Why you should master B2B VOC in an AI world (below the Digital Waterline)

It’s helpful—but shortsighted—to ask, “How can AI assist me?” It ignores the end game when AI becomes more than your friendly helper. Some ask, “When will AI replace me?” A better question is, “What work can I master that AI cannot?” For this, we’ll consider the Digital Waterline. (Watch in 5-minute video.)

AI already does many tasks better than humans: It retrieves everything digitally published by mankind, recognizes hidden patterns, generates many viable options, and works fast, consistently, and cheaply. So AI often wins when these factors matter.

But we humans are good at building trust, addressing fears, clarifying issues, and making sense out of messy situations. This means humans have advantages in B2B customer conversations, such as B2B VOC (voice-of-customer).

Imagine a Digital Waterline: AI can only work on knowledge that’s been digitally published. Humans can learn everything else in B2B VOC customer conversations. Let’s explore the AI and human domains, where their respective strengths will prevail.

If you’re in marketing, expect AI to do the heavy lifting for activities such as these:

• Market sizing
• Segmentation
• Message testing
• Competitive intelligence
• Persona creation

Technical people will see AI doing much of this work:

• Cost-benefit analysis
• Solution ideation
• Suggesting fixes
• Root cause analysis
• Troubleshooting

Sales professionals will find AI takes over a lot of this:

• Explaining features
• Making forecasts
• Researching customers
• Writing account plans
• Writing proposals

AI will do the time-consuming work, while humans apply judgment and make final decisions. This will lead to fewer humans needed. If AI can perform the work that marketers now spend 80% of their time on, will one marketer do the work of five?

Fortunately, only humans can deeply probe to understand the problems customers face… including workarounds, hidden constraints, tradeoffs, career risks, unspoken concerns, and more. This makes B2B VOC a uniquely human skill to master.

AI can’t reach below the Digital Waterline because the information is unpublished. And even if it could, the information is unstructured. It’s messy. Which leads to an important question… “If my job can be done without talking to customers, will AI eventually do it?”

If my job can be done without talking to customers, will AI eventually do it?

If you’re going to specialize in B2B VOC below the Digital Waterline, it’s important to understand how B2B customers make decisions. Consider the B2B Decision-Making Onion, which says B2B customers don’t buy for the reasons you think they do. (This illustration was inspired by a book written by my good friend and colleague, Scott Burleson: The Jobs-to-be-done
Pyramid.)

Let’s look at each layer, beginning with the outside, visible layer.

• Seller solution: This includes features and benefits, and is usually discussed too soon in customer conversations.
• Customer outcomes: These desired end results are usually problems the customer wants to alleviate in their job-to-be-done (task or objective).
• Stakeholder status: This is how individuals see themselves and want to be seen: accomplishments… recognition… promotions.
• Stakeholder risk/reward: This is hidden brain chemistry that happens in milliseconds. You never notice chemicals like dopamine rising and falling.

Just expecting a reward causes dopamine levels to rise. Cortisol and adrenaline levels rise when you sense a threat, risk or uncertainty.

The sequence is fascinating: A subconscious appraisal of an “opportunity or threat” occurs in milliseconds. Then these neurochemicals tell you to “approach” or “avoid”. You think you’ve made a rational decision later… but you’re mostly justifying what your brain chemicals started.

So customer decision-making starts at the core of the B2B Decision-Making Onion and moves outward. What does this mean for you? Discuss your solutions after you understand the inner layers. Focus first on B2B VOC, giving “voice” to their inner desires. Your features and benefits help them justify—not make—their decision.

Customer decision-making starts at the core and moves outward.

Focus most of your conversation on the company’s desired outcomes. This is the true strength of B2B VOC. Ask, “What problems need to be resolved?” … “How do these problems impact your business?” It’s critical to understand the stakeholders, the individuals who make and influence decisions: Who is affected. How this impacts them. How they are measured.

The three outer layers are impacted by what you ask… and the inner core (customers’ brain chemistry) by how you ask. Are you Curious… Helpful… Empathetic… Attentive… Relaxed? (If so, CHEAR up!)

Remember… decisions are made by people, not companies. Until you understand customer stakeholders, decision-making will be a mystery. This decision-making occurs below the Digital Waterline. It’s in your domain, not AI’s.

But paradoxically, AI can help you master B2B VOC probing skills… to insulate your job from AI. For instance, in our Everyday VOC^® training… with SalesPrep^® software… you practice your probing skills with an AI guide named Claire. And your call reports are drafted by an AI ghostwriter named Paige.

Paradoxically, AI can help you master probing skills… to insulate your job from AI.

After either customer discussion (practice or real) these AI agents generate a Probing Depth Gauge. Several questions must be answered to fully understand any customer problem, stakeholders, and impact… at three levels of insight depth.

Claire or Paige will tell you how far you got in your B2B VOC probing… why you did or did not complete each of the nine cells. (They determine which of 30+ B2B customer problem types was discussed with the customer, each of which requires that 12-16 specific questions be answered for a 100% score.)

They then suggest the three best follow-up questions for your next customer meeting. This is “continuous improvement.” Now every customer meeting becomes a coaching session.

Would you like to master B2B VOC in an AI world? Consider three actions:

• Watch this 5-minute video… and forward it to friends.
• Join us at a free 30-minute webinar to explore this topic further.
• Check out our public and private Everyday VOC workshops.

Sure, AI is powerful… and getting more so all the time. But you’ve got uniquely human qualities it will never match. Master these qualities, start playing to your strengths, and enjoy the ride that’s coming fast for all of us.