Conversation intelligence: A sales leader’s guide to revenue growth with AI

01

Visibility into conversations and deals
02

Effective onboarding and training
03

Productivity and time management
04

Coaching and team growth
05

Reducing churn and identifying opportunities
06

Conversation intelligence technology for sales teams

As more sales teams work remotely to close deals, the data about how they work is becoming increasingly important. Unlocking insights from that data takes time, which can slow your team down. That’s where conversation intelligence technology comes in.

Conversation intelligence uses AI to analyze recorded conversations, which can help you improve sales execution. Data analysis from sales calls provides valuable insights for coaching, captures and summarizes information to improve productivity, and helps you uncover and share best practices broadly.

In this guide, we’ll explore these common challenges that might be holding your team back:

Visibility into conversations and deals
Effective onboarding and training
Productivity and time management
Coaching and team growth
Reducing churn and identifying opportunities

You’ll learn how conversation intelligence technology for sales teams, like Zoom Revenue Accelerator, can solve these issues to streamline your operations and lead to revenue growth.

Visibility into conversations and deals

As a sales leader, keeping track of your team and their deals is critical to your success. Knowing how your team is performing can be the difference between a lost opportunity and the beginning of a long customer relationship. Conversation intelligence technology can help collect and review that information.

The challenge	How conversation intelligence helps
Sales conversation data doesn’t make it into your customer relationship management (CRM) software Sales reps are often focused on engaging with the customer instead of taking detailed notes, leading to important information slipping through the cracks.	Save time and improve consistency with automated data entry Important data such as current products, needs, and more are automatically entered into your CRM software, providing important context for leaders and simplifying account transition.
Decisions and feedback are based on opinions, not hard data Managers and sales leaders often have only anecdotal evidence or opinions from reps to make their decisions.	Receive firsthand insights with simplified call review With the ability to highlight key moments, sales leaders and managers can quickly see how an opportunity is progressing, enabling more informed decision-making.
Cross-functional teams don’t have enough visibility Sales-related teams like customer success are often working off of incomplete or old information, leading to missed sales opportunities and increased churn.	Access important customer data across teams Making customer conversation summaries and insights available to the entire revenue org means cross-functional teams can access up-to-date information, create further sales opportunities, and reduce churn.

The challenge

How conversation intelligence helps

Sales conversation data doesn’t make it into your customer relationship management (CRM) software

Sales reps are often focused on engaging with the customer instead of taking detailed notes, leading to important information slipping through the cracks.

Save time and improve consistency with automated data entry

Important data such as current products, needs, and more are automatically entered into your CRM software, providing important context for leaders and simplifying account transition.

Decisions and feedback are based on opinions, not hard data

Managers and sales leaders often have only anecdotal evidence or opinions from reps to make their decisions.

Receive firsthand insights with simplified call review

With the ability to highlight key moments, sales leaders and managers can quickly see how an opportunity is progressing, enabling more informed decision-making.

Cross-functional teams don’t have enough visibility

Sales-related teams like customer success are often working off of incomplete or old information, leading to missed sales opportunities and increased churn.

Access important customer data across teams

Making customer conversation summaries and insights available to the entire revenue org means cross-functional teams can access up-to-date information, create further sales opportunities, and reduce churn.

Effective onboarding and training

Onboarding establishes the foundational information an employee needs to thrive in their role, but building the most effective onboarding process for your organization can be a challenge.

Using conversation intelligence, you can identify and incorporate onboarding strategies to help your new employees succeed.

The challenge	How conversation intelligence helps
Static content and role-playing lack important context Although you can role-play with new employees and show them how to handle common objections, these training tools often lack the context employees need to use them effectively.	Deliver real-world insights with sales call recordings You can create playlists of real-life meeting recordings with clips of your best performers using effective techniques. This gives new sales reps more context about how to handle objections and use other strategies.
Mastering sales skills takes reinforcement Learning how to use new sales skills takes time and reinforcement from sales leaders, however, it’s hard to know if your employees are effectively using the skills and techniques you taught them.	Provide guidance to new employees Easily search through recorded conversations to see how new employees are handling objections or answering product questions. Doing knowledge checks from real conversations will allow you to see if your employee is onboarding effectively and where they might need further training.
Sales reps need more space to practice new skills Perfecting a sales pitch involves a lot of repetition and patience, but sales reps often don’t get the chance to practice their skills outside of sales calls, resulting in low confidence.	Help sales reps practice Boost your reps’ confidence by giving them a space to practice their pitch and handling objections while receiving direct feedback from a conversation intelligence AI coach (available this summer).

The challenge

How conversation intelligence helps

Static content and role-playing lack important context

Although you can role-play with new employees and show them how to handle common objections, these training tools often lack the context employees need to use them effectively.

Deliver real-world insights with sales call recordings

You can create playlists of real-life meeting recordings with clips of your best performers using effective techniques. This gives new sales reps more context about how to handle objections and use other strategies.

Mastering sales skills takes reinforcement

Learning how to use new sales skills takes time and reinforcement from sales leaders, however, it’s hard to know if your employees are effectively using the skills and techniques you taught them.

Provide guidance to new employees

Easily search through recorded conversations to see how new employees are handling objections or answering product questions. Doing knowledge checks from real conversations will allow you to see if your employee is onboarding effectively and where they might need further training.

Sales reps need more space to practice new skills

Perfecting a sales pitch involves a lot of repetition and patience, but sales reps often don’t get the chance to practice their skills outside of sales calls, resulting in low confidence.

Help sales reps practice

Boost your reps’ confidence by giving them a space to practice their pitch and handling objections while receiving direct feedback from a conversation intelligence AI coach (available this summer).

Productivity and time management

Spending more time with customers is a key part of driving sales and closing deals. However, salespeople often find their time filled with administrative tasks and other busy work such as making sure customer notes are up to date.

Implementing conversation intelligence technology for sales teams can help tackle productivity-related challenges so your reps can spend more time selling and improving the customer experience.

The challenge	How conversation intelligence helps
Distractions during the call Taking notes and searching for customer information eats up valuable time in a sales call while distracting the salesperson, creating friction in the process for both the customer and the seller.	Take note-taking out of reps’ hands so they can focus Searchable transcripts, automatic notetaking, and AI-generated call summaries and next steps allow sellers to focus on leading more efficient and effective calls.
Doing things besides selling Salespeople often need to manually update customer information after a call, creating more work for reps.	Reduce busy work Conversation intelligence software automatically enters critical customer information into your CRM, giving your sales team more time to speak with customers instead of entering data.
Calls that go on too long Your salespeople might have a structure for a successful call, but things can quickly go off the rails, leading to calls that drag on and lose the interest of customers.	Streamline sales calls Create clear action plans and help your teams lead engaging and effective calls with actionable next steps, which appear alongside recordings to streamline the experience and provide guidance when it’s needed most.

The challenge

How conversation intelligence helps

Distractions during the call

Taking notes and searching for customer information eats up valuable time in a sales call while distracting the salesperson, creating friction in the process for both the customer and the seller.

Take note-taking out of reps’ hands so they can focus

Searchable transcripts, automatic notetaking, and AI-generated call summaries and next steps allow sellers to focus on leading more efficient and effective calls.

Doing things besides selling

Salespeople often need to manually update customer information after a call, creating more work for reps.

Reduce busy work

Conversation intelligence software automatically enters critical customer information into your CRM, giving your sales team more time to speak with customers instead of entering data.

Calls that go on too long

Your salespeople might have a structure for a successful call, but things can quickly go off the rails, leading to calls that drag on and lose the interest of customers.

Streamline sales calls

Create clear action plans and help your teams lead engaging and effective calls with actionable next steps, which appear alongside recordings to streamline the experience and provide guidance when it’s needed most.

Coaching and team growth

Continuous learning is essential to growth and overall success, but with all of the responsibilities of managing a team, sales leaders only have 14% of their time to dedicate to coaching. So how can managers provide evidence-based coaching that is consistent, scalable, and provides the context that employees need to use strategies effectively, even with so little time on their hands?

A conversation intelligence technology solution simplifies and enhances the process of coaching and helps your team improve.

The challenge	How conversation intelligence helps
No time to review every call With so many calls happening across the team, it’s almost impossible to review and analyze every call manually. This means sales managers need to rely on anecdotal or biased information to inform their coaching.	Generate data-backed insights Instantly get an indication of where your team needs to improve with conversation metrics that identify filler words, monitor keywords, and more.
Difficulty locating the best calls to share The most successful strategies from your best performers and best practices can be hard to identify and even harder to share with others because it’s difficult to locate them within call recordings and provide the proper context.	Identify sales best practices Consistently identify the most effective strategies from your top performers with conversation analysis data and opportunity data, then easily share it with others with clips that provide further context.
Identifying areas of improvement Without a standardized method of scoring or benchmarking performance, it’s difficult to figure out who needs to improve and in what areas they can grow.	Provide metrics for performance A standardized scorecard system that benchmarks performance helps leaders identify exactly what part of the pitch needs work.

The challenge

How conversation intelligence helps

No time to review every call

With so many calls happening across the team, it’s almost impossible to review and analyze every call manually. This means sales managers need to rely on anecdotal or biased information to inform their coaching.

Generate data-backed insights

Instantly get an indication of where your team needs to improve with conversation metrics that identify filler words, monitor keywords, and more.

Difficulty locating the best calls to share

The most successful strategies from your best performers and best practices can be hard to identify and even harder to share with others because it’s difficult to locate them within call recordings and provide the proper context.

Identify sales best practices

Consistently identify the most effective strategies from your top performers with conversation analysis data and opportunity data, then easily share it with others with clips that provide further context.

Identifying areas of improvement

Without a standardized method of scoring or benchmarking performance, it’s difficult to figure out who needs to improve and in what areas they can grow.

Provide metrics for performance

A standardized scorecard system that benchmarks performance helps leaders identify exactly what part of the pitch needs work.

Reducing churn and identifying opportunities

Once you’ve turned a prospect into a customer, it might seem like the battle is won. But keeping that customer and even expanding that relationship with new opportunities is just as important.

Despite your reps’ best efforts to provide an amazing customer experience, sometimes the reasons a customer has for leaving might not be apparent until it’s too late. It’s in your company’s best interest to understand and reduce churn as much as possible, and on the other hand, identify new ways to grow your business with them.

The challenge	How conversation intelligence helps
Lack of visibility into customer health If there aren’t any obvious signs that a customer is going elsewhere with their business, it’s very difficult to know when and why a customer will depart, increasing churn.	Stop churn before it happens Receive early warning signs that a customer may be getting ready to leave by tracking words and sentiments that have a negative connotation or indicate dissatisfaction.
Outdated or inaccurate customer information Post-sales teams like customer success and customer advocacy often don’t have the context they need to identify expansion opportunities, causing them to fall short on their numbers and miss out on new sales.	Access data to help identify future opportunities Simplify and enhance the process of recording and accessing information that is critical for identifying further opportunities, such as what other solutions or products customers are using, their current or future business needs, and more.
Inefficient account transfers When an old rep or customer success manager leaves an account, they take with them a wealth of institutional knowledge. New account managers may not have all the info they need, leading to negative customer experiences.	Equip new reps with rich customer context Conversation recordings, easy-to-scan meeting summaries, and access to deal details allow new reps to get up to speed quickly and seamlessly transition to leading the account.

The challenge

How conversation intelligence helps

Lack of visibility into customer health

If there aren’t any obvious signs that a customer is going elsewhere with their business, it’s very difficult to know when and why a customer will depart, increasing churn.

Stop churn before it happens

Receive early warning signs that a customer may be getting ready to leave by tracking words and sentiments that have a negative connotation or indicate dissatisfaction.

Outdated or inaccurate customer information

Post-sales teams like customer success and customer advocacy often don’t have the context they need to identify expansion opportunities, causing them to fall short on their numbers and miss out on new sales.

Access data to help identify future opportunities

Simplify and enhance the process of recording and accessing information that is critical for identifying further opportunities, such as what other solutions or products customers are using, their current or future business needs, and more.

Inefficient account transfers

When an old rep or customer success manager leaves an account, they take with them a wealth of institutional knowledge. New account managers may not have all the info they need, leading to negative customer experiences.

Equip new reps with rich customer context

Conversation recordings, easy-to-scan meeting summaries, and access to deal details allow new reps to get up to speed quickly and seamlessly transition to leading the account.

Conversation intelligence technology for sales teams

Zoom Revenue Accelerator, conversation intelligence technology for sales teams, provides cutting-edge features and tools that generate data-backed insights. You and your teams can:

Achieve greater consistency, effectiveness, and scalability of onboarding and coaching, allowing your teams to get up to speed faster and reach their full potential
Maximize productivity and enhance customer experience by streamlining and automating workflows, including notetaking, data entry into CRMs, and more
Receive clear and accurate insights regarding current opportunities, customer health, and how reps are performing with AI assistance that collects and makes sense of complex user data

To learn more about how Zoom Revenue Accelerator can help you and your team, check out our revenue acceleration webinar series.

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