AI for Business Brokering: Week 6 – Vetting Prospective Buyers
Welcome to Week 6 of Tupelo's series on how AI is changing business brokering. This week, let's talk about vetting buyers—how to avoid wasting significant time on the wrong ones and focus on the ones who are serious.
A strong listing and solid marketing will attract a lot of inquiries. However, many of these prospects won’t be serious buyers. By using tools to vet these prospects, you can identify the serious ones and move them through your sales funnel faster. This way, you can focus on meaningful conversations with buyers who are more likely to purchase and have the financial capability, rather than spending material time on those who aren't a good fit.
Goal: Highlight AI tools that help business brokers and M&A advisors vet prospective buyers.
Here are six tools to help you vet buyers:
1. Tupelo
Tupelo is an all-in-one platform built for business brokers. It handles CRM, NDA automation, data rooms, email marketing, and even uses AI to create CIMs. One key feature is the Smart Buyer Profile, which collects a buyer’s details and personal financial statement so brokers can quickly qualify incoming leads.
Tupelo is also rolling out a Chatbot that activates once an NDA is signed. The bot is trained on your listing info and only shares what you want it to. It acts as an extension of you—vetting buyers and even booking meetings on your calendar.
Pricing:
$100 per user/month for the first five users (minimum 2 users)
$50 per user per month for user six and beyond
Key features:
- Tupelo’s Smart Buyer Profile
- Tupelo’s Chatbot can vet buyers
Considerations:
- Tupelo is only accessable for CRM users
2. Wonder Chat
Wonderchat is an AI-powered chatbot platform that allows users to create custom chatbots based on their website's content. For business brokers, Wonderchat can streamline buyer interactions by answering inquiries about business listings in real time. Brokers can train the chatbot on specific listing details, automating responses to common questions and qualifying potential buyers based on the information provided. This reduces the need for repetitive back-and-forth communication, allowing brokers to focus on serious buyers while the chatbot handles initial inquiries and routine tasks.
Pricing:
$9 per month for 1,000 messages
Key features:
- No code chatbot that is able to gather buyer information
Considerations:
- Relatively new concept that has not been widely tested
- AI speaking with humans might provide a lower level of customer service
3. Intercom
Intercom is a customer communication platform that helps businesses manage interactions with their audience through live chat, automated messaging, and a range of support tools. Business brokers can use Intercom to engage with prospective buyers and sellers directly from their website, providing real-time responses and automating follow-ups. With Intercom's chatbot and automation features, brokers can qualify leads, schedule meetings, and provide relevant information about listings without needing to be involved in every conversation.
Pricing:
$29 per month
Key features:
- Customers can get instant support with an AI agent
Considerations:
- Relatively new concept that has not been widely tested
- AI speaking with humans might provide a lower level of customer service
4. Sales Loft
Sales Loft is a conversational marketing platform that uses AI chatbots and live chat to help businesses engage with website visitors, qualify leads, and schedule meetings in real time. For business brokers, Sales Loft can be a powerful tool for capturing and converting potential buyers and sellers. Brokers can automate initial interactions, allowing Sales Loft’s chatbots to ask qualifying questions, share key listing information, and set up meetings directly on their calendar. By using Sales Loft, brokers can reduce response times, keep prospects engaged, and focus their energy on high-value conversations with serious buyers.
Pricing:
Request information for pricing
Key features:
- Customers can get instant support with an AI agent
Considerations:
- Relatively new concept that has not been widely tested
- AI speaking with humans might provide a lower level of customer service
5. Plaid
Plaid is a fintech platform that connects applications to users' bank accounts, providing secure access to financial data. For business brokers, Plaid can be used to streamline the buyer qualification process by verifying financial information quickly and securely. Brokers can leverage Plaid to access a buyer's bank statements or financial history in real time, allowing them to confirm a buyer’s financial capacity to purchase a business.
Pricing:
Usage based pricing - request to find out more
Key features:
- Seamlessly qualify business buyers financial capability
Considerations:
- Some buyers may want to wait to provide financial details
6. BotSonic
BotSonic is a no-code AI chatbot builder powered by GPT technology that allows businesses to create custom, conversational AI chatbots. For business brokers, BotSonic can be used to engage potential buyers and sellers by automating responses to common questions about listings, scheduling meetings, and collecting buyer qualifications. Brokers can tailor the chatbot to provide relevant details based on the specific business listings, freeing up their time to focus on serious prospects. With BotSonic, brokers can streamline lead qualification, improve response times, and maintain engagement with prospects around the clock.
Pricing:
$6 per month for 1,000 messages
Key features:
- Customers can get instant support with an AI agent
Considerations:
- Relatively new concept that has not been widely tested
- AI speaking with humans might provide a lower level of customer service