Gong

As HubSpot grew rapidly, it needed a solution that would scale and support its coaching culture. Their current sales and coaching process was not sustainable. With hundreds of salespeople over seven continents, coaching at scale was a huge challenge. HubSpot was trying to solve two big issues: Reduce new rep ramp time and Increase rep productivity. In a pre-Gong world, it was extremely challenging to understand if a new rep was actually learning the material. The same sort of uncertainty existed when it came to new product/feature launches. Salespeople need to get trained quickly, efficiently, and consistently. But it’s tricky to understand how quickly salespeople are adopting the playbooks and sound bites created for new product launches — especially pre-Gong. In fact, there really wasn’t a way to effectively track adoption.

Quotient Technology, a leading digital promotions and media technology company, was facing a challenge in understanding the unfiltered voice of its customers and anticipating their needs in a constantly changing market. The company needed a solution that would allow them to gain a more authentic and accurate understanding of their customers' sentiments, enabling them to deliver better outcomes. The challenge was not just about course-correcting after the fact, but about being able to point their services in the right direction from the start. The company was also looking for a way to drive visibility regarding revenue strategy and organizational decision-making.

Genesys, a company that sells customer experience and contact center technology, was facing challenges in managing its sales process. The sales managers were operating in a world of “guessing and speculating” about where to spend their time and effort for maximum efficiency. They were scaling rapidly, yet struggling to onboard efficiently. The process of preparing for a call was time-consuming and did not scale. Sales managers were heavily involved in every deal, which spread them thin and did not allow them to deep dive into each deal. The process was more about “following fields in the company’s CRM” and then using one-on-one meetings to “add color” to better understand each deal.

Workato, an Enterprise Automation platform, was in a phase of hypergrowth and was relying heavily on anecdotal data for tracking demand generation. This approach was restricting their visibility into the full sales funnel. The sales team was growing rapidly and was looking for a way to scale the team consistently while providing top-notch training and guidance. The uncertainty of relying on anecdotal data was not sitting well with Bhaskar Roy, Head of Growth and Marketing at Workato, whose marketing team is driven by the number of opportunities it generates. The team was ready for a change and was looking for a solution that could provide them with accurate and reliable data.

Sendoso, a rapidly growing company, was struggling to analyze its retention data. The Customer Success team wanted to understand what was causing churn and what was driving positive retention numbers. The company's annual contracts meant that a customer lifecycle was long, making it difficult to track what happened during that span that led to a renewal or churn. The reasons for sales and churn had also changed over the years due to the company's rapid growth and scaling. The team was also struggling with inefficient and redundant handoffs from the Account Executive (AE) to the Customer Success (CS) team.

Appen’s Customer Success team was struggling with managing their communication with customers. The team was often engaged in the “fun” game of Telephone, which turned out to be frustrating, inefficient, and often a huge waste of time and effort. There was no way to go back and validate what was actually said in the call. This ended up being a huge pain point for the CSM team. Moreover, the onboarding process for a new CSM was painfully long, taking up to six months. The first three months were reserved for just learning about AI, learning about data labeling, learning about machine learning, and really getting up to speed with the industry. The next three months were spent learning the different use cases on the platform.

Drift, a conversational marketing platform, was experiencing hypergrowth. With the expansion of its team, product, and customer base, the potential for redundancies and inefficiencies increased. The leadership team was spending countless hours on phone calls with sales reps and prospects, trying to understand what was and was not working. There was no consistency around pitches or coaching new reps. The lack of clarity was not limited to the Sales Team. Drift’s Product Marketing Manager, Daphne Funston, would hear different issues from the customer when they spoke with the CSM and the product team. The Drift team needed a solution quickly.

With the impact of COVID-19, simPRO needed a way to strengthen and develop their new remote sales process. The company was initially structured along geographic lines, with offices operating as independent units. However, they decided to restructure their business units along functional lines, bringing together colleagues from around the world—regardless of location. The pandemic forced them to put these plans on hold. When the lockdowns persisted, they decided to move forward with the reorganisation and invest in their future. They wanted insight into the remote sales process, including intel about their customers’ needs and their reps’ performance.

EdgePetrol, a UK-based software company that specialises in fuel price optimisation, was facing challenges in meeting their pipeline goals. Their prospect base was so used to the status quo, they didn’t recognize their situation as problematic, or see a need for a solution. With a global pandemic and an off-kilter economy, EdgePetrol needed new ways to build a highly qualified pipeline and communicate its product’s value so it could close big deals. The company was also transitioning from a field sales team to an inside sales team due to the pandemic, which presented its own set of challenges.

Demandbase, a marketing technology company, was aware of the vast marketplace opportunities available but lacked a reliable method to uncover them. They needed a solution grounded in reality that could identify areas for improvement and growth to generate more revenue. The company was also facing the challenge of integrating the functionality of three new companies it had recently absorbed. This required a collaborative approach and the identification of data that could help increase their Average Contract Value (ACV).

Filtered, a UK-based learning technology and content company, was seeking ways to grow its revenue and better coach its sales reps. As the company grew, the need for a Revenue Intelligence tool became apparent. The company wanted to focus on its most important accounts and make the most of its pipeline. In early 2020, the Filtered sales team spent a lot of time sharpening its sales skills and methodologies. They implemented a more deliberate and structured sales framework, began running more internal demos, and started a sales book club. However, they needed something more to take their efforts to the next level.

Mintel, a global leader in market research, was facing a challenge in improving their efficiency. With a large portfolio of over 6,000 clients worldwide, it was difficult for them to detect patterns in calls, which delayed improvements to customer service processes. They needed a single tool that could provide guidance based on data from feedback in client calls. The company was also struggling with getting internal teams up to speed with new initiatives, which often resulted in lost or stalled deals. The lack of a tool to review calls meant that the knowledge gap was not being closed quickly enough.

Corporate Traveler’s customer success (CS) team wanted to invest in efficiency as a way to boost its customer adoption and retention rates. During the pandemic, they started using Gong, and have seen their adoption and retention rates improve dramatically. By streamlining their handover system and focusing on an accurate, trackable voice of the customer, Corporate Traveler has leveled up their CS game.

Rapid7, a cybersecurity firm, was struggling to understand the voice of its customers to win more deals. The majority of its customer interactions were conducted via phone and web meetings, and the leadership team spent a significant amount of time gathering information from these calls to make critical business decisions. However, the information they received was anecdotal and often distorted as it was passed from person to person. This, along with a limited subset of customer interactions, made it nearly impossible to make sound decisions about where to focus their efforts and how to address the market's needs.

Iron Mountain, a Boston-based enterprise information management firm, had to adjust to a fully remote work environment due to the pandemic. This sudden shift posed several challenges, including onboarding new reps, managing people remotely, and keeping teams aligned. They also needed to understand what was happening in sales calls and which actions to take based on their conversational data. Before implementing Gong, Iron Mountain’s new reps participated in “physical ride-alongs,” sitting beside a seasoned rep, headphones on. In a working-from-home world, this wasn’t possible. Additionally, trying to find the right call to listen to had always been a hit or miss exercise. As a result, they couldn’t target specific behaviors, and that was something they wanted to correct.

Culture Amp, an employee experience platform, was facing challenges due to its continuous growth. The company was at risk of falling behind and encountering circumstances that could cause misalignment within their priorities and processes. As a company working in the cultural space, they needed to stay ahead of evolving trends, especially during the shift to remote work and the onset of the 'great resignation'. The company also faced difficulties in aligning departments towards common goals as it scaled. The larger the organization grew, the more disparate the tasks became, leading to disagreements about priorities. Another challenge was the need to improve deal velocity, a crucial part of company growth. Culture Amp noticed that not all sales calls ended with clear next steps, slowing down their processes.

Gainsight, a platform that aids companies in driving growth through customer-led, product-led, and community-led strategies, was facing the challenge of keeping up with changing market trends. The company needed an intuitive and easy way to surface insights about their prospects and customers. As a large organization with nearly 1,400 global employees, Gainsight required a solution that could be easily adopted across all teams and provide immediate and significant impact. The CEO, Nick Mehta, was looking for a tool that could help him understand the authentic voice of Gainsight prospects and customers, and how market trends impact them and the overall business.

Before the implementation of Gong, Handshake’s forecast information was scattered across various systems, making it difficult to get a comprehensive view of the sales pipeline. Each opportunity had to be individually assessed, which was a time-consuming process. The lack of a unified system led to inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the sales process. The sales team was spending a significant amount of time on low-value tasks such as searching for data in multiple tools and maintaining pipeline hygiene. Poor pipeline hygiene was a common issue, with reps having to open dozens of opportunities, click through multiple fields within each opportunity, change a few bits of information, and save. This process had to be repeated for each opportunity, making it painstakingly slow and inefficient.

Highspot, a sales enablement software company, was faced with the challenge of implementing a new sales methodology. The company wanted to offer a series of trainings to help sales reps understand the messaging and how to use it with clarity and precision. The implementation required managers, sales reps, and marketing to be on the same page about goals and outcomes. They also wanted to monitor what was working and what wasn't throughout the process. The macro-economic environment was shifting, adding pressure on the sellers. Therefore, Highspot needed to make learning light and create a way for their sellers to quickly adapt to the changes.

Influitive, a pioneer in advocate marketing, was in search of a platform that could significantly impact their sales, growth, and customer retention. The company was struggling to find insights that could inform actions leading to substantial improvements. The absence of Gong, a platform they had previously used, left many sales representatives feeling as though they had lost their most productive tool. When Influitive switched to a competitor, they lost the comprehensive view of their sales cycle, from deal health to talk tracks, which had previously helped to streamline work across departments. The alternative solutions did not seem to be designed with the sales representative in mind, leading to a noticeable drop in productivity.

Isos Technology, a leading IT services and consulting company, was facing a significant challenge in managing its sales operations. The multitude of technology solutions available in the market was causing confusion and inefficiency. The company's Digital Sales Director, Lia Wood, was seeking a single, comprehensive tool that could streamline their efforts, allowing them to focus on their highest priorities. The challenge was to find a solution that could reduce the need for multitasking, thereby enabling the sales team to be more present and focused on their tasks. The ideal solution would also need to provide a platform for effective onboarding, coaching, and data-driven feedback.

Proposify, a proposal software company, was facing a significant challenge in managing their sales cycle. The information about deals was scattered across multiple platforms, including Salesforce, Gmail, and Chorus. This lack of a unified view led to difficulties in forecasting, resulting in unpredictable monthly numbers and poor revenue alignment. The team often had to rely on gut feelings rather than hard data, making their forecasts unreliable. Additionally, the company was using recording software Chorus to help managers coach reps’ calls, which required them to seek out information from multiple sources. This made it difficult to improve calls and kept the call and forecast coaching separate, leading to a lack of accountability and constant off-forecast situations.

SoftServe, a digital consulting company, was facing operational inefficiencies due to a lack of easily accessible data. The company, with teams based in Ukraine, was operating under challenging circumstances, making productivity a crucial factor. A significant issue was the lack of alignment across teams, leading to gaps between services. The company's intricate sales process was also a concern, as it required a more seamless approach. The absence of data made it impossible to justify the need for restructuring or to identify the areas that required immediate attention. Furthermore, the company was struggling to maintain productivity due to the lack of necessary information.

Sparrow, a San Francisco-based startup founded in 2018, was facing significant challenges in managing and optimizing their sales and marketing processes. The company, which specializes in employee leave management, was struggling with the lack of a system to record or analyze their conversations. This resulted in the team spending valuable time recapping and rescheduling meetings to ensure all members could attend. The company was also grappling with the challenge of keeping their sales team updated and trained, especially in a fast-paced startup environment where the product and business are constantly evolving. The traditional methods of running meetings, taking notes by hand, and scheduling follow-up meetings were proving to be inefficient and time-consuming.

Tackle.io, a zero-engineering platform that provides a go-to-market solution to help B2B software companies establish, operate, and scale sales through the cloud, was facing a significant challenge with forecasting. The company was spending over 10 hours per week on forecasting tasks, which involved going through spreadsheets, piecing together data, and having endless conversations with sales leaders and sales reps. This was not only time-consuming but also inefficient. The company's sales leaders were dedicating their one-on-ones to forecasting, taking away from valuable leadership and coaching time. This was starting to weigh on the company's Vice President of Sales, Jeramee Waldum, who was striving to build a sales organization that wasn’t of the super-high pressure mold.

Tinuiti, a leading advertising and public relations company, was facing a significant challenge with its manual sales process. The company had little to no analytics or data-backed insights to support its sales operations. The data they had was often insufficient and not the 'right' data that could drive their growth. The company was struggling to identify cross-selling opportunities and was in dire need of a solution that could help them grow at scale. The sales process was long and complex, and the company needed a way to capture, store, and ensure sales information was quickly and accurately searchable. The lack of an efficient system was hindering their growth and evolution.

Clearbit, a marketing intelligence platform, was facing a challenge in accessing the voice of the customer and data to better inform decisions around retention goals in their business. The company, which helps its clients engage with the right buyers at the right time by parsing millions of customer data points in real-time, needed a way to better understand its customers and their needs. The variations in retention over the past few years had forced the team to evaluate what they were doing well and what needed improvement. They needed a solution that would help them understand these variations and make smarter decisions, focusing their energy effectively rather than chasing every churn event in the same manner.

ComplyAdvantage, a Regulation Technology (RegTech) organization that provides anti-money laundering technology, was facing a challenge in efficiently ramping up new hires as the company scaled rapidly. The Head of Revenue Operations (RevOps), Jonny, was tasked with reviewing the technology stack to ensure it was as streamlined as possible while maintaining the necessary components for the RevOps team to effectively reach their goals. With over 60 sales enablement tools being used by the team, this was a significant task. The team was already using Gong, a Revenue Intelligence solution, but not to its full capacity. The tool was primarily used for call recording, with no coaching or trackers in place.

Before the implementation of Gong Forecast, Crayon, a leader in competitive intelligence software, faced significant challenges in managing and forecasting their deal information. The process involved tracking data from multiple sources and manually entering them into a Google Sheet. This method was not only time-consuming but also lacked reliability, leading to a lack of confidence in their forecasts. The team was operating based on opinions rather than data-driven insights, which further complicated the forecasting process. The absence of a single source of truth made it difficult to determine if the forecasts were overly optimistic, too conservative, or simply inaccurate.