AI SDRs & New Pricing Models Might Destroy Outbound Sales

8 Nov 2024 · 6 min

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

Marketing School Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title

AI SDRs & New Pricing Models Might Destroy Outbound Sales

Hosts

Neil Patel & Eric Siu

Episode Number

#2860

Release Date

[Insert Date]

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Eric Siu and Neil Patel delve into the transformative impact of AI-driven sales representatives (Sales Development Representatives - SDRs) and innovative pricing models on outbound sales. They discuss how these developments could significantly disrupt traditional sales practices and what this means for the future of the industry.

Key Topics Discussed

  1. The Rise of AI in Sales
  2. AI SDRs: Startups like Runway are utilizing AI SDRs for prospecting, which significantly increases efficiency.
  3. Cost Efficiency: AI SDRs cost around $10,000 monthly but generate a substantial pipeline without necessitating additional hires.
  1. Disruptive Pricing Models in AI
  2. Shift in Pricing Strategies: Traditional SaaS pricing models based on per-seat monthly charges are evolving.
  3. Example: Intercom now charges based on resolved tickets (99 cents per ticket).
  4. Salesforce is moving towards a usage-based pricing model.
  5. Historical Context: Zapier pioneered usage-based pricing by charging based on the number of tasks executed.
  1. Implications for Outbound Sales
  2. Potential Disruption: Concerns that AI SDRs could lead to the decline of outbound sales effectiveness.
  3. Scalability Issues: AI could enable malicious uses, such as making thousands of calls, which may overwhelm recipients and degrade trust in outbound sales.
  1. Future of Sales Roles
  2. Job Displacement: Low-quality sales roles are likely to be replaced by AI, pushing affected individuals towards more fulfilling careers.
  3. Political Factors: The hosts speculate that some sales jobs may be preserved due to political factors in organizations.
  1. Security Concerns with AI
  2. Discussion of the current lack of security measures in AI applications, referencing legal issues like Delta suing CrowdStrike for substantial amounts.

Key Takeaways

  • Efficiency Gains: AI SDRs are expected to enhance efficiency in the sales process.
  • Pricing Innovations: The move towards usage-based pricing models may introduce more flexibility and align costs with actual service usage.
  • Sales Industry Transformation: The landscape of outbound sales is likely to change drastically, resulting in the potential reduction of sales roles that do not offer high value.

Final Notes

  • The hosts encourage listeners to subscribe and engage with their content to further explore these emerging trends in digital marketing and sales.

Action Steps

  • For more information on agency growth and to join the Agency Owners Association, visit [marketing school.io/agency](https://www.marketingschool.io/agency).
  • Listeners are prompted to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast.

---

Connect with the Hosts

  • Eric Siu: [X @ericosiu](https://twitter.com/ericosiu)
  • Neil Patel: [X @neilpatel](https://twitter.com/neilpatel)

For further insights, visit the Marketing School website at [marketingschool.io](https://www.marketingschool.io).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00These AI SDRs might just destroy outbound sales. This is actually, there's a startup called Runway, and they're like a finance startup, but they basically created these AI SDRs to help with the prospecting. And basically, it's costing them around$10 ,000 a month resource-wise to run these AI SDRs, but it's generating them a lot more pipeline. And they don't necessarily need to fire anyone, but they don't need to hire more people, right? And so I think we're going to see a lot more of this trend upwards. And related to this, I wanted to talk about the most disruptive AI pricing model so far because we're talking about these AI SDRs and there's actually a couple of AI SDR companies and they're charging differently versus like SaaS.

0:44Because like usually with SaaS, you would charge on a per seat basis, right? And you charge monthly for that. Things are changing now. We're like Intercom, for example. They're like a, you know, they were a chat. They're a conversational intelligence tool, right? And they now charge you 99 cents per resolved ticket. So they've changed up their pricing, I believe. And then Salesforce, I think they're changing to like a, like a, on a usage basis too. And so I think we might start to see more of that. And the ones that pioneered this maybe like, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago is actually Zapier, right?

1:15Zapier, they charge you based on the number of tasks that you're running. I think we're going to see the models change. And I'm trying to pull this up right now. It's not pulling up, but there's a nice little graph from Kyle Poyar from Growth Unhinged. And it actually shows you the new pricing models for AI. And I think we're going to see more efficiencies come from these AI workers, but we're also going to see pricing efficiencies as well. I also think, going back to the Gary Tan tweet or post on X, I do agree that, and he's just talking about what one of his friends said. He said, a friend of mine told me that AISDRs might actually make outbound sales stop working entirely in the coming years.

1:56and then he has the looking eyes, I got a curiosity. I think an issue you're going to have with AI is people are going to use it maliciously and they're going to scale this out like crazy. So instead of 10 calls a day or 50 calls a day, they now do 5 ,000 calls a day or whatever they can get away with. I do believe that is going to cause not necessarily channels like outbound sales to stop working entirely. I think they're just going to be less effective because people are going to be fed up with it. And whoever can build something on the AI side to defend against this will probably make good money.

2:26Yes. Just like on Apple does it. Hey, spam call or it's so good. It automatically just shuts it off. All right. So I wanted to take a second to tell you about the agency owners association. So this is a agency peer group ran by my podcast co-host Neil Patel and myself, Eric Su. And these were nine and eight figure agency owners respectively. And what I will say is at the end of the day, you want to learn from people that have been there, done that. If you want to grow your agency to seven figures, eight figures and beyond, this is the group for you. And we bring in other agency owners to speak as well.

2:56And it's a great peer group where you can help each other out. And you're going to learn how to acquire more clients. You're going to learn how to take yourself out of the day to day and to build the business of your dreams. And the cool thing till November 30th, we are holding a special price and you can apply at marketing school, the aisle slash agency. And the great thing about it as well, if you try to get into group, there's a seven day free trial, right? So once November 30th hits, we're going to increase the price by$200 per month. So right now you're getting it at the lowest price possible.

3:23So go to marketing school, the aisle slash agency to learn more, and we'll see you inside. By the way, I think there's a lot of AI security things that people aren't like, you look at Delta suing CrowdStrike, right? For 500 million or so? I think it's 500 million, right? It's something large. But point is, there are there's a dearth of security solutions out there right now, so if that's something that you wanted to go build, now's a good time to go do it. And then, you know, Gary Tan talking about destroying outbound sales, like I just think what is it? There's about 700 ,000 people in the United States that are basically in an SDR type of role.

3:58And there's about 1.3 million people that are in some type of sales role, I believe. Maybe more than that. I just read this stat earlier this week. And so what's going to happen? I think low-quality salespeople are going to get replaced. You see there's a trend here. Low-quality customer service people are going to get replaced. Low-quality anything probably going to get replaced and they're just going to have to move into a different job. That's all. And this will help people find something that they genuinely want to do and they'll be happier. Yeah. And I don't know if they're all going to be replaced.

4:30I think you're going to have politics come into play and then people are saved in some aspect or another. People are always saved. All right. So that is it for today, guys. Go to marketingschool.io slash agency to learn more about the Agency Owners Association, where we help agency owners grow. And that being said, we'll see you tomorrow. Thank you.

From the publisher
In episode #2860, Eric Siu and Neil Patel explore how AI-driven sales reps and new pricing models are transforming the game, from increased efficiency to potential disruption. Discover what this means for the future of sales! Don’t forget to help us grow by subscribing and liking on YouTube! Check out more of Eric’s content (Leveling UP YT) and Neil’s videos (Neil Patel YT)  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: (00:00) The Rise of AI in Sales (03:14) Disruptive Pricing Models in AI (04:39) That’s it for today! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe! Go to https://www.marketingschool.io to learn more!   Leave Some Feedback: What should we talk about next?  Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review.   Connect with Us:    Single Grain << Eric’s ad agency NP Digital << Neil’s ad agency X @neilpatel X @ericosiu

More from Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

All 936 episodes
AI SDRs & New Pricing Models Might Destroy Outbound SalesMarketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips · 6 min
Listen in VO