{"id":47279,"date":"2021-08-26T05:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T11:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vendavo.com\/?p=47279"},"modified":"2023-10-30T18:13:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T00:13:10","slug":"centaur-ai-pricing-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vendavo.com\/pricing\/centaur-ai-pricing-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Centaur AI Pricing Technology: Merging Human + Artificial Pricing Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pricing is the best way to improve margins. But many B2B organizations are struggling with ever-increasing volumes of pricing data.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While intelligent pricing solutions use this data to provide optimized pricing, <\/em>many commercial\u202fAI and machine learning pricing solutions\u202fdon\u2019t explain\u202fwhat\u2019s\u202fbeing analyzed<\/strong> and\u202fhow\u202fresults get calculated<\/strong>.\u202f Even worse, you can\u2019t customize inputs and criteria to get insights that are truly actionable for your organization. In other words, whether you are using a \u201cblack box\u201d or a \u201cglass box\u201d solution, pricing guidance control<\/em><\/strong> is missing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a third way: the centaur<\/a> approach<\/strong> to intelligent pricing combines AI and machine learning with the human intelligence of your sales teams to offer optimized, tailored, and transparent pricing in every situation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>\u201cBlack Box\u201d vs. \u201cGlass Box\u201d Pricing Solutions<\/strong> <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Intelligent pricing solutions enable you to offer different, optimized prices based on a number of variables. For example, customer history, deal size, geography, and time of year.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlack box\u201d pricing technology solutions are probably the most common<\/strong> on the market, but also the least transparent<\/strong> of solutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most that a typical \u201cblack box\u201d solution will provide are the \u201cstretch,\u201d \u201ctarget,\u201d and the \u201cfloor\u201d or lowest possible sales prices. More often, a black box solution may only provide one<\/em> target price<\/strong>. Without much visibility behind the rationale for that pricing guidance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, there is no ability to \u201cinterrogate\u201d the black box approach to discover the \u201cwhy\u201d behind the pricing provided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better than black box? A \u201cglass box\u201d approach. A glass box solution provides the target price but also <\/strong>shows you\u202fthe <\/em>pricing waterfall<\/em> <\/a><\/strong>\u2013 a complete picture of all the variables that affected the final price that a customer was willing to pay.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Meet Centaur: Glass Box Transparency + Human Control<\/strong> <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Best-in-class intelligent pricing solutions go one step further than a glass box<\/em><\/strong>. \u201cCentaur\u201d intelligent pricing provides all of the visibility of a \u201cglass box\u201d solution. Yet with the added ability to include human intelligence and control.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mythology, a centaur is half-man, half-horse. Back then, this was a compelling notion: that the intelligence and skill of a human could be merged with the strength and speed of a horse. In technology, the centaur model represents the convergence of human and machine intelligence<\/a><\/strong> to deliver something superior to both.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with AI, technology by itself isn\u2019t always smarter than your sales team<\/strong>. That\u2019s why the human component is so critical to intelligent pricing. The centaur model enables you to adjust a price based on specific information that was not included in the original AI-driven pricing model.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read: Key Market Trends Transforming Sales and Pricing in B2B, Part 3: Commercial Intelligence<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>So How Does the Centaur Model Work in a Sales Process?<\/strong> <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Centaur gives you an added layer of control. You can manually \u201cprune\u201d out a variable that is affecting pricing, such as geography, supply levels, or previous discounts. For instance? A buyer at a company may have been grandfathered into a discount that is longer offered. When that buyer leaves the company, the salesperson can change that pricing model to remove that discount going forward.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An AI-driven pricing algorithm might not know <\/strong>these specific variables. But a centaur approach allows for human intervention. Manual adjustments from your team can have a large impact on margins and the bottom line.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Centaur Enables More Powerful Negotiations<\/strong> <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

AI with expert human intelligence enables you to:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n