Dr. Violet HowardDr. Violet Howard is a visionary entrepreneur, humanitarian, and corporate leader dedicated to financial literacy, business development, and empowering underserved communities through education, mentorship, and strategic innovation.

Underpricing Your AI Automations... The High Close Rate Trap #artificialintelligence

Name: Underpricing Your AI Automations... The High Close Rate Trap #artificialintelligence
Uploaded: 2025-09-25T14:00:40+00:00
Duration: 43 s
Channel: Dr. Violet Howard
Description: In this commentary, Dr. Violet Howard reflects on the pitfalls of underpricing AI automation services, arguing that an unusually high proposal close rate…

25 Sept 2025 · 1 min

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In this commentary, Dr. Violet Howard reflects on the pitfalls of underpricing AI automation services, arguing that an unusually high proposal close rate (over 50%) signals that prices are too low because clients perceive a bargain and rarely push back. She illustrates the operational consequences of this underpricing by describing how the company's CTO was forced to perform hands‑on development work—building workflow connections between nodes and agents—rather than focusing on team leadership and innovation. Howard emphasizes that simply adding headcount does not automatically simplify delivery; scaling a team introduces additional management layers, more moving parts, and heightened risk of inefficiency. The overall message is a cautionary guide for AI service providers to reassess pricing strategies and organizational structures as they grow.

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Looking back, I know we were pricing too low because our close rate was insanely high. If you're closing over 50% of your proposals, it means your clients are realizing that they're getting a steal. This is the market telling you that you need to charge more. It means that you're rarely getting pushback on your pricing, which is a strong signal that you're doing it too low. But this is where our growing pains really showed, because in order to deliver this build, our CTO ended up being the one in the weeds developing the workflow. And that's not how a CTO should spend their time. He should be managing a team of engineers and innovating, which is what Tyler's passionate about, and does best, not being stuck in the weeds of a build connecting nodes to an agent. So this process was another reminder that scaling a team doesn't automatically make things easier. It actually gives you more things to manage, more moving pieces, and more chances for inefficiency.