Conversation Intelligence Platforms That Help Your Sell Better

Did you know conversation intelligence software can help you scale your business? Conversation AI is a rapidly evolving technology that can perform your mundane tasks, so you're free to handle the more human aspects of your business. Thus, increasing accessibility while reducing customer care costs, and supporting superior service!

What is conversation intelligence?

Conversation Intelligence (CI) is software that can record, transcribe, and analyze your sales calls. The analysis allows the CI software to identify keywords and conversation topics so you can return to those points in the recorded calls to examine the sales call's insights further.

Businesses use conversion intelligence software to:

• Take notes on conversations with prospects
• Locate noncompliant or risky conversation topics
• Identify action items
• Coach their newest sales representatives, so they follow the business's best practices
• Record the customer interactivity, talk ratios, and total call duration

Where did conversation intelligence come from?

In the 1950s, Alan Turing proposed that computer programs can interact with people. Then, Eliza was created at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in the mid-1960s by Joseph Weizenbaum. Eliza was the first chatbot software developed. One well-known version of Eliza was called DOCTOR. DOCTOR used natural language processing to communicate with patients like a therapist.

What is it like today?

Today, you'll find the software used in sales calls, but you'll also find conversational intelligence technologies like voice assistants and chatbots. These AI can respond to natural language and interact similarly to humans.

Modern Conversational AI Technologies

Now, conversational AI platforms help with things like:

• Recommending products
• Product and service comparisons
• Answering questions
• Handling refunds
• Updating order details

Some AI is more advanced and has built-in memory so that services can be personalized. They can remember locations, addresses, and personal preferences.

The technical advances that made conversation intelligence so powerful in the last few years:

1 - Smartphones

The implementation of smartphones accelerated AI's development. Designers in the early 2000s were challenged with designing websites that fit well on desktop devices, mobile phones, and tablets, which led them to focus upon functionality and graphical layouts. Then, those two tasks prompted designers to find better interfaces that improve the user experience.

2 - Mobile Applications and Chatbots

In 2001, the first modern chatbots were born. They helped users get information about sports scores, stock prices, yellow page listings, movie times, news, and weather. The turning point in chatbot evolution occurred when SmarterChild was created and used on AOL and MSN. Then, between 2010 and 2016, chatbots like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and Google Home were developed.

3 - Machine Learning

Machine learning advanced dialogue management helps chatbots and other AI develop their interactivity skills over time through machine learning. Machine learning software teaches your applications and systems to process large quantities of data and identify patterns.

4 - NLP

Another component of conversational intelligence is Natural Language Processing (NLP). NLP helps machines understand and use the human language properly and is based on deep learning, machine learning, and rule-based modeling. NLP helps software agents communicate with humans using natural language generation, word sense disambiguation, sentiment analysis, and speech recognition.

5 - Conversational User Experience (UX) Modeling, NLP, and Context Recognition

Chatbots use conversational UX modeling, NLP, and context recognition to learn from conversations. They're rapidly becoming more efficient and human-like and are used to increase efficiency and enhance consumer experiences in the retail, marketing, healthcare, and banking sectors.

6 - Virtual and Voice Assistants

In 2014, Amazon developed Alexa to help users remain connected and informed. She controls smart devices, provides weather information and traffic updates, accesses content, streams podcasts, and creates lists.

All these technological advances contributed to conversation intelligence.

7 Conversation Intelligence Platforms

Below are some of the most popular conversation intelligence platforms.

1 - Gong.io

Gong Revenue Intelligence Platform records and understands customer interactions and delivers the insights gained at scale, enabling teams to make data-driven decisions.

• Gong's Strengths and Weaknesses

Gong's strengths are ease of setup, ease of use, and quality of support. On the other hand, Gong's weakness is searching for calls with a specific person who is not the host.

• What are people saying about Gong?

In one of Gong's reviews, a user said, "I like that I can share calls with a supervisor or notate the call with comments."

• Gong's price

Gong's pricing is dependent upon your team, but you can always just ask them for a price quote.

2 - Chorus.ai

Chorus is a ZoomInfo product that makes understanding what’s influencing your calls’ outcomes easy.

• Chorus's Strengths and Weaknesses

Chorus's strengths are the speed at which you can find competitive mentions, FAQs from prospects, and how representatives talk about your company's products. Their weakness, however, is the inability to see all the snippets you've created in one place.

• What are people saying about Chorus?

One user said, "I clicked into our biggest competitor and found all the moments when they were mentioned by customers and by our team."

• Chorus's price

Multiple pricing options are available, and you can get a Free Trial.

3 - Outreach.io

Outreach is a platform for customer engagement that uses machine learning to assist representatives in choosing their next step with prospects- whether through voice, social, or email. It helps users optimize every interaction from the start of the customer lifecycle throughout it.

• Outreach's Strengths and Weaknesses

According to Trust Radius, Outreach’s usability is a strength. While their weakness is that the integration into Salesforce requires reps to leave Salesforce, often interrupting workflows.

• What are people saying about Outreach?

One Outreach user who gushed over the email features said, "This tool is amazing!"

• Outreach's price

Outreach's price varies, but you can request pricing.

4 - SalesLoft

SalesLoft's Modern Revenue Workspace has essential tools for digital selling. Sellers can perform all their digital sales tasks, see what to do next, communicate with prospects, and receive insights and coaching that help them seal the deal.

• SalesLoft's Strengths and Weaknesses

SalesLoft's strengths include conversation tracking, mass outreach, and templates. Their weaknesses are that sometimes not all the customers are imported in the cadence, and the templates page can get too tightly compressed - making it challenging to read subject lines without clicking on them.

• What are people saying about SalesLoft?

One reviewer stated that SalesLoft is an "amazing tool for my Customer Success team."

• SalesLoft's price

SalesLoft has five pricing structures, with the least inclusive package starting at $0.

5 - ExecVision

ExecVision offers conversation intelligence, call reviewing, and coaching for sales reps.

• ExecVision's Strengths and Weaknesses

ExecVision's strengths include an ability to see what worked in previous calls and the quantification of performance with minimal user input.But their weakness is that the quantification feature isn't always accurate.

• What are people saying about ExecVision?

Here's one review from a satisfied customer, "ExecVision has provided the coaching opportunities and framework to help me be more effective in developing my team."

• ExecVision's price

As with many conversation intelligence platforms, pricing is dependent upon your needs. Contact ExecVision to get a quote.

6 - Salesken.ai

Salesken assists sales teams in performance improvement and acquisition cost reduction. Sales reps receive real-time cues during their calls to ensure they engage prospects better. Managers and sales agents can view detailed call analytics into every call.

• Salesken's Strengths and Weaknesses

One of Salesken's strengths is that their performance forecasts and analytics help teams stay motivated. And another review mentioned how their only challenge was being overwhelmed with the many product features.

• What are people saying about Salesken?

A satisfied reviewer said, "there's nothing like having a visible objective in front of you and real-time data to help you get there."

• Salesken's price

Salesken's price depends upon your team's needs. You can request a quote.

7 - Avoma

Avoma is an AI meeting assistant that allows teams to capture customer information during, before, and after meetings. The AI analyzes conversation insights and helps representatives shorten their sales cycles. The tool automatically records your meetings, creates transcripts and summarized notes, and provides actionable insights- all synced with your CRM.

• Avoma's Strengths and Weaknesses

Avoma's strengths are the snippets and the transcriptions. Its weakness is word processing while taking manual notes.

• What are people saying about Avoma?

One reviewer said, "We have been able to pass feedback to our team much more easily with the snippets feature."

• Avoma's price

Pricing tier one is $40 a month, two is $70 a month, and the third is customized for your needs.

The key takeaway is that conversational intelligence helps reps improve their performance on the phone. If you're worried about your ability to communicate over the phone, don't worry: It's something you can build on. 

How do you think conversation intelligence can help your team?

Learn about other tools:

• Sales Intelligence Tools
• Sales Engagement Platforms
• Sales Compensation Tools
• Sales Training Programs
• Free Sales Tools
• Video Selling Tools
• Email Finding Tools
• What is a CRM?
• Workshops for AI in Sales
• Tools for Early-Stage Start-Ups
• e-Signature Tools
• Productivity Tools for Career Success

If you need more help from a supportive community, learn more about Uvaro's courses.