Sales Execution Revenue Collaboration & Governance

Traditional Conversation Intelligence Is Dead

Headshot photograph of Jeanne Ford, Product Marketing Director at Clari

Jeanne Ford
Director, Product Marketing

Published

Updated

Ready to take your revenue to new heights?

Stylized illustration of a chat message icon over overlapping circles
Stylized illustration of a chat message icon over overlapping circles

Traditional conversation intelligence is dead.

It’s true. 

In today’s economy, tools that aren’t doing what teams need are getting cut—and getting cut fast. Rightfully so. 

Why spend money on technology that isn’t proactively saving you time or making you money?

Yet, that’s exactly what is happening with traditional conversation intelligence. It’s become commoditized—unable to keep up with changing revenue needs.

First, let’s define conversation intelligence. According to G2, conversation intelligence (CI) software records, transcribes, and analyzes sales calls.

Sales teams are recording calls, but nothing happens with those recordings. Or, if something does happen, it’s marginal compared to the larger business.

It’s easy to understand why. Sales professionals need to find time, which they don’t have, to sift through and share those calls in order to assess the data in those calls. That’s not scalable, especially as sales leaders grow their teams and have less time for remedial tasks. So most of the time, those calls sit there unused. 

All of this valuable call information is collected, but rarely is it used to provide value or gain insights.

Companies are paying a lot for glorified call recorders.

Traditional conversation intelligence vs. Actionable Conversation Intelligence

Most tools on the market are traditional conversation intelligence. They’re passive. 

The new era of conversation intelligence has evolved into Actionable Conversation Intelligence.

Actionable Conversation Intelligence (Actionable CI) leverages artificial intelligence to do the work for you, and drive immediate impact. That’s why Clari acquired Wingman (now Clari Copilot). It’s conversation intelligence that works for you. 

How do you spot the difference? There are a few characteristics of Actionable CI to look out for.

Traits of Actionable Conversation Intelligence tools

1. Real-time recording and transcription

With traditional conversation intelligence, calls are recorded and transcribed after the call, which is fine if you’re looking for a call recorder. 

But with Actionable Conversation Intelligence, calls are recorded and transcribed in real time. Why does that matter? Because doing so unlocks active coaching and smarter conversation intelligence data usable within revenue workflows.

2. Active coaching

Illustration titled Enable Active Coaching When It Actually Matters showing what goes into active coaching via actionable conversation intelligence

The way coaching is done today, sales managers provide battlecards, competitive intelligence, and other sales resources before a call, hoping reps will retain information and apply it at the right time. Or, managers listen in on calls and recordings to reactively coach with follow-up tips or materials after the fact. 

With Actionable CI, the technology itself listens in on every one of your reps’ calls, listening for keywords and phrases, serving up the right battlecards, materials, and coaching cues in the moment. All the before and after coaching now goes into live calls for real-time coaching when it actually matters.

And managers don’t have to be on every call live themselves, which means active coaching can be done at scale.

3. Embedded call data that contributes to the bigger picture

Traditional conversation intelligence tools are often standalone software that is most leveraged by reps and sales manager power users. That data can be integrated into revenue platforms such as Clari, but requires managing multiple tools and technologies.

Clari acquired Wingman (now Clari Copilot) to build next-generation conversation intelligence, CI that does something with call data beyond call recording and referencing. With Copilot’s Actionable Conversation Intelligence, you are connecting all of your revenue data conversation intelligence, pipeline, forecasting, and activity datain a single revenue platform, giving you more opportunities to make a true impact on prospects and customers.

Clari’s industry-leading Revenue Collaboration & Governance Platform, combined with Clari Copilot’s best-in-class capabilities, helps you effectively manage forecasts, deal health, and pipeline to drive true revenue precision. 

As you look at your tech stack, look for ways Actionable Conversation Intelligence can benefit your organization, so you aren’t stuck with a passive call recorder that requires constant management and upkeep. Your technology should proactively work for you, helping you grow your business and drive predictable revenue. 

Read more: