Should I run? Company just implemented "Conversational Intelligence from Insight Squared"

Wow, so yeah my company just announced they'd basically be recorded all of our calls in a super creepy sort of way. I'm all about analytics and replicatable data, but this goes to the level of pure insanity (and honestly I don't believe for a second you'll get meaningful actions from the data).


"Record, transcribe and analyze every customer call and meeting, from lead to opportunity, customer to upsell. Your relationship doesn’t end when the deal closes. It’s just getting started.

Conversational intelligence delivers an unfiltered lens into the state of your buyers and customers. It’s rich data that when combined with full-lifecycle activity capture and robust machine learning, enriches every element of your business – forecasts, reporting, product roadmaps, marketing campaigns, competitive positioning and more."


My question to the war rooms is Have you ever had your company implement this product? And if so, is it time to run? (PS - I'm not a biz dev rep. I'm an Enterprise Account Exec - 6 figure base, over 200k OTE)

https://www.insightsquared.com/revenue-intelligence-platform/conversational-intelligence/ Conversational Intelligence - Revenue Intelligence for Predictable Growth Optimize revenue operations, improve conversion rates and drive predictable growth with InsightSquared’s AI-powered conversational intelligence.
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24
paddy
WR Officer
15
Director of Business Development
I sell a service like this lol sorry
RedLightning
Politicker
22
Mid-Market AE
If it's gong, do they force you to post on Linkedin
CaneWolf
Politicker
2
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I'm deeply disappointed I can't upvote @RedLightning 's comment 20 times.
paddy
WR Officer
1
Director of Business Development
It's not Gong lol. It's more for agent scoring when a warm transfer off a lead is presented. It's all a very small component of what we do and it rarely comes up in my conversations
RedLightning
Politicker
1
Mid-Market AE
That made my day. I knew I couldn't be the only one who thinks that they have a LI post KPI @CaneWolf 
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
-1
Sales Account Executive
downvote lol.  j/k
jackodiamonds
Opinionated
9
Account Executive
Get with the times, every modern sales org has something like this now. I find it super helpful to be able to go remember what someone said, what you promised to do etc and the insights it provides actually are really helpful (how talk ratios or showing slides changes close rates, how often a prospect asks questions, etc.). Id say keep an open mind and try it - definitely dont take it as a reason to leave
TheRealPezDog
Notable Contributor
2
Account Manager
That was a really thoughtful rebuttal and it actually made me reconsider my position a little, it still however feels very creepy to know you’re being micromanaged at that level. I’m thankful I work for a more traditional sales org
smurf
2
AE
It's all about whether or not you have a good boss. If they suck this software helps them suck even more.


Also the insights are BS imo. It's all correlatory, not causal data
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
3
Sales Account Executive
I lean more with smurf here than jackodiamonds.  The "talk ratios" affecting close rates is utter nonsense.  If sales was as easy as just dropping terms more often over the course of a conversation, you wouldn't need smart, highly paid people to do it.

Its a cause vs effect situation.  I had a sales ops exec tell  us once that we needed to be cramming more demos down our clients throats, as clients that had 3 demos were 3x likely to buy.  What he didnt realize was that any client who was having a 3rd demo was basically already committed to the solution and was just having a final look through of the product.  His answer to increasing close rates was to push for additional demos!
FailingUptheLadder
Personal Narrative
0
Senior Account Executive
Totally agree. You need to have a team that realizes “correlation does not equal causation” and will look to see what is causing a third demo to take place.
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
1
War Room Enthusiast
I agree with this. Just look at how this can benefit you instead of damaging you, lets look at the cup half full and continue to do your best in every call and you’ll be fine! I wouldn’t leave, my como u does this as well!
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
3
☕️
It seems to be a table stakes type of software these days. Why are you afraid of having your meetings recorded?
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
2
Sales Account Executive
Don't care if they record me.  I care if they start to try and nit-pick the specific terminology I use while selling and expecting it to cause an uptick in my selling success.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
1
☕️
Well that comes down to leverage of the tool, and if your manager wasn’t doing that before then I doubt they will start. These tools are great for BDR and junior rep coaching, and they may use senior rep calls as benchmarking.
TheRealPezDog
Notable Contributor
0
Account Manager
Well said
bassinshaps
Politicker
0
Territory Sales Manager
Just seems invasive. Especially if you have to take a personal call for a family emergency. Not to mention it’s basically like having your boss stand over you or eavesdrop on your sales calls all day. It’s just kind of weird. If your job is that worried about what people say maybe they should do a better job vetting who they hire.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
2
☕️
Are you sure they're recording everything you do, regardless of it being a sales call or not? I doubt that since it's illegal to record sales calls if the recipient is in a few states still.
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
1
Sales Account Executive
It ties in to zoom.  I do live in a dual-consent state, meaning both parties need to agree to be recorded. That being said I believe the zoom "recording in process" thing covers that from a legal basis.
bassinshaps
Politicker
-1
Territory Sales Manager
Gotcha. Big difference in what I was thinking lol.
TheRealPezDog
Notable Contributor
-1
Account Manager
Agreed. Recording sales calls is weird.
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
It definitely makes it awkward as I work for a security company.  As you can imagine companies arent too keen on discussing their security gaps when being recorded.
CaneWolf
Politicker
2
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I've been on the record of fucking hating this stuff. I won't use it.
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
1
Sales Account Executive
And based on your title it looks like you actually manage a BDR team?  I assume you use some sort of tracking/management software?
CaneWolf
Politicker
0
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I don't. Just a weird title for my job. But I dotted line oversaw BDRs supporting my teams in the past. The reality is we focused on messaging and prospecting strategies rather than things like how many calls a person was making or whether they said the exact right words. Seemed to work just fine.
MrMotivation
Politicker
0
Sales
This is short sighted. Speech analytics has come a long way and it actually has been very impactful for our teams. Especially in a work from home environment where our SDR Manager can't be in the pit with them and hear their conversations. 

How can you tell if the messaging is working/if the BDR's are utilizing it if you have no proof?
CaneWolf
Politicker
1
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
Results.
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
Correct answer.  And lets be honest, if it's just a matter of getting a replicable message in front of prospects, then you'd never need a real salesperson.  Machine calls should do the trick.
MrMotivation
Politicker
1
Sales
So if you have two reps. Rep A has always been good, and rep B has always been sub par and you just give them new messaging and rep B continues to struggle, but Rep A is still doing well, you are going to change the messaging again? Looking at only results as a driver of "performance improvement" is lazy. 
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
1
Sales Account Executive
I think my pushback in general is the idea of micromanaging sales reps, and thinking the "perfect process" would create perfect results with any human in that role.  Maybe 30 years ago when people didn't have access to information, and literally calling someone out of the blue telling them you can solve your problem could actually result in a deal.  In my opinion the best sales reps remove hurdles for clients, and shorten/simplify sales cycles.  It's not about dropping a topic 25 times in a 30 minutes call.
MrMotivation
Politicker
1
Sales
That isnt really the point of how we use it. We don't use it to micromanage, we use it to coach our reps better. Which is the whole point of these tools. We don't really care how many calls people are making. 


I will look at cold calling here for context. 

We give the BD reps freedom to "pitch" however they want on cold calls, but we need to make sure there is a consistent "call to value" from the cold call through the disco call/initial call to keep consistency for the prospect. It increases their propensity to understand and see where our value to their business is. 

On the other hand, we had a rep who booked double the amount of meetings as everyone else, but also had the worst no show rate, so his stage 1 opps (what they get comped on) were average at best. If you were only looking at results, you would have no idea as to why he had such a bad no show rate. Fake meetings? No meeting reminders? Turns out that when you listened to his calls, you knew exactly why he had a bad no show rate. He wasn't focused on generating value. He was only focused on getting a calendar invite sent out to the prospect. If I were a prospect, why would I show up if there was no value for me to show up?

If you were @CaneWolf , you would have to assume that he wasn't sending enough calendar reminders because you couldn't listen to his call to coach him on how to drive more value in the conversation and get the prospect to want to show up to the call to learn about how we can help. 
CaneWolf
Politicker
0
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
The metrics in this story are part of results. You'd have the metrics regardless. You explore what's going on once you have that data rather than just micromanaging everyone. Trust your people to be successful rather than assuming that they need this approach. If they aren't, then you can do this kind of approach.
MrMotivation
Politicker
1
Sales
You're completely missing the point. Having software like this is the same as a coach reviewing film. Do you not want to be micro-coached so you tell your coach to not watch you back in your last game? "Coach don't watch me. We won, so just trust me that I did it right and don't need to improve at all."


There is no valid argument against software like this for people who are good at their job and are actively looking to improve. Every Wednesday morning during my morning cardio, I listen back to all of my prospect calls from the previous week to see where I can improve. When i have time, I will review colleagues demos or discovery calls and add comments to theirs' (and vice versa). The system time stamps them so they know exactly what i am referring to. 

If you are afraid to have others listen to recorded calls, then you either aren't good enough and you know it, or you are too insecure to be in a sales role. 
CaneWolf
Politicker
0
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
Or I just think people want to be left alone to do their jobs.
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
Yeah MrM, if used in a way to allow for candid feedback, then yes, there is a benefit.  2 things though.  1 - have you looked at the actual product that I mentioned?  It's insane when it comes to the level of micro-analytics in there.  2 - Most leaders will see the data, and turn around and mandate a new way of doing things.  That's because there are very few good sales leaders out there.
MrMotivation
Politicker
2
Sales
We actually reviewed it at the end of last year. We ended purchasing a different tool that does basically the same thing. 



I wouldn't read too much into the microanalytics. We have access to all the data points in the world, and the only piece that i use them for is when the convo is recorded, and I want to listen to a specific topic of the conversation. The system will time stamp every time pricing is brought up, or timeline. It is very helpful. 
Every tool's effectiveness is going to come down to who is utilizing it. If the leaders at your organization are not the best, then yeah maybe it won't be beneficial for you and your colleagues. My follow up to that would be if you already didn't trust your management, then maybe you aren't in the best place to begin with... 


The other leaders at my company are allstars and my team (and myself) want everyone's feedback to constantly improve. 
Sgt_Trollingham
Valued Contributor
2
Business Development Director
Nothing like this at my company, but I will say... pretty much everything you do at work these days has the ability to be monitored. 99% sure every email, Slack message, keystroke is tracked. Are calls that much different? 

On a side note... FUCKING LOVE YOUR NAME AND PICTURE. Can you please start selling cars just to continue the gimmick?
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
I mean yeah everything is tracked.  That doesn't bother me.  When it gets in the way of a real buying cycle thats when I push back.  Either way, it's like Ashley Schaeffer said "LET THE BOY WATCH"
Tres
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Is it recording internal conversations too, or just customer facing? 
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
Just customer calls apparently.
Tres
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Then I wouldn't feel so bad about it. Internal convos, now that gets me worried
LemmingLenny
Contributor
1
Account Executive
This is fine as long as its only purpose is to enable training. We use Gong and I personally love it for going back to calls and taking notes, seeing how I could get better, etc etc. It can definitely be abused by micro managers but that’s not the softwares fault. Give it a shot.
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
If only people saw it that way....
LemmingLenny
Contributor
1
Account Executive
This kind of stuff is always tough to implement at first because of how intrusive it might seem - which it is, but at the end of the day it can be used for a lot of good. Maybe I’m biased because at my company the recording feature is never abused and we genuinely use it for training purposes, taking notes after the fact, and for praise if someone does a really good job.
FailingUptheLadder
Personal Narrative
1
Senior Account Executive
I’m a proponent of adopting any technology that is thrown my way. It sucks sometimes and it’s hard and I get frustrated with it but let me tel you why I will do it no matter what. My very first sales job I got a job in ad sales for the local radio station. A guy started the same day as me and he was in his mid 50s and working an entry level job. This guy was clearly a sales lifer. This guy didn’t know how to set up an email signature, use a CRM or really know how to use Microsoft Office. He sucked and complained and got fired 6 months in. So when ever there is a new tool or tech rolled out I think of him and I sick it up and I learn.
MrMotivation
Politicker
1
Sales
Sorry to break it to you, but these tools are becoming the norm. And from a management perspective, they are very helpful. If you are serious about improving your abilities as a seller, the best first step is listening to your own calls to see where you can improve. If you respect your management's abilities, you should also want their input on your calls. Obviously they can't join every call, so the only option is to record. 

Also, from a training new rep perspective, having not only scheduled prospect calls recorded, but also cold calls recorded is a massive benefit to help them learn faster. 
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
0
War Room Enthusiast
My company used to use recording software like this, and yes I felt like I was being watched but since I knew I was doing my best I actually liked it. It’s like having a backup of your work. Just try to do your best like you always do! 

if you do a good job there is nothing to worry about! Everyone has bad calls but if your average call says wonders about you no need to worry.
TheRealPezDog
Notable Contributor
0
Account Manager
Recording sales calls is weird, especially if you have to agree on video with your clients, I would never want to subject a prospect to that. That shit is for customer service reps.
Justatitle
Big Shot
0
Account Executive
The reason I hate things like this is because a lot of times it’s right and it sucks to not have all your bases cover. It ends up helping you more than hurting in the end FWIW. Also enables micromanagement but that kinda comes with the territory.
Boutdamtime
Politicker
0
Client Executive
I absolutely hate this shit. I would 100% look for another company. My previous company used to track our location via our work cell phones and it was ALWAYS used to micromanage our every waking moment. Did they catch some dirt bags lying on their mileage report? Sure. Did it ruin the culture? Yes. Not only do I just not like it I think it’s a disgusting invasion of privacy that probably started in some underground NSA facility before it was commercialized....but if what everyone says is true there’s probably a lot more places using it than we might think. But, I never use a company phone now so won’t affect me ;)
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
Oh there is no culture here.  Or at least no positive culture.
Boutdamtime
Politicker
0
Client Executive
Now I feel THAT in my plums
rvb
Good Citizen
0
Sales Consultant
Definitely part of the times, so I would not start thinking about leaving your company for this. Question is how is mgmt communicating about these changes? Can you bring up privacy matters and are they actually listening, etc.
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
Yeah there are 2 main things I don't like about it.  1) It doesnt allow for the best BUYING experience.  It makes it more about me and not the client. 2) There are usually dumb takeaways from the data that don't make much sense, but then are forced in to your sales cycle.  So if a couple people happened to talk about bananas during successful calls, next thing you know management will be saying "Hey everyone,  make sure you mention bananas at least 3 times per client call!"
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
Oh man I would hate this!
Savagedoge
Tycoon
0
Account Executive
I sell a competitor too in the space lol. Honestly I thought everyone records calls nonetheless. With permission and everything that comes with it, of course. But I get ya, first time I heard of something like this, it seemed creepy. I don’t mind at all now after a year and half.
ARRisLife
Politicker
0
Account Executive
@FeelItInMyPlums I hear your concern here. I just joined a company that uses something similar... there's a few out there I'm sure you could guess.  Ultimately, it comes down to how they're going to use it from a management level. Are they going to nit pic and get all over your case or will it be for constructive feedback with a trusted manager? I will say that as a new rep at a new company it's been a real advantage to be able to listen to tons of great calls from all through the opportunity lifecycle. My last org did not have this so you'd be creeping calendars trying to join calls and then its just awkward to have a few new reps in all your meetings listening in. From an onboarding perspective it's pretty great. From what I've seen so far the management isn't using it as a micromanagement tool but a feedback loop which is what you would hope for but I emphasize with your pause of concern on this. 
Good Luck! 
FeelItInMyPlums
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Account Executive
Yeah funny thing is I think that portion of it could be very valuable (I would have loved to have a library of previous sales calls to listen in to).  But when I see things like "how often your reps bring up topic x" then it leads me to assume just one thing.  Pure, inescapable, micromanagement.
Kanyebut4sales
WR Lieutenant
0
Account Executive
Everyone does this and it’s not creepy and it’s actually extremely helpful for the business. I would ask yourself deep down why you don’t want your employer to be able to listen to your calls it may come from a place of self-consciousness in your sales ability
Derrbeahr
Good Citizen
0
DM
"Conversational Intelligence from Insight Squared"This sounds like a math problem about when two trains will get to Denver. 
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