SalesTechStar Interview with Vincent Paquet, Chief Product Officer at Dialpad

Vincent Paquet, Chief Product Officer at Dialpad chats with SalesTechStar to elaborate more on the benefits of using AI to empower modern sales while taking us through some of Dialpad’s latest AI enhancements:

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Hi Vincent, we’d love to hear about Dialpad’s recent AI suite and the benefits it provides end users?

Today, sales teams often juggle an average of ten applications to close a single deal, which pulls even the most brilliant sellers out of the conversation and into the details of managing leads, typing recaps, and updating managers. Ai Sales eliminates the need for multiple disjointed tools and delivers the intelligence that sellers need exactly at the moment that they need it. Sellers can follow and rely on customized sales playbooks showing directly in the app – specific to their business and their sales cycle – to help them properly qualify every opportunity, handle objections, accurately position their solutions against the competition, and utilize all the best practices meticulously honed by their managers.

What makes Ai Sales unique is that it leverages over six billion minutes of business conversations from meetings and phone calls to better understand and coach sellers through the sales process. This business-specific data set, powered by our proprietary LLM, DialpadGPT, delivers unparalleled accuracy for Dialpad customers and brings AI-powered enhancements to every stage of the sales process, benefiting sellers, managers, and, ultimately, the business by driving more revenue.

What do sales teams oftentimes do wrong when implementing AI-powered sales tech into their sales routine and processes?

It’s important for sales teams to take the time to properly onboard in order to understand how to get the most use out of the insights AI is providing them.

One of the greatest benefits of AI-powered sales tech is the granular, tailored and use-case-specific insights it gives teams on aspects such as customer sentiment, real-time assist cards and playbooks. Because of this, it’s important for sales leaders and managers to take the time to acquaint their team with the best ways to use those insights to their benefit, otherwise, the AI tool becomes more of a burden than a productivity booster.

That’s why Dialpad works closely with new customers and partners to make sure they understand how to get the most out of their sales insights.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions surrounding AI and sales today?

One of the largest misconceptions surrounding AI and sales today is the idea that sales representatives are being entirely phased out by AI and that sales functions are being entirely operated by AI. The reality is quite the opposite. In fact, the goal of solutions like Dialpad’s Ai Sales is to serve as an additive tool to help sales professionals cut time spent on rote processes so they can better serve their customers in human-to-human interactions. Sales teams that choose to leave customer relations up to computers alone are neglecting the very heart of sales and customer service which is human connection. Though AI continues to become more sophisticated, there will always have to be a strong partnership between humans and AI to be successful — think of making every sales rep your best sales rep.

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Can you talk about the projected impact of AI across sales and marketing: what AI enhancements from around the world have piqued your interest and how do you feel the current AI development cycle will reshape the future of sales and marketing?

AI is already having a massive impact on the sales industry, from revenue growth to enhanced productivity and collaboration. In fact, 83% of sales teams with AI saw revenue growth in the past year — versus 66% of teams without AI. AI development is rapidly evolving, and 2024 is the year we’re really seeing adoption across industries, including sales, take off in a tangible way and deliver meaningful ROI. At Dialpad, customers are seeing those benefits, including improved customer satisfaction (14% increase on average), cost savings (18% reduction on average), time savings, and the ability for contact centers and sales agents to drive more sales. These kinds of returns are why over 70,000 brands, including Netflix, Uber, and RE/MAX, and millions of individuals have chosen Dialpad to advance their business’s sales and support functions.

What’s piquing my interest most at the moment is the evolution of speech recognition and chatbots in the customer experience industry. The AI available to teams to offer human-like customer support 24/7 is changing the game, and I’m interested to see how it continues to evolve as AI becomes more sophisticated.

Five fundamental tips you’d share with first-time users of AI-powered sales tech?

Select the right salestech for your team: The industry is exploding with “AI-powered” tools so it’s imperative that you understand what AI offerings a specific sales tool provides and make sure those offerings meet your business needs. Dialpad’s Ai Sales is tailored specifically for sales representatives and leaders to streamline the sales process, giving teams insights that directly correlate to their sales operations and customers.

Invest in ongoing training: Especially if your team has never used an AI-powered sales tool before, it’s essential to set your representatives up for success by ensuring that your vendor will provide comprehensive training on how to use the tool, interpret insights, and administer the backend. For example, Dialpad offers hands-on onboarding for new customers and support along the way to ensure you’re getting the most out of our features and aren’t wasting time ramping up but spending time selling.

Make sure your data and customer data are protected: Beyond your compliance obligations, you should be aware of—and have answers ready to alleviate—concerns and questions that customers may ask you about how their data from calls will be used. This should be a key item on your checklist when shopping for vendors. In our case, Dialpad’s Ai Sales is built on our own proprietary LLM, ensuring all customer data is stored in-house without being sent out to a third party and always allowing customers to opt out of data collection.

Integrate with your CRM: As a best practice, your tech stack should be integrated with each other, and your AI-powered sales tech is no different. Try to choose a solution that integrates with your customer relationship management (CRM) system for a unified view of customer interactions. For example, Dialpad’s Ai Sales integrates seamlessly with popular CRMs like Salesforce, Hubspot, ServiceNow and others to keep interactions logged in one place.

Stay agile and curious: AI development is moving at a rapid pace. Don’t be afraid to refine your strategy, check out new features and customize your workflows to benefit your teams most at a given moment. Just as AI is changing rapidly, so are customer expectations, so it’s important to make sure you’re at the cutting edge and getting the most out of your sales tech to best benefit your customers.

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