Investec optimizes sales calls with conversation intelligence in Dynamics 365 Sales

Investec wanted to help its client-facing teams listen directly to customers and build more valuable relationships. This made conversation intelligence appealing because it automatically transcribes sales calls and analyzes the content, sentiment, and participants’ behavior. Conversation intelligence takes advantage of Microsoft advancements in AI and natural language processing to automatically extract meaningful insights from sales calls. With these insights, Investec can review salespeople's conversation styles, help coach individuals on best practice, keep track of sales conversations, build stronger client relationships, and ultimately close deals faster.

“We’ve been on a Dynamics 365 journey for some time and have fully adopted a cloud-based Azure strategy,” says Lee O’Brien, Group Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at Investec. “By extending the power of our Microsoft ecosystem, we can indulge our imagination and unlock the next generation of value quicker.”

Putting conversation intelligence to the test

Investec launched a pilot deployment of conversation intelligence so it could generate more insight into keyword patterns and use sentiment analysis to better understand customers’ goals, challenges, and needs, and then identify next steps for sales. 

The pilot focused on sales and service calls in two departments, Treasury Risk Solutions (TRS) and the Asset Finance Group (AFG). TRS is sales-oriented and wanted to drive sales quality, be more engaging, and offer full, holistic service for every customer and lead. AFG is focused on customer service, and it wanted to replace manual processes, streamline customer engagements, and gather high-fidelity signals around customer requirements and sentiment. Ultimately, Investec used this initial Sales Insights for Dynamics 365 Sales implementation to identify multiple user cases and value propositions for conversation intelligence that could be used throughout the company.        

The Investec team uses conversation intelligence to surface keywords and other relevant conversation data to help spot trends and quickly get a pulse on their customers. The team can surface the top discussion topics for any given period and automatically tag them for review. It can then review individual customer conversations or see a complete picture using the conversation intelligence dashboard. 

“I think the real tangible benefit of conversation intelligence is how we can capture all this call data accurately and how we can use all of that automation to make sure we don’t miss anything,” says O’Brien. 

The design and UI for conversation intelligence is also an important component of keeping Investec teams engaged and interested in the insights. “User-friendliness matters,” says Jody Teren, Group Engagement Lead for the AI Data Team at Investec. “With the interactive, intuitive, and engaging UI in conversation intelligence, our Investec teams can easily drill down for more detail to make perfect sense of the information they’re given.” 

Supporting remote selling during and after COVID-19

Digital transformation isn’t the only thing driving a new shift in the way Investec works. 

Any sales cycle benefits from consistent, friendly, and open communication between sales staff and customers. But the onset of COVID-19 meant no more friendly handshakes, face-to-face client meetings, and carefree travel, at least for the time being. This has made remote sales calls with current and potential customers more critical and Investec’s adoption of conversation intelligence even more timely. 

Before COVID-19, Investec could benefit from close team interactions. But during the pandemic, it was not possible to work together face-to-face. Now, the managers use conversation intelligence to keep track of team interactions in real time, even when everyone is working from different locations. With conversation intelligence, they have the opportunity for coaching on new ways to engage and increase customer satisfaction despite the unusual circumstances. 

Investec’s team envisions continuing to use conversation intelligence after COVID-19. In fact, according to O’Brien, the company has tentative plans already in place for implementing the conversation intelligence functionality throughout the organization. 

“COVID-19 has really accelerated the need to be on the front foot with your digital transformation strategy,” O’Brien explains.

Driving smarter sales communications now—and in the future

For individual Investec teams, the combination of a quality transcript for each call and the ability to play back conversations and extract action items helps them keep calls productive, follow up quickly, and preserve valuable customer information. Top sales performers at Investec drive their own learning by listening to their own calls. 

With Dynamics 365 Sales, Investec automatically incorporates conversation intelligence data across its customer engagement platform, saving time on manual entry, reducing overhead, and building a comprehensive customer view. Investec teams now have the automated tools they need to transcribe, record, and log calls. They can also take notes, see relevant pop-up alerts and reminders in calls, or search call attributes to uncover business insights, such as identifying positive sentiment and other buying signals.

To get the full benefits and value of conversation intelligence, businesses must listen to the data they’re getting and then adapt to optimize their sales practices. It might not always be easy to overhaul processes, but, O’Brien adds, those adaptations are well worth the challenges. “Once you digitize voice, you can drive a huge amount of automation,” he explains. “You can produce valuable insights that can benefit customers. I think the obviousness of the benefit will outlive any challenges.”