Conversational Sales Platforms: How to Improve Sales Conversations and Drive Conversions

Today’s B2B buyers are highly educated about solutions and the competitive landscape. In fact, 72% of buyers would rather not speak with sellers at all. That’s because sellers frequently lack the expertise to answer difficult questions and add value to conversations. What they need is a conversational sales platform that will empower them to meet buyer expectations and have better conversations.

After all, every sales conversation is incredibly important. With sellers having 11.7% fewer conversations year-over-year, they need to nail every conversation to even have a chance at driving conversions and making quota. Conversational sales platforms provide reps with in-the-moment guidance so they can deliver more value and convert pipeline.

What is a Conversational Sales Platform?

A conversational sales platform is an all-in-one software solution that equips sales reps with real-time information, guidance, and resources to enhance their sales conversations. These platforms integrate artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and sales training content to help reps respond to buyer questions with confidence, making conversations more engaging and productive.

Best Sales Conversation Practices

To make the most of conversational sales platforms, there are several established best practices that sales reps should keep in mind:

• Listen more, talk less: Active listening is crucial for understanding buyer needs. Instead of dominating the conversation, allow the buyer to express their concerns and then address them.
• Personalize the conversation: Leverage the data and insights provided by the conversational sales platform to tailor your messaging and approach to each buyer.
• Deliver value: Your primary focus should be providing value to the buyer. Answer their questions, share relevant information, and showcase your expertise. Avoid irrelevant sales pitches.
• Continuously adapt: As you gather more information throughout the conversation, update your approach and ensure your messaging remains relevant and resonates with the buyer.

5 Toughest Sales Questions and How to Respond

No matter how experienced a seller is, it’s easy for them to get stumped when a buyer asks a difficult question. Conversational sales platforms are built to handle these tough questions by equipping reps with what to say right when the question is asked. Here are the 5 toughest sales questions and how our own team uses our AI-powered conversational sales platform to handle them.

1. “How Do You Compare to (Big Name Competitor)?”

Let’s face it, an educated buyer is going to be looking at the competition. But AI-powered guidance can give sellers a powerful advantage by serving up competitive battlecards the moment a competitor is mentioned.

Example

Competitor: Goliath Corp.

The buyer just mentioned one of our competitors. Here’s a battlecard detailing how we compare. Goliath Corp Battlecard

2. “What’s the ROI of Your Solution?”

Great sellers often need to be able to make accurate ROI projections in order to win business. One way to handle this is by surfacing an ROI calculator for sellers automatically the moment a buyer asks about ROI. Different calculators could be served up based on business size or industry.

Example

ROI – Enterprise Fintech

Here is a link to our ROI calculator for enterprise FinTech companies.

3. “Is Your Solution Compliant with Industry Regulations?”

In many industries, sellers will never even get an opportunity to sell their solution until they can prove that it’s compliant. Even if your SDRs aren’t IT or compliance experts, Revenue.io can deliver guidance that helps them sound like they are.

Example

Compliance

Looks like you were asked about compliance. Be sure to mention:

• We are SOC II Certified
• Our solution is TCPA and GDPR compliant
• We’re HIPAA certified
• We offer role-based permissions at the user and team level

4. “How Do You Integrate with (Fill in the Blank)?”

In B2B sales, tough technical questions are par for the course. Real-time notifications from your conversational sales platform can provide sellers with answers to even the toughest technical questions in real time.

Example

Salesforce Integration – Custom Fields

Sounds like they asked about custom fields in Salesforce. Here is a list of all the custom fields that come with our managed package. Link

5. “What Pricing Discounts Do You Offer?”

Pricing isn’t always cut-and-dry at B2B companies. There are often bulk discounts or other incentives available to help reps close the deal. Revenue.io can serve up-to-date pricing information including available discounts and incentives.

Example

Pricing – Bulk Discounts

Buyer asking about bulk discounts? We are currently offering:
-10% per seat discount for deals over 100 seats
-15% discounts for deals over 300 seats.
Use our pricing calculator to generate an estimate.

Key Platform Features to Improve Sales Conversations

Conversational sales platforms offer a range of features designed to enhance sales conversations. Some key features to consider when selecting a platform include:

• Real-time guidance: Platforms should provide real-time, in-the-moment assistance to help sales reps effectively address buyer questions and provide relevant information.
• Data analytics: A robust analytics suite is crucial for understanding buyer behavior and preferences, allowing your sales team to tailor their approach accordingly.
• Conversation intelligence: Advanced platforms can track conversations to provide even more insights and feedback, helping your sales team continually improve their performance.

Strategies for Driving Conversions Through Conversational Sales Platforms

Conversational sales platforms are revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers, offering a more personalized and engaging approach to drive conversions. By leveraging the power of real-time communication, businesses can significantly increase their conversion rates, foster customer loyalty, and boost their bottom line.

One of the key strategies to drive conversions through conversational sales platforms is the use of personalization. This involves tailoring your interactions to each individual customer, based on their preferences, behaviors, and past interactions. Personalization can dramatically increase engagement levels, as customers feel that they are being understood and valued.

Another powerful strategy is the use of analytics and AI-powered insights. By analyzing customer data, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors. This information can be used to optimize the sales process, identify potential upselling or cross-selling opportunities, and predict future customer behavior.

Integrating a conversational sales platform with other marketing and sales tools can create a seamless customer journey, from initial engagement through to conversion and beyond. By providing a unified experience across all touchpoints, businesses can ensure that their customers stay engaged and committed to their brand.

How to Measure Success

Measuring success with conversational sales platforms is a critical aspect of any business strategy. Revenue.io, as a leading provider in this space, offers a range of robust analytical tools and metrics to help companies track their performance and achieve their goals.

Firstly, engagement metrics are pivotal. Monitoring the frequency and duration of interactions can provide insight into how effectively your team is engaging customers. High levels of engagement are often indicative of a superior customer experience, which is likely to lead to higher conversion rates.

Secondly, tracking conversion rates is essential. This metric measures the percentage of conversations that result in a desired action, such as a sale or sign-up. A high conversion rate suggests that your messaging is resonating with customers and compelling them to act.

Customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) also play a vital role. These scores provide direct feedback on the customer’s experience, allowing you to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. A high CSAT score is typically associated with increased customer loyalty and repeat business.

Furthermore, Revenue.io’s platform offers AI-powered insights that can help identify trends and patterns in your data. These insights can enable proactive decision-making, helping you optimize your sales processes and drive better results.

Measuring success with conversational sales platforms involves monitoring a variety of metrics and leveraging the power of AI. With Revenue.io, businesses have the tools they need to effectively measure their performance and drive continuous improvement. Revenue.io offers a comprehensive conversational sales platform that guides sellers before, during, and after every conversation.