How to communicate value and price when your buyer is an AI
Steven Forth is CEO of Ibbaka. Connect on LinkedIn
TL:DR Summary by Perplexity
AI agents are transforming B2B sales and buying processes
Sales and buying processes are evolving due to AI integration
AI agents exist for various stages of the sales funnel
Buying agents are emerging in response to selling agents
86% of B2B software buyers are interested in using AI agents
Companies are developing AI-powered buying assistants
Sales processes need to adapt to AI-assisted buying processes
A lot of work is going into agents that improve the sales process. After customer support this is probably the most active area for B2B AI agents. Typically these agents assume that the buyer is a human or group of humans and that the buying process has not changed with the emergence of generative AI. Is that a good assumption?
Many people, and the companies they work for, are already leveraging generative AI in their buying process. Agents that sell need to be able to talk to, and to convince, agents that buy or influence the buying process. Even where agents are not yet engaged buyers are finding applications for generative AI. The play between the sales process and the buying process is changing.
Two definitions
Buying Process: The people or agents engaged and the steps taken in order to make a purchase.
Sales Process: The people or agents engaged and the steps taken in order to sell a solution. (The lead generation process plus the lead to close to renewal process.)
A good sales process aligns with and supports the buying process of the ideal customer profile (ICP).
Agents that help you sell
Let’s begin by looking at agents that help in the sales process. There are many such agents available so we will just give a few examples from Top of Funnel (TOFU), Middle of Funnel (MOFU) and Bottom of Funnel (MOFU).
TOFU (Top of Funnel) AI Agents
Value: Automates email campaigns, lead management, and sales processes using AI. It mimics human-like conversations, qualifies leads, and integrates with CRM tools for streamlined workflows. The AI responds to leads within 10 minutes and operates 24/7, enhancing efficiency and reducing operational costs.
Pricing: Starting from $750/month
This AI agent can be particularly useful for TOFU and MOFU stages of the sales funnel, helping with lead generation, qualification, and nurturing.
Value: Offers AI-assisted prospect profiling and safe prospecting on LinkedIn, helping to identify and engage potential leads effectively.
Pricing: Business Plan at 69€/month (monthly billing) or 49€/month (annual billing)7
Value: Uses generative AI to help businesses generate reports and predict key business outcomes by analyzing existing data.
MOFU (Middle of Funnel) AI Agents
Value: Provides AI-powered conversation intelligence, automated call auditing, and personalized coaching to improve sales team performance.
Pricing: Custom pricing based on specific needs
Value: Automates initial stages of lead interaction and provides insightful analytics to guide sales strategies.
BOFU (Bottom of Funnel) AI Agents
Value: Offers automated follow-up and referral handling with AI assistants that mimic human interaction for personalized lead engagement.
Value: Provides comprehensive funnel creation tools with AI-powered features like lead scoring and email automation.
Pricing: Basic plan starts at $127/month (annual billing) or $147/month (monthly billing)910
All-in-One AI Sales Funnel Solutions
Value: Offers an all-in-one solution for building, managing, and optimizing sales funnels with AI-driven insights.
Value: Assists in creating AI-powered content for various stages of the sales funnel.
Pricing: Pro plan at $59/year, Business plan at $199/year, Agency plan at $499/year19
Where there are selling agents there will be buying agents
In a November 2024 article Optimizely reported that 86% of B2B software buyers would like to use agents in the software buying process. These agents are likely to proliferate this year, in part in response to the growing use of AI agents on the sales side. Companies like G2 and Capterra are said to be developing such agents, as are Vendr and its competitors.
How will these agents work? We explored this by constructing some prompts for three popular B2B software categories.
Buying a CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
The prompt. Go ahead and try these in your own generative AI service. Or modify them for your category and see how you fare!
<role>
You are the new sales operations manager at a B2B software company. You are considering changing your CRM system. Your job is to identify and qualify potential solutions.
</role>
<context>
Your company has the following characteristics:
20 sales reps
5 sales managers
5 account managers responsible for customer success
Sales Led Growth Motion
Reliant on inbound marketing from website, blogs, webinars
Attend 3 major events each year with a booth at each event
Have regeral agreements with three partners that need to be managed
Average Contract Value of $30,000
300 customers
Net Revenue Retention of 105%
Churn 3%
Expansion revenue 8%
</context>
<tasks>
0. Identify and summarize best practices in selecting a CRM.
1. Identify candidate solutions (limit to the five top candidates)
2. Clearly state the value claims for each solution
3. Summarize the functionality of each solution
4. Estimate the value that each solution would provide
5. Summarize the pricing of each system
6. Create a table comparing each of the five systems on each key aspect
</tasks>
<guidance>
Apply the best practices identified in Task O. to the selection and valuation process.
Explain your reasoning at each step.
</guidance>
We put this prompt into Perplexity Pro and this is what we got.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/role-you-are-the-new-sales-ope-6C1Pl77WQAuIJ0pNocfq2g
The complete response is rather long, but here is the summary table.
Operate a CRM and not selected? You need to work on GEO (the generative AI equivalent of SEO) to make sure you show up in this sort of situation.
Buying a Sales Intelligence Tool
Let’s try this again, this time for a sales intelligence tool.
<role>
You are the new sales operations manager at a B2B software company. You are considering buying a sales intelligence tool. Your job is to identify and qualify potential solutions.
</role>
<context>
Your company has the following characteristics:
20 sales reps
5 sales managers
5 account managers responsible for customer success
Sales Led Growth Motion
Reliant on inbound marketing from website, blogs, webinars
Attend 3 major events each year with a booth at each event
Have regeral agreements with three partners that need to be managed
Average Contract Value of $30,000
300 customers
Net Revenue Retention of 105%
Churn 3%
Expansion revenue 8%
</context>
<requirements>
Listen in to sales conversations and summarize them.
Identify buying signals inside the conversation.
Give the sales person guidance on how to improve the conversation.
Identify patterns and trends across sales conversations.
Generate scripts and call guides that will make conversations more effective.
<tasks>
0. Identify and summarize best practices in selecting a sales intelligence solution.
1. Identify candidate solutions (limit to the five top candidates)
2. Clearly state the value claims for each solution
3. Summarize the functionality of each solution
4. Estimate the value that each solution would provide
5. Summarize the pricing of each system
6. Create a table comparing each of the five systems on each key aspect
</tasks>
<guidance>
Apply the best practices identified in Task O. to the selection and valuation process.
Explain your reasoning at each step.
</guidance>
Here is a link to the Perplexity thread.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/role-you-are-the-new-sales-ope-h.8JpFmeQLmfAuOIc_vMMQ
And the summary table.
The value estimates are interesting (after all Ibbaka sells a Customer Value Management platform and one of the things we do is generate value models that can be used to estimate value to customer or V2C).
How were the numbers for value estimated for the above table?
And the response from Perplexity.
“Value Estimation Methodology
For each solution, I estimated the potential impact on key performance indicators (KPIs) based on the tool's primary strengths and your company's characteristics. Here's a breakdown of the calculations:
ZoomInfo:
Estimated 20% increase in lead quality
Calculation: 20 sales reps * 3 additional deals per rep * $30,000 ACV = $180,000
6sense:
Estimated 2% increase in net revenue retention
Calculation: 300 customers * $30,000 ACV * 2% increase = $180,000
InsideView:
Estimated 0.5% reduction in churn
Calculation: 300 customers * $30,000 ACV * 0.5% churn reduction = $45,000
Dealfront:
Estimated 10% increase in sales productivity
Calculation: 20 sales reps * 1 additional deal per rep * $30,000 ACV = $600,000
Gong.io:
Estimated 1% increase in expansion revenue
Calculation: 300 customers * $30,000 ACV * 1% increase = $90,000
Assumptions and Limitations
It's important to note that these estimates are based on hypothetical improvements and should be considered rough approximations. The actual value derived from each solution could vary significantly based on:
1. Implementation effectiveness
2. User adoption rates
3. Existing sales processes and their efficiency
4. Market conditions
5. The specific features utilized within each platform
Additionally, these estimates focus on direct revenue impacts and don't account for potential cost savings, improved efficiency, or long-term strategic benefits that might be harder to quantify.For a more accurate assessment, it would be advisable to:
1. Conduct pilot programs with each tool
2. Gather case studies from similar companies in your industry
3. Consult with the vendors for more precise ROI projections based on your specific use case
These estimates serve as a starting point for comparison but should be refined through further research and testing before making a final decision.”
So these look inconsistent to me. Ibbaka’s Value Model Generation process gives a much more accurate and compelling value estimate. I pressed Perplexity on that, you can read my conversation with the AI on value in the thread.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/role-you-are-the-new-sales-ope-h.8JpFmeQLmfAuOIc_vMMQ
What you can do to improve your performance
AI enabled purchasing is the future and by the middle of this year most companies will be leaning on AIs to guide purchase and renewals.
What can you do to prepare your company for this new reality?
Run tests of different prompts that buyers might use and see how you perform relative to competitors.
Provide prompts for buyers to use in the buying process as a service (this is a new version of the ‘provide an RFP template tactic’).
Invest in GEO (the generative AI equivalent to SEO or Search Engine Optimization)
Publish content that generative AI will index and that it will use and attribute in response
Publish content in places that the generative AIs look (like arXiv)
Publish your value model with lots of examples in a form that it is easy for generative AI to consume and interpret
Differentiate your offer from your competitors to make sure you win for your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
Value models are going to play a big role in this. Notice that Perplexity came up with value ands tried to estimate the value of the different solutions. It did a bd job. But that is not a shortcoming of the AIs. Vendors have done a poor job of quantifying and communicating value. Let’s change that.
