Sales enablement AI goes beyond Einstein lead scoring as Brainshark applies sentiment and other analyses to practice videos that salespeople create before meeting customers.
The Salesforce AppExchange features a sales enablement tool from Brainshark that allows customers to roll out new sales content, backgrounders on new products and sales, and training videos to salespeople at the office and in the field.
Brainshark's Machine Analysis engine, announced in June, brings sales enablement AI to Salesforce to aid in sales rep training. The sales enablement tool uses machine learning to score and analyze sales-pitch practice videos created for reps.
The platform's AI algorithms screen for product coverage, key topics, speaking rate and emotions exhibited. By automating this analysis, sales teams can get faster feedback on videos to improve sales coaching.
"Sales readiness is about more than just knowing whether reps have completed a training course or viewed a learning presentation," said Brendan Cournoyer, vice president of marketing at Brainshark. "The real question is can they demonstrate mastery of that information when it matters most?"
The Machine Analysis engine helps make those assessments before sales reps get in front of a customer. Video coaching tools have long been used, but Brainshark adds a sales enablement tool with machine analysis capabilities that provides an initial layer of feedback -- circumventing literal human bottlenecks and speeding up feedback that typically lags because of the volume of videos, lack of reviewers and tight schedules.
AI boosts the sales process
Gartner estimated that 30% of all B2B companies will employ AI to augment at least one of their primary sales processes by 2020. Brainshark provides access to sales enablement AI for midmarket and enterprise B2B companies across a variety of industries -- including tech, manufacturing, medical device and financial services -- to benefit from new machine learning modules.
We're excited to see AI applied in a way that gives sales managers and coaches an automated video screener.
Tracey Abbydirector of global sales and channel enablement, Tenable
Cyberexposure company Tenable, based in Columbia, Md., was among a handful of beta testers, and the sales enablement tool already has helped increase sales, according to Tracey Abby, director of global sales and channel enablement. "For many companies with large sales forces, it's important for managers to be able to easily identify who needs the most coaching and on what," Abby explained. "We're excited to see AI applied in a way that gives sales managers and coaches an automated video screener, pinpointing which reps need the most guidance, based on their video submissions, and why."
To ensure salespeople are on the right track, the application creates a speech-to-text transcript for the audio track of each video that's uploaded -- analyzing words the salesperson uses. Reps are given a score on the effectiveness of their video based on the text analyzed for key words or phrases that the rep should include for a given pitch or answer. The coverage of key topics, along with the speaking rate and message duration, is an important part of the auto-score generated.
Upon further evaluation
Sales enablement AI can also detect personality insights based on facial expressions in each video frame to identify emotional perceptions -- indicating, for example, whether the seller is perceived as happy, contemptuous, open or introverted. "These insights often go unnoticed by a manager," Cournoyer said, "but can help reps better understand how they are perceived when communicating to buyers."
Brainshark's Machine Analysis sales enablement platform's AI algorithms screen for product coverage, key topics, speaking rate and emotions exhibited, so sales teams get faster feedback to improve training.
Automatic scores and feedback further streamline the process before managers review the videos. The input is used by sales reps as a practice tool to improve their performance, while streamlining the process for managers in their own feedback and coaching efforts.
"Managers can prioritize their own video reviews and feedback -- focusing on reps who need the most help, while also easily identifying standout submissions that can be used as models," Abby noted. "These capabilities support greater sales team agility and effectiveness."
In addition, the Brainshark platform provides B2B sales organizations with a sales enablement tool to create their own interactive, video-based learning content, which can be accessed and reviewed at any time and delivered as formal e-learning paths.
