When conversation intelligence (CI) software first appeared, many industry leaders questioned whether it would be adopted. Some even balked at it with their sales reps as a form of Big Brother surveillance. Yet, the capabilities and potential of the selling tool have swept the naysaying aside.
Today, CI has become a must-have when it comes to sales productivity and intelligence tools. When accepted, adopted and incorporated into sales enablement programs, sales leaders start generating more-interesting questions and conversations that can lead to deeper outcomes.
The often-unanswered challenges we hear from B2B selling executives today: How can I use conversation intelligence insights to inform my go-to-market strategy? What can I take from the CI solution we already have invested in (and adopted) to capture more value from our investment? How can CI actually contribute to my revenue performance?
We at Mereo — with some bonus insights from our friends at leading sales enablement and revenue intelligence provider Mediafly — have some answers.
SMARTER QUESTIONS TO ASK OF YOUR CONVERSATION INTELLIGENCE TOOL
If your leadership uses conversation intelligence just to record and review calls, your organization is missing out on an invaluable number of actionable insights. CI can and does feed into sustainable revenue performance. It has a solid place as part of today’s sophisticated selling processes. And by asking the tool key questions, your executive leadership can uncover important actions and adjustments to make in your go-to-market approach.
QUESTIONING SELLING SKILLS AND BEHAVIORS
- Are your salespeople sticking to your value messaging while tailoring it to specific buyer needs?
- Do they have answers to buyer questions (including common objections) or do they need further resources and assets to better serve buyers?
- Are your sales teams aligning in messaging and approach across teams and geographies?
- How are your sales teams incorporating current resources and tools, what sales tools need to be abandoned, how can others be improved, and which are working well as-is?
QUESTIONING SALES PROCESSES AND REVENUE FORECASTS
- Are salespeople getting regular coaching and reinforcement, or are lagging skills and unchanged behaviors signaling a need for more?
- Do the most-recent sales calls show a promise in near-term deals or do forecasts need adjusting?
- At what stage and rate are your buyers engaging your salespeople?
- How much time are sellers speaking in sales cycle conversations (e.g. qualification, discovery, proposal) versus allowing buyers to speak?
- When sellers ask questions of the buyers, who is answering the question – the buyers or the sellers themselves?
QUESTIONING BUYER SITUATIONS AND NEEDS
- What new pains are arising for your buyers due to market changes or disruptions?
- What value messaging, features / benefits of your solution, etc. resonate the most with buyers and engage them on a deeper level?
- What are the most common objections buyers have about your solution (features, competitor information, price, lack of urgency)?
- What other challenges are buyers grappling with that your organization has an opportunity to solve and that product teams could explore?
INSIGHTS FROM MEDIAFLY: HEED CI SIGNALS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE ENTIRE SALES PROCESS
Mediafly is the leading provider of one of the most comprehensive sales enablement and revenue intelligence platforms, including conversation intelligence integration and more. Their experts have an additional point of opportunity — and caution — to share for executives looking to make the most of CI:
Conversation intelligence provides rich insights to revenue teams that can help improve conversion rates, reduce risk and improve seller skills. Yet, when you think of CI, it’s critical to view these signals within the context of all other activity and engagement data.
The fact is, modern buyers are spending only 5% of their time with sellers. Given CI is focused on conversations, it’s reflecting just a sliver of buyer engagement. Where is the buyer the 95% of the time? What are they thinking? How are they interacting?
CI provides a limited view. Consider a deal where you have two weeks between meetings. If you are viewing only CI data, the deal may look stalled. However when you look holistically at inbound emails, content views, intent data, content shares, new contacts added — you get a different perspective. You now know your buyers are continuing to review the proposal, revisiting to the pricing page 3x and sharing the TCO calculator with other stakeholders. You even have an upcoming meeting next week to discuss an expansion.
Today, with comprehensive platforms such as Mediafly, revenue teams have access to an unprecedented amount of signals — leaders must continue to look holistically at engagement across the entire buyer’s journey to accurately predict their quarter and guide reps on the fastest path to close.
Get Mediafly’s 101 Ways to Get More from Your Conversation Intelligence solution eBook.
FORGE AHEAD WISELY TOWARD SUSTAINABLE REVENUE PERFORMANCE
Conversation intelligence software can collect mass amounts of valuable data and insights as part of your overall sales enablement management — but your leadership must be the brains behind applying those to realize true GTM and revenue outcomes.
To start overcoming your sales team’s greatest hurdles in landing deals, turn to Derailing the Deal, a Mereo guide to solving the five most common selling issues.