AI Killing Off Basic Communication Skills: Businesses Turning to 1950s Methods
AI-generated business communication has made it easier for companies to reach more people faster. However, Australian executive engagement company DCMG argues that greater efficiency may come at the cost of genuine relationships.
Businesses now use AI to write emails, automate LinkedIn messages and support screen-based meetings. DCMG cofounder Nicholas Stavroulakis warns that this constant automation can make it harder for people to engage authentically and get to know each other.
His proposed alternative is decidedly low-tech: sit across the table from another person and have a conversation.
DCMG, which stands for Dot Com Marketing Group, believes businesses are communicating more while building fewer meaningful relationships. The company says the next stage of business development may involve rediscovering methods that predate modern digital sales tools.
Co-founders Stavroulakis and Michael Galatoula advocate putting carefully selected people in the same room and giving them time to talk.
DCMG already uses this approach internationally through intimate, invitation-only executive roundtables. These events connect businesses with selected senior decision-makers.
“We have AI writing the email, automation sending it, software deciding who receives it, and another piece of technology following up on them, then businesses wonder why nobody responds,” Stavroulakis said.
“We have become incredibly good at communicating at scale and increasingly bad at actually connecting with people.
“The future of business development may look surprisingly like 1950. You get the right people around a table, look them in the eye, listen to what they have to say and build a relationship.”
AI-Generated Business Communication Can Make Personalisation Less Personal
Generative AI has changed how quickly businesses can produce emails, proposals, social media content and sales communications.
However, Stavroulakis argues that this efficiency creates another problem. When everyone can produce personalised content at scale, personalisation itself may carry less weight.
“When everyone can generate 100 personalised emails in minutes, receiving a personalised email doesn’t necessarily make somebody feel particularly special,” he said.
“People know that a beautifully written message arriving in their inbox may have taken somebody 20 seconds to produce.
“We are generating more communication than ever, but more communication doesn’t automatically create more trust.”
Galatoula said senior executives can be particularly difficult to reach through conventional digital sales techniques. CEOs, CIOs, CTOs and other senior leaders already receive large volumes of approaches.
“A CEO, CIO, CTO or senior executive doesn’t need another generic LinkedIn message saying somebody would love to connect and explore synergies,” Galatoula said.
“They need a reason to give you their time, and once you have their time, you need to create a genuine relationship.”
The Death of the Badge Scan
DCMG was established after Stavroulakis and Galatoula became frustrated with conventional business events and lead generation models.
Those models can produce large numbers of contacts. However, DCMG argues that volume does not necessarily translate into meaningful commercial relationships.
Instead of focusing on massive conferences, exhibition traffic, or thousands of leads entering a sales funnel, DCMG runs smaller closed-door engagements with selected decision-makers.
Around 80 percent of DCMG’s revenue comes from repeat or referred customers. In one recent case, a client closed a deal within two months of an executive engagement, reportedly delivering a 25-times return on investment.
“Businesses have become obsessed with numbers because numbers look impressive on dashboards. However, if none of those people genuinely want to speak with you, what have you actually achieved?” Galatoula said.
“We would rather put a business around a table with ten relevant decision makers than give them a spreadsheet containing 1,000 people who don’t care.”
Welcome Back to 1950
Stavroulakis stressed that DCMG is not anti-technology or anti-AI. Much of its work involves technology companies operating across AI, software development, cloud security and enterprise solutions.
Instead, his argument focuses on where technology stops, and human relationships begin.
“AI can identify a prospect, research a company, analyse a market and help you prepare for a meeting, but ultimately somebody still has to trust you enough to do business with you,” Stavroulakis said.
“Before CRM systems, automated funnels, LinkedIn and video meetings, business was built on introductions, reputation, conversation and relationships.
“Technology has made almost everything faster, but it hasn’t necessarily made relationships stronger.”
Galatoula believes the growth of automated communication could make genuine human interaction more commercially valuable.
“If your competitor sends 500 AI-generated messages and you spend two hours having a meaningful conversation with the right ten people, which interaction is going to be remembered?” he said.
“Human attention is becoming scarce, and scarcity creates value. The companies that understand this will stop asking how many people they can reach and start asking who they actually need to build a relationship with.
“The future of business development might not be another piece of software. It might simply be a table, a conversation and the right people sitting around it.”
About DCMG
DCMG is an Australian executive engagement and business development company specialising in intimate, invitation-only executive roundtables designed to connect businesses with senior decision-makers and create genuine commercial opportunities.
Founded by Nicholas Stavroulakis and Michael Galatoula and headquartered in Sydney, DCMG has delivered engagements across more than 15 countries throughout Australia, Asia Pacific, Southeast Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.
DCMG works with businesses across artificial intelligence, software development, cloud security and enterprise technology. Its services include end-to-end executive engagement, targeted delegate acquisition, market research, thought leadership and relationship-driven business development. www.dcmgroup.com.au