Conversation Intelligence Tools: A RevOps Buyer's Guide

RevOps teams have traditionally been blind to what happens inside sales conversations. Reps log notes inconsistently, managers can only shadow a handful of calls per week, and forecast calls rely on subjective gut feel. Conversation intelligence tools change this by turning every call into structured, searchable data that feeds coaching, forecasting, and pipeline management.

What Conversation Intelligence Actually Captures¶

Modern conversation intelligence platforms go far beyond simple call recording. Here is what the leading tools extract from every conversation:

• Full transcript with speaker identification and timestamps
• Topic detection - pricing discussions, competitor mentions, objection handling
• Talk-to-listen ratio - how much the rep talks versus the prospect
• Monologue length - flags when reps speak for too long without checking in
• Next steps tracking - whether concrete next steps were established
• Stakeholder mapping - who attended from the buyer’s side and how engaged they were
• Deal risk signals - sentiment shifts, delayed follow-ups, key stakeholder drop-off

Platform Comparison¶

Gong: The Market Leader¶

Gong has expanded well beyond call recording into a full revenue intelligence platform. Its strengths for RevOps include:

1. Deal boards that aggregate conversation signals into a pipeline view
2. Forecasting module that uses conversation data to predict outcomes
3. Tracker alerts that notify you when competitors, pricing objections, or specific topics surface
4. Extensive integrations with CRM, Slack, email, and most sales tools

Trade-off: Gong is the most expensive option. For a team of 50 reps, expect to pay $60,000-80,000 annually. The platform also requires executive sponsorship to drive adoption - without it, reps may resist recording.

Chorus: The ZoomInfo Play¶

Since being acquired by ZoomInfo, Chorus has been integrated into the broader ZoomInfo ecosystem. This makes it the natural choice if your team is already using ZoomInfo for enrichment and prospecting.

Key advantages:

• Bundled pricing with ZoomInfo can reduce total vendor spend
• Contact data from calls feeds directly into ZoomInfo’s database
• Solid coaching scorecards for managers

Trade-off: Chorus’s roadmap is now tied to ZoomInfo’s strategy, and some features have lagged behind Gong in recent releases.

Clari Copilot: Forecasting-First¶

Clari Copilot (formerly Wingman) integrates tightly with Clari’s forecasting platform, making it the best choice for RevOps teams whose primary goal is improving forecast accuracy.

• Real-time call summaries and action items pushed to CRM
• Conversation signals feed directly into Clari’s forecast models
• Revenue leak detection identifies deals where buyer engagement is declining

RevOps insight: If your organization already uses Clari for forecasting, adding Copilot creates a feedback loop where call data improves forecast models and forecast insights guide coaching priorities.

Getting RevOps Value From Conversation Intelligence¶

The tool only delivers ROI if RevOps builds workflows around the data:

1. CRM enrichment - Auto-sync call summaries, next steps, and stakeholder names to opportunity records
2. Pipeline reviews - Replace anecdotal rep updates with conversation-backed deal assessments
3. Forecast inputs - Use deal risk scores and engagement trends as objective forecast signals
4. Onboarding acceleration - Build a library of winning call recordings for new rep training
5. Competitive intelligence - Aggregate competitor mentions across all calls into a monthly trends report

Key Takeaways¶

• Conversation intelligence transforms subjective deal assessments into data-backed pipeline management
• Gong leads the market but comes at a premium; Chorus fits ZoomInfo-heavy stacks and Clari Copilot is ideal for forecasting-focused teams
• The real RevOps value comes from building workflows that feed conversation data into CRM, forecasting, and coaching processes