Agentic AI & The End of "Inside Sales": Autonomous Revenue w/ Garth Fasano
In this episode of Thoughts on Selling, Lee Levitt sits down with ETA leader Garth Fasano to discuss the massive shift from traditional inside sales to "Agentic AI"—autonomous agents that think, adapt, and sell without fatigue. Garth explains why small businesses are adopting this technology faster than enterprises to solve the "consistency" problem, ensuring every prospect gets a "fully caffeinated" interaction even after 175 calls. We also explore the future of "Bot-to-Bot" commerce, where AI buyers negotiate with AI sellers, and how this shifts the sales function from simple execution to strategic business visibility.
Episode Summary
Is your top sales rep fully caffeinated at 5:00 PM? In this episode of Thoughts on Selling, Lee Levitt sits down with Garth Fasano, an ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition) leader running a high-growth autonomous sales startup.
We discuss the massive shift from traditional "Inside Sales" (humans navigating decision trees) to Agentic AI—autonomous agents that think, adapt, and sell 24/7. From sailing mishaps in Long Island Sound to the math of Erlang Models, Garth explains why small businesses are adopting this tech faster than enterprises, and why the future of commerce is "Bot-to-Bot" (your AI negotiating with Google's AI).
Memorable Quotes:
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"They want [the agent] at their 9am fully caffeinated self... not their 5pm, 175 calls deep self." — Garth Fasano
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"A sales call that's scripted... That's not how sales work. That's not how people buy."
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"Google knows how you search... we're going to start to know why customers are buying."
3 Actionable Takeaways for Leaders:
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The "Best Day" Standard: The ROI of AI isn't just cost savings; it's Consistency. An AI agent never has a bad day, never gets tired after 175 calls, and never forgets to ask for the close.
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Visibility as a Service: Stop guessing why revenue is down. Autonomous agents provide real-time data ("Conversion dropped 10% due to price objection"), turning the sales function into a strategic headlight for the business owner.
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Prepare for Bot-to-Bot Commerce: The future is already here. Google's AI is calling businesses to check inventory. If your sales process requires a human to pick up the phone to answer a bot, you are already obsolete.
Key Topics & Timestamps:
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(00:00) – Introduction: From Sailing to Sales Automation.
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(04:30) – The Evolution of Inside Sales: Moving beyond the "Scripted Robot" human.
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(11:15) – Agentic AI vs. Chatbots: Why autonomous agents don't need decision trees.
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(18:40) – The SMB Advantage: Why local businesses (like plumbers) are adopting AI faster than the Fortune 500.
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(26:00) – The "Typing While Talking" Problem: How AI removes the friction of CRM data entry.
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(33:50) – Bot-to-Bot Commerce: What happens when the buyer is also an AI?
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(41:00) – Visibility as a Service: Using AI to diagnose business health, not just close deals.
About Our Guest:
Garth Fasano is an ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition) entrepreneur and the leader of a high-growth startup focused on Autonomous Sales. With a background that spans complex call center modeling (Erlang C) and hands-on business leadership, Garth is at the forefront of the Agentic AI revolution, helping businesses deploy "always-on" revenue teams.
About the Host:
Lee Levitt is a seasoned sales performance consultant and the Principal of The Acelera Group. With decades of experience in Sales Leadership, Enablement, and Revenue Operations, Lee helps enterprise organizations build disciplined, replicable sales operating systems.
He is the voice behind the Thoughts on Selling™ brand, covering the intersection of deal mechanics and the "Inner Game" of selling.
Related Episodes:
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Ep [Next]: Building the Autonomous Business w/ Amos Bar-Joseph: A deep dive into scaling companies with code, not headcount.
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Ep 46: Will AI Replace Sales People? w/ Steven Werley: The foundational debate on human vs. machine selling.
Resources & Links:
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Connect with the Guest: Follow Garth Fasano on LinkedIn or Twitter/X (@GarthFasano).
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Subscribe: Get the Thoughts on Selling newsletter at thoughtsonselling.com.
Keywords for Search:Agentic AI, Autonomous Sales, Inside Sales, Call Center Automation, ETA, Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, Sales Automation, Small Business Growth, SMB Sales, Artificial Intelligence, Bot-to-Bot Commerce, Future of Work, Sales Consistency, Erlang Models.
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