Gong, a software company specializing in revenue/sales team tools, has unveiled new AI features as part of its mission to enhance their offerings. Gong recently introduced Call Spotlight, an AI-powered audio/video call summarization and insights generator. Now, the company is launching an upgraded version of Gong Forecast, its revenue forecasting feature, which utilizes machine learning (ML) models trained on 2.5 billion customer interactions.
More Accurate Forecasts with AI
Gong claims that Gong Forecast, available at no extra cost to paying Gong subscribers, is 20% more accurate than relying solely on customer relationship management (CRM) data. By leveraging conversational intelligence and real-time customer interactions, Gong Forecast provides more precise and accurate predictions for revenue teams. Sherry Wu, Director of Product Marketing at Gong, emphasizes the power of combining CRM data with conversational intelligence: “When we think about predictions that are fueled by not just CRM data, but conversational intelligence, real-time customer interactions—those create a much more powerful, precise, accurate prediction.”
“Just because pricing is mentioned doesn’t mean that’s a good sign. What context is it mentioned in? Is it mentioned in the context of ‘this price is too high for us,’ or is it mentioned in the context of, ‘we have plenty of budget to pay for this and we actually think this price point is fair’?”
Gong Forecast analyzes approximately 300 distinct “buying signals” gathered from conversations between sales representatives and prospective clients. This analysis includes sentiment analysis and contextual understanding rather than relying solely on keyword flagging. By understanding the nuance of the context, Gong can determine whether a signal is positive or negative, thus affecting the likelihood of a deal closing.
Automating and Improving Forecasts
Gong Forecast aims to automate and improve the process of creating revenue forecasts. By automatically transcribing and analyzing calls and emails, Gong Forecast eliminates the need for manual data entry into CRMs or spreadsheets. This tool allows revenue team members and sales representatives to be fully present during calls and use their soft skills to focus on the needs of the prospective client.
In addition to historic deal closing ratios and data, Gong Forecast assigns a deal likelihood score to deals in the open pipeline. These scores are based on the substance of customer interactions, providing sales leaders with more accurate predictions for expected revenue. By using Gong Forecast, sales teams can gain a better understanding of individual deals and the overall revenue the team is projected to bring in.
“We’ll layer on a customer-specific model that will learn [each customer’s] business over time and continue to fine-tune and tweak those predictions to become even more accurate.”
Gong Forecast starts working as soon as a customer transfers their audio and CRM data to the platform. The forecasting improves over time as Gong’s ML algorithms observe and analyze real-time conversations. It is important to note that Gong Forecast is tailored to each sales representative and team, taking into account their specific business requirements.
Data Privacy and Security
While Gong Forecast offers more accurate revenue predictions, it requires customers to entrust the company with their proprietary data. Gong assures its customers that their data is protected with enterprise-grade security and strict data privacy measures. Notably, Gong does not share customer data with third parties.
“Most folks are really open to having Gong enabled because of what it’s able to deliver on the back end.”
According to Gong, over 250 customers have already incorporated Gong Forecast into their workflow, including digital adoption company WalkMe. The integration of Gong Forecast has provided WalkMe’s revenue organization with complete insights and empowered them to elevate their forecast and deal outcomes.
