The most human company wins!

I have to admit something.

In preparation for our annual sales and marketing conference, which we hosted earlier this month, I worked with AI to prepare for a session on being more human. Prompting it. Revising it, waiting on it, and at one point, even arguing with it.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, it hit me…

How strange it was to be using artificial intelligence to prepare a talk about being more human.

Then, I realized something else: Chat can help write the presentation. It can help me optimize the talk, but it just can’t take responsibility for the outcome.

And that’s the difference!

But here I was getting ready for a 2026 sales and marketing conference in an era of automation, tech stacks, AI, and metrics. But weren’t sales and marketing always supposed to be about human connection? So what happened? It seems like we built systems to scale connection, and somewhere along the way, we started replacing it.

Did automation replace relationship?

Was connection replaced by conversion?

Did trust become a tactic instead of something we earn?

If so, buyers have noticed. Today’s buyers aren’t just skeptical. They’re tired. They’re overwhelmed with information and flooded with options. And honestly, I think they’re tired of being sold to before they’ve even been understood.

I don’t think they’re looking for more promotions. Certainly, no more promises. I think they’re looking for clarity. They’re looking for certainty.

They’re looking for someone they can actually trust. I think they’re looking for us!

So if buyers are looking for human companies that they can trust, what does it actually mean to be a human company?

It means we reduce uncertainty on purpose. Not because it’s a tactic, but because it's the right thing to do, and we understand that buyers come to us with unspoken worries, anxieties, or concerns.

Am I making the right decision?

Is this going to cost more than I think?

What could go wrong?

These questions are always there, and human companies don’t wait for them to show up. We go first. We talk about pricing. Real pricing. We walk through the process step by step. We explain what could go wrong… and what happens when it does. Most companies avoid those conversations. That’s exactly why they matter.

It’s the difference between customer service, when we react to a problem, and customer experience, where we anticipate a buyer's fears and articulate them before they have to ask. That’s the moment a buyer feels understood, and that is a human experience. AI can mimic empathy, but it can’t feel responsibility.

And, there’s another piece of this that I think we overlook.

Laughter.

I was voted class clown in high school. Biggest bluffer too. Probably fair.

At the time, it just felt like part of my personality, but over time, I’ve come to realize it’s something else. It’s a signal.

When people laugh, even just a little, something shifts. The tension drops. The guard comes down. For a moment, they’re not evaluating you. They’re with you. That’s not entertainment. That’s trust starting to form. And it matters more than we think.

In a world where buyers are overwhelmed, cautious, and honestly a bit worn out, a little bit of lightness goes a long way. Because trust isn’t built through information alone. It’s built in moments.

A clear answer.

An honest admission.

A shared laugh.

You can’t automate that. And you definitely can’t fake it.

I’ve written before about the effectiveness of humor in sales and leadership in this article on Medium: https://medium.com/@thomasahern/laughter-in-sales-management-is-no-joke-f24fe6c20de2

But what's the business case for being more human? After all, if there isn’t ROI for being human, then it's just a nice-to-have and not necessarily a vital component to any sales and marketing framework.

The business case for being more human is actually pretty straightforward. Companies that consistently earn trust can outperform their peers by over 400%. Transparency accounts for over 63% of perceived trust, and trust drives repeat business and referrals more than price does. Meaning, people don’t stay because we’re the cheapest. They stay because they trust us.

And internally, it’s no different. High-trust organizations see better alignment, higher productivity, and lower turnover. When there’s clarity inside, performance improves outside.

So if being human drives results, the real question is what it looks like in practice because being human is not a department.

It shows up everywhere.

In leadership.

Human leadership reduces internal uncertainty. We say what we mean, admit mistakes, explain decisions, and set expectations clearly. And when employees don’t have to wonder, they don’t speculate; they get aligned. Clarity is kindness, and when it’s part of our company culture, everything improves.

And human leadership doesn’t stop at operations. It shows up with our customers. Customers want real stories, real experiences, and a real point of view. Not a polished, corporate version of the company, but something people can connect with. Because buyers don’t trust companies, they trust real, authentic people. But here’s the key: Trust doesn’t scale through personality alone. It scales through clarity, culture, and openness.

Human leaders understand something simple: If we don’t go first, no one will. Because we set the standard. We know being human is not a campaign. It’s a commitment. This is Jim Miller, Founder of Performance Asset Management and a great example of a leader leaning into being vulnerable and human. https://youtu.be/Y8fsnPCkuoE?si=NLwWGmRr7X2RRPx6. Notice how Jim is establishing himself as the face of the company and offering the PAM Promise.

It shows up in content.

Content becomes human when it reduces fear or anxiety before it tries to generate leads. It does this even before the sales conversation ever begins. It teaches buyers how to think. It addresses misconceptions directly. It shares real examples, including mistakes. It builds familiarity long before a prospect fills out a form. That’s not content marketing. That’s trust building at scale. If your content is designed primarily to capture leads, it may be optimized, but it may not feel human.

It shows up in sales.

If uncertainty drives anxiety in buyers, sales is where that anxiety peaks. The most human sales process does something different. Human sales reduce uncertainty in the decision moment. We slow things down instead of ramping them up. We name risks before the prospect does. We clarify who is not a fit. We build confidence rather than apply pressure, because pressure creates resistance, and clarity creates commitment.

And it shows up on your website.

A human website doesn’t hide behind vague language or stock photos. It has a face. A voice. A point of view. It addresses cost. Drawbacks. Who we’re not right for. Because avoiding those things doesn’t reduce friction, it increases uncertainty. And uncertainty creates mistrust. Here's an example from Happy Roofing where they educate the buyer and teach them how to think before they try and sell anything: https://happyroofing.com/blog/why-roof-quotes-vary

Notice something? Being a human company is not about personality. It’s not about charisma. It’s not style. Those matter, but they don’t build trust on their own.

It’s about deliberately and consistently reducing uncertainty because it’s the right thing to do and, ironically, it works. And by the way, this is where AI can actually help. If AI allows us to create clarity, handle routine work, so we can focus more of our time on being more present with our customers, then it can help us be more human, not less.

So, when I say being human is a strategy, I don’t mean it’s a tactic or a campaign. I mean it as a way of being and a discipline.

It’s the decision to reduce uncertainty even when it costs you leverage.

It’s the choice to surface risk even when it slows down the deal.

It’s the commitment to be clear because we believe buyers deserve it, and we’re committed to being the best educators in our market

The companies that integrate this into their mission don’t do it because it converts better, although we know it does. They do it because it’s who we are. Trust is not built through tactics. It is built through character.

In every interaction — leadership, sales, content, and your website ask:

Did we reduce uncertainty… or did we increase it?

Did we strengthen trust?

That’s the discipline.

That’s the difference.

That’s how the most human company wins.