A new book by Marcus Selzer and Denis Müller poses an uncomfortable question: What remains of the sales professional when algorithms take over the work?
The insurance industry is in the midst of a radical change. Algorithms perform risk analyses, chatbots conduct initial discussions and AI tools create quotes in seconds. Is there still room for people in sales?
Marcus Selzer, an expert in sales psychology and business coach with more than 20 years of experience in insurance sales, answers this question with a resounding yes. And he justifies this yes in his new book “Kopf schlägt Algorithmus”, which he co-authored with AI transformation expert Denis Müller.
The thesis: Technology needs attitude
The title of the book is programmatic. It is not the technology that determines whether someone is successful in sales in the AI era, but the mental foundation. According to Selzer, conviction, values and psychological stability are exactly what no algorithm can replicate.
The book is not directed against AI. It asks what inner resources sales professionals need in order to use the new tools without allowing themselves to be displaced by them. This question is highly topical for brokers who mediate between the quality of advice, efficiency expectations and customer needs on a daily basis.
“If you know yourself, you can lead any tool. Those who don’t know themselves are guided by every tool,” says Marcus Selzer.
Motivation as a strategic resource
Selzer addresses a topic that is often neglected in insurance sales: inner motivation. Not as a feel-good factor, but as a measurable influencing factor on performance, customer loyalty and quality of advice. The book shows how deeply convictions and values shape sales behavior and why these influences are even more important in times of AI than before.
Selzer knows both sides of insurance sales from his own experience: direct business with private customers as well as the more complex B2B environment. This dual perspective makes his approach suitable for the entire broker industry.
In terms of everyday brokerage practice, this means that those who understand how their own mental patterns influence decisions can meet customers more honestly and effectively. Not in spite of digital tools, but with them.
Two authors, one voice
What sets this book apart from other AI guides is its dual perspective. Denis Müller brings the perspective of a transformation expert: What is AI changing structurally in sales? Selzer adds the psychological dimension: What happens to people in this transformation? The combination of both perspectives creates a practical relevance that pure technology books rarely achieve.
The result is not a self-help book or a technical manual. It is a framework for sales professionals who want to remain relevant in the long term.
Classification for the brokerage industry
The book is worth reading for insurance brokers in Switzerland for several reasons. Firstly, it provides arguments for their own advisory value in discussions with customers. Secondly, it offers tools for self-reflection for managers who are guiding teams through the digital transformation. And thirdly, it poses a question that many people are concerned about but hardly anyone says out loud: Who am I as an advisor if AI is better informed than I am?
Marcus Selzer does not give a simple answer. He gives an honest one.
Binci Heeb
Marcus Selzer is an expert in sales psychology, business coach and keynote speaker. He is the owner of Golden Sail and has more than 20 years of experience in insurance sales, both in direct and B2B business. His books include “Why we keep saying yes”. His column on the topics of motivation, values and persuasion will appear regularly on thebrokernews.ch.
Read also: Leadership in uncertainty: Why risk is primarily a human issue today
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