Taylor has gone from using technical language and statistical terms (orthogonal design anyone?) to more colloquial language and concepts to describe the products and their benefits. This has widened her audience within the organizations that Persado works with and opened up more conversations about Generative AI. The discussions around Generative AI and personalization in marketing have also become more mainstream.

Starting a conversation can often be a challenge. Taylor suggests leading with empathy and respect by asking a disarming question. According to Lisa, this is also the secret to what Persado does in marketing: adding emotion and empathy to a digital marketing message rather than just highlighting an e-commerce deal.

Finally, Taylor shares the importance of curiosity when finding your voice in a customer-facing role. “Be curious about your customer and don’t be afraid to guess. You might be wrong, but at least you’ll come in with a perspective and a point of view they will respect,” said Taylor.