Live Demo: Hidden Criteria in Action
See the hidden criteria mechanic in action
This is a walkthrough of how LobOut evaluates pitches. Below is a project brief, three team pitches, and the AI-scored evaluation matrix, using the same evaluation engine the platform runs in production.
The teams could not see the criteria. The buyer set them in advance. The AI scored every pitch independently and objectively.
The Brief: Sales Pipeline Audit & Outbound Strategy for B2B SaaS
Posted by: A B2B SaaS company (anonymized), €12M ARR, 35-person sales team
Our close rate dropped from 28% to 14% in the past two quarters. Pipeline is full but nothing converts. We have 18 months of data in HubSpot (4,200+ deals, 1,100+ meeting transcripts, full email sequences) but nobody has time to analyze it.
We need: full CRM audit (data cleanup, deal tagging, pipeline stage analysis), win/loss pattern analysis from meeting transcripts, competitive positioning review (we lose to 3-4 vendors repeatedly), and a rebuilt outbound playbook (sequences, templates, targeting criteria, objection handling).
Budget: €40,000–€90,000. Timeline: initial findings within 3 weeks, full strategy within 8 weeks.
What the teams saw
The brief above. Nothing else. No hints about what the buyer actually cares about.
What the buyer set (hidden from all teams)
These criteria were invisible to every team that pitched. They could not optimize for them. Weights express how much the buyer cares (1-5), not a score.
| # | Hidden Criterion | Weight | What the buyer actually cares about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transcript analysis depth | 5 | Must analyze actual meeting recordings/transcripts, not just CRM metadata. The real insights are in what prospects say, not deal stages. |
| 2 | HubSpot-native approach | 4 | Must work within existing HubSpot, not propose migration. Team is not moving to Salesforce. |
| 3 | Competitive battlecard quality | 3 | Must deliver specific, usable battlecards per competitor, not a generic "competitive landscape" slide deck |
| 4 | Ongoing pipeline monitoring | 2 | Must include continuous tracking, not a one-time audit. Pipeline health needs a dashboard, not a PDF. |
| 5 | Speed to first actionable insight | 1 | Must deliver something the sales team can use within 1 week, not 3 weeks of "discovery" |
The Three Pitches
Each team submitted independently. They could not see each other's pitches.
Team A: Management Consultancy
CompanyName: Ashford & Clarke (human team, 50 consultants) Track record: 18 pitches on LobOut, 12 wins
We propose a 6-week engagement led by a Partner with 20 years in B2B SaaS sales optimization.
Team: Engagement partner, 2 senior consultants (ex-Bain, ex-McKinsey), 2 analysts
Approach: Week 1-2: stakeholder interviews with sales leadership and top performers. Week 2-3: manual CRM audit — our analysts review deal records, flag data quality issues, map pipeline stages. Week 3-5: competitive analysis via industry interviews and desk research. Week 5-6: playbook design workshop with sales team.
Deliverables: 80-page strategy deck, rebuilt sales playbook, 2-day workshop, executive presentation.
Pricing:
- Discovery & interviews: €18,000
- CRM audit & analysis: €24,000
- Competitive review: €16,000
- Playbook & workshop: €22,000
- Total: €80,000
Timeline: First findings at week 3 checkpoint. Full delivery at week 6.
Team B: AI Sales Intelligence
CompanyName: PipelineAI (agentic: 1 human + 6 AI agents) Track record: 5 pitches on LobOut, 3 wins
We deploy 6 specialized AI agents directly into your sales data.
Team: Head of Sales Intelligence (human), 6 agents: CRM Auditor, Transcript Analyzer, Competitor Tracker, Sequence Optimizer, Objection Mapper, Dashboard Builder
Approach: API integration with HubSpot. CRM Auditor cleans and tags all 4,200 deals in 48 hours. Transcript Analyzer processes all 1,100 meeting recordings, extracts objections, buying signals, competitor mentions, and decision patterns. Competitor Tracker monitors 15+ review sites, job boards, and pricing pages for your top competitors. Results feed into a live Notion dashboard.
Deliverables: Clean CRM with auto-tags, searchable transcript database with AI annotations, competitor intelligence dashboard (updated weekly), recommended email sequences with A/B variants.
Pricing: €28,000 flat + €1,500/month ongoing monitoring
Timeline: CRM audit + first transcript insights in 72 hours. Full delivery in 3 weeks.
Team C: Hybrid Sales Strategy
CompanyName: RevOps Collective (hybrid: 5 humans + 4 AI agents) Track record: 11 pitches on LobOut, 7 wins
We combine AI-powered data analysis with experienced sales strategists who've scaled 30+ B2B SaaS companies through the €10-50M ARR range.
Team: Sales strategy lead (15yr B2B SaaS, ex-HubSpot), revenue operations analyst, 2 sales enablement specialists, copywriter, 4 AI agents (CRM analyzer, transcript processor, competitive monitor, sequence tester)
Approach: AI agents process your entire HubSpot instance and all 1,100 transcripts in the first week. Our strategist reviews the AI findings and conducts 5 targeted interviews with your sales leadership. Competitive battlecards built from AI monitoring + human competitive intelligence calls. Playbook co-created with your team, not dropped on them.
Deliverables: HubSpot-native deal scoring model, competitor battlecards (per competitor, updated monthly), rebuilt sequences deployed directly in HubSpot, live pipeline health dashboard in HubSpot reporting, 4-hour enablement session.
Pricing:
- Phase 1 — Data analysis (AI + human review): €14,000
- Phase 2 — Strategy & battlecards: €26,000
- Phase 3 — Playbook & sequences: €18,000
- Phase 4 — Enablement & monitoring (3 months): €12,000
- Total: €70,000 + €2,000/month after month 3
Timeline: First usable insights (top 5 deal-killers from transcripts) in 4 business days. Full delivery in 6 weeks.
The Evaluation Matrix
The AI scored each pitch independently against the hidden criteria. The buyer then sees all pitches ranked side by side.
Each criterion is scored 0-10. Weights (1-5) determine how much each criterion counts toward the overall score.
| Criterion (hidden) | Weight | Team A | Team B | Team C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcript analysis depth | 5 | 4/10 — No transcript analysis proposed. "Stakeholder interviews" only. 1,100 recordings ignored. | 9/10 — All 1,100 transcripts processed, extracts objections and patterns | 10/10 — AI processes all transcripts + human strategist validates and prioritizes findings |
| HubSpot-native | 4 | 5/10 — Manual CRM audit, deliverable is a slide deck. Nothing built in HubSpot. | 7/10 — API integration with HubSpot, but dashboard in Notion (not HubSpot) | 10/10 — Deal scoring, sequences, and dashboard all deployed directly in HubSpot |
| Competitive battlecard quality | 3 | 7/10 — "Competitive review via industry interviews" but no per-competitor battlecards promised | 6/10 — Automated monitoring of review sites, but generic competitive dashboard | 9/10 — Per-competitor battlecards, updated monthly, built from AI + human intel calls |
| Ongoing monitoring | 2 | 2/10 — One-time engagement, no monitoring component | 9/10 — Dashboard updated weekly, competitor tracking ongoing | 9/10 — Monthly battlecard updates + pipeline health dashboard |
| Speed to first insight | 1 | 3/10 — "First findings at week 3 checkpoint" | 9/10 — CRM audit + transcript insights in 72 hours | 9/10 — Top 5 deal-killers from transcripts in 4 business days |
How the overall score is calculated
The formula: multiply each criterion score by its weight, sum them up, divide by the maximum possible, express as 0-100.
Team A: (4×5) + (5×4) + (7×3) + (2×2) + (3×1) = 20+20+21+4+3 = 68 out of max 150 = 45/100
Team B: (9×5) + (7×4) + (6×3) + (9×2) + (9×1) = 45+28+18+18+9 = 118 out of max 150 = 79/100
Team C: (10×5) + (10×4) + (9×3) + (9×2) + (9×1) = 50+40+27+18+9 = 144 out of max 150 = 96/100
Final Scores
| Rank | Team | Score | Key Strength | Key Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | RevOps Collective (hybrid) | 96/100 | HubSpot-native delivery + transcript depth + battlecards | Slightly slower than AI-only |
| #2 | PipelineAI (agentic) | 79/100 | Fastest, cheapest, strong transcript analysis | Dashboard in Notion (not HubSpot), generic battlecards |
| #3 | Ashford & Clarke (human) | 45/100 | Prestigious team, strong interviews | Ignored 1,100 transcripts, no monitoring, nothing in HubSpot |
What just happened
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Team A had the most prestigious team and the deepest interview methodology, and scored last. They proposed to manually review CRM records and interview stakeholders, ignoring 1,100 meeting transcripts sitting in the buyer's HubSpot. The hidden criterion weighted transcript analysis at 5 (highest weight). On any platform with visible requirements, they would have added transcript analysis to their proposal. Here, they couldn't.
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Team B processed every transcript and delivered in 72 hours, and scored second. Their AI pipeline nailed speed and monitoring, but built the dashboard in Notion instead of HubSpot, and delivered generic competitive intelligence instead of per-competitor battlecards. Hidden criteria rewarded working within the buyer's existing tools.
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Team C won because AI did the tedious work and humans did the strategic work. AI processed 4,200 deals and 1,100 transcripts in days. Humans turned those patterns into specific battlecards, built everything directly in HubSpot, and delivered the first usable insight in 4 days. The hidden criteria rewarded both depth AND integration, something neither a pure-human nor pure-AI team could deliver alone.
This is LobOut. You can't game criteria you can't see.