Big companies say AI let them cut their middle managers. Small and mid-sized companies are listening, and some of them are about to copy that move. Patrick Carter thinks that's a huge mistake.

Patrick is the founder of Edge Advantage Group. He spent 35 years leading sales teams and training the leaders who run them. Alyssa Nolte comes back with a hot take of her own: a lot of those big-company layoffs may just be spin. It's easier to blame AI than to admit you made a mistake.

If you lead a team, or you're thinking about swapping people for software, listen to this one first. Patrick and Alyssa break down what AI can take off a manager's plate and what it can't. They also get into what happens to your people when the path to leadership disappears.

Key takeaways:

1. You manage things, but you lead people. AI can help with reports and updates. It can't care about your team, and people don't give their best effort to a system that doesn't care about them.
2. AI only works when the process is clear, and most companies don't have a clear process for leadership. If your new managers were thrown to the sharks, AI won't fix that.
3. Build backwards from your best win. Look at what went right, write down the steps, and ask your leaders to run that system instead of just chasing results.

People and resources mentioned:

Ronnell Richards, Say Less. Sell More. on Substack: ronnellrichards.substack.com

Donald C. Kelly, The Sales Evangelist: linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly

Patrick's Lead Yourself workshop, October 14 at 4:00 PM Eastern, live on LinkedIn, Substack, and YouTube

Connect with Patrick Carter:

• linkedin.com/in/patrickgcarter
• edgeadvantage.net

Connect with Alyssa Nolte:

• alyssanolte.substack.com
• linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte
• alyssanolte.com
• ologycollective.com

If you sell a service, you're in hospitality.

Jessica Millhiser, owner of JMills Consulting, joins Alyssa Nolte to talk about building your business around the client experience instead of the other way around. Jessica has worked in service roles her whole career, from serving and bartending to running operations, and she brings that lens to anyone who serves clients: consultants, agencies, account teams, and service providers of every kind.

Why listen? Most teams plan how to win a client and how to deliver the work. Very few plan how the relationship ends. Jessica explains why the goodbye matters as much as the hello, and how small, low-cost touches keep clients coming back and sending referrals your way.

Key takeaways:

1. Your client journey and your client experience are two different things. The journey is the process: consultation, onboarding, deliverables, and off-boarding. The experience is how your client feels moving through it.
2. Plan your off-boarding on purpose. Most clients will leave at some point. How you close the relationship decides whether they come back, refer others, or forget you.
3. Small touches beat big budgets. A handwritten card, a personal check-in, or a warmer follow-up email costs very little. Jessica's first step for anyone: reread your standard client emails and make them sound more human.

People and resources mentioned:

• Jessica Millhiser, JMills Consulting: jmillsconsulting.com (free operations audit on the site)
• Jessica on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jessicamillhiser
• Jessica's Strategic Advisory Partnership for female founders: enrollment opens October 19
• Jennifer Stapleton, The Foundation Voice podcast
• Michelle Gruening, This Is Nothing New podcast

Connect with Alyssa Nolte:

• alyssanolte.substack.com
• linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte

Guest Bio:

Jessica is the owner of JMills Consulting, where she helps entrepreneurs build better businesses through stronger structure, clearer strategy, and intentional growth.

With over 20 years of experience in operations, administration, and leadership, Jessica works with service-based business owners to strengthen the internal foundation of their businesses. Her work focuses on operational clarity, client experience, process development, strategic planning, and creating sustainable systems that support long-term growth.

Jessica holds a master’s degree in Coaching & Administration and is known for her collaborative, direct, and action-oriented approach. She helps clients move from overwhelm and reactive decision-making into greater clarity, organization, and control.

Paul Burani says AI is coming for a lot of what you do all day. He also says that's good news.

Paul is the co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Atlas Primer, and he joined Alyssa Nolte to argue something most people miss: if everyone has access to the same AI, the advantage moves to the things AI can't do for you.

Here's the part that stuck.

We all agree practice makes people better.

We all know role play works.

And almost nobody wants to do it in a room full of their coworkers.

Paul's argument is that we've been asking people to build human skills in the one setting guaranteed to make them feel judged. Take the judgment out, and people will actually practice.

If you lead a sales, service, or enablement team, this one is worth your time. You'll get a different way to think about training, and a better answer to the question your reps keep asking: why am I sitting in a workshop instead of talking to customers?

Three things to take with you:

1. AI takes the tasks, not the trust. Cold calling, complex enterprise deals, a call center handling upset customers... they all come down to building rapport with a person. Paul says that's where we should be doubling down, because it's the part nobody is automating.
2. Most companies have nowhere to practice. You get an onboarding workshop, and maybe a manager willing to give you honest feedback. Paul calls that a set of constraints, not a training program. Practicing with a machine that never judges you, and forgets the session afterward, removes the awkwardness that stops people from trying.
3. Learning and selling aren't separate calendars. Alyssa and Paul both push back on the two-day kickoff model. As Paul puts it, ten minutes of practice right after a call that went badly may do more for a seller than two days at a sales kickoff in Vegas.

There's also a good stretch on growth mindset, and why so many of us will ask Google a question we'd never say out loud to another person.

The Growth Signal is a weekly show about rethinking the future of customer relationships.

Mentioned in this episode:

Paul Burani, co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Atlas Primer. Find him on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/pburani or at atlasprimer.com. He says he loves hearing from strangers.

Jonathan Hull, Chief Operating Officer of ThingLink, a Finland-based company building immersive learning experiences. Paul's answer when you asked who else we should be listening to, and he recommends him for reasons that reach well past learning and development.

Find Alyssa Nolte on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alyssanolte

Read her writing on Substack: alyssanolte.substack.com