In a digital buying environment full of distractions, converting a prospective customer is not a simple task. Companies waste time and money because of poor visibility and lost connections to sellers — due to non-sales agents supporting a sales use case and ineffective sales processes. Transactional sales are typically single-touch, with the interaction ending in a won or lost deal. Getting a second chance is rare if the initial interaction doesn’t go well, so companies must make the buying process easy.
Forrester’s coverage of conversation intelligence solutions for both B2B revenue and customer service explores capabilities that sit at the intersection of these two markets. B2B revenue solutions are focused on the “long game,” leveraging the numerous opportunities to influence buyer decisions. On the other hand, customer service solutions excel at providing real-time support during in-flight conversations but lack the revenue-centric focus needed to improve sales outcomes. A market of solutions has emerged to fill the gap, concentrating on the transactional single-touch sale.
Real–time revenue execution platforms strengthen prospect identification and digital engagement while also providing capabilities that ensure the best buyer experience. Forrester defines real–time revenue execution platforms as:
Solutions that support company performance in a transactional revenue environment by optimizing marketing spend, pre-call preparation, in-call guidance, and post-call analysis.
Companies use these solutions to connect marketing campaigns to sales, make sure that the buyer is connected to the right seller, and ensure the best sales outcome by identifying engaged buyers and efficiently routing them to a knowledgeable seller (see the figure below). This technology also provides the tools needed to enable the best experience for the buyer, leading to a higher win rate. Revenue leaders implement real-time revenue execution platform offerings to:
- Connect marketing campaigns to sales. According to WordStream’s 2023 Google Ads benchmarks report, the average cost per click was $4.22 in 2023, an increase of 43% from $2.96 in 2022. This rise in costs means revenue teams must validate the marketing activities that are driving engagement. Marketing teams often lose track of buyers once they pass into the contact center, preventing them from optimizing targeting efforts. Capabilities such as dynamic phone numbers can connect the call to the campaign, offering insights into a previously invisible part of the funnel.
- Ensure a connection to the right seller. Often when a buyer calls a company, the call is not answered or is routed to the wrong group. Buyers experiencing this frustration will move on to the next company to make their purchase, wasting the investment that the first company made to get the buyer to engage. Real–time revenue execution platforms help prevent unanswered or misrouted calls through capabilities like providing visibility into drop rates and poorly handled calls.
- Ensure the best seller engagement, now and in the future. Once a buyer is connected to the seller, the focus shifts to ensuring call execution. Capabilities in this category allow companies to offer insights and support during the call to improve seller effectiveness and buyer experience. After the call, real-time revenue execution platforms analyze conversations and identify the seller behaviors that lead to desired outcomes.
Pressure on revenue leaders to increase sales, along with motivation to realize the benefits of AI, has created an environment well suited to this category. Real–time revenue execution platforms identify and fill a revenue use case gap in B2C contact centers and companies with distributed sales locations (e.g., franchises, dealerships). This category’s ability to prove ROI has led to an increased focus on the category, resulting in a healthy ecosystem of vendors that provides the fuel needed to derive value from generative AI and supports revenue use cases that make a tangible difference in revenue performance, justifying a company’s investment in an additional solution.
To learn more about real-time revenue execution platforms, read the full report here (Forrester license required).
