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​AI in the Hands of Software Buyers​

AI will transform software sales. Most of the discourse so far has focused on how AI upends the sellers’ worldview. But the buyers’ process will also evolve. When researching software, operational buyers & procurement teams alike will use AI to research different offerings.

Typing “Compare Salesforce & Hubspot for a 10 person sales team. which is better?” into Gemini produces this result & most importantly, a recommendation :

For a Hubspot or a Salesforce seller, a few ramifications resound from the new reality that most buyers will consult AI before speaking to a rep.

First, marketers must ensure the information surfaced in these queries is accurate. SEO is no longer sufficient. AIO, (AI-optimization), will become necessary to ensure the results are accurate. The workflow to achieve this outcome isn’t yet built but will undoubtedly influence inbound-marketing efforts.

Second, procurement teams may automate some or all of the RFP/RFQ. My second query was to compare pricing between the two products & ask which would be less expensive .

HubSpot generally offers a lower price point at equivalent feature tiers, especially for small to medium-sized sales teams.

How about SOC2 & ISO-27001 or FedRamp compliance? It’s just a query away. AI becomes a low-budget Gartner in box.

Third, agents acting on behalf of buyers may execute transactional sales differently “swiping” a virtual credit card to buy project management seats in the same way a Nike-neaker-bot snipes a pair of Jordans. A buyer types “buy 5 seats of the best Gantt charting software for software teams.” into their chatbox & off the robot goes.

All of these vignettes into the future of software buyer behavior are guesses. What’s certain is that prospects will use AI to research & potentially automate software purchases.

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