Video conferencing platform Zoom unveiled on Wednesday amidst its second Work Transformation Summit a new software product intended to impart varied metrics and analysis during intense sales meetings. The software, coined Zoom IQ for Sales, will utilize sophisticated artificial intelligence to detail automated insights on sales, the very first product of its kind for the brand.
Although it might be the first sales-focused feature set tied to the platform, it isn't the first AI product provided by Zoom. Over the past several years, the company has expanded its reach in this realm by integrating artificial intelligence in varied forms, such as Zoom AI captioning and Zoom AI notetaker concepts. Last May, the company unveiled a new tool intended to essentially clip portions of a meeting that the AI pinned as the aptest selections.
In January of 2021, Zoom acquired the startup called Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions (Kites GmbH), which specializes in real-time machine translation (MT) tools. It's clear from this most recent announcement that Zoom is vying only to expand its reach in the AI realm for video conferencing, especially given the potential $7.3 billion worth of growth the sales automation software world alone could see by 2028.
The following are only some of the things Zoom IQ for Sales will be looking at to provide detailed metrics for businesses:
- Thoughtful Questions: The software will record specific answers provided by customers to adapt and expand questions for the future and learn more about the overall product's usability.
- A Presentation's Lull: With only about 10% of a typical presentation being fully remembered by subjects, Zoom IQ will give a full overview of portions of a presentation wherein the presenter may not have captivated the audience as much as they thought. These excerpts will also aid presenters in redefining their strategies going forward.
- Where to Go Next: The software will also follow sales person's given next steps to a customer so as to provide a more thorough overview for managers and marketing. This will aid in future onboarding procedures and provide insight for potential customers who haven't already bought the product.
Zoom's head of product Josh Dulberger, explained to TechCrunch that the product is intended for a variety of use factors, the main among them being "identify opportunities, assess risks, and ultimately enable and improve sales team performance." He went on to say:
"Half a million businesses choose Zoom and rely on it for internal and external conversations. The Zoom platform already has a strong foundation in this area with features such as transcription, recordings, and highlights. This also gives us an opportunity to expand this type of functionality across the Zoom platform such as Zoom Contact Center and within our meetings and events solutions to help presenters pace their speech, take notes, and capture action items, or employ specific tactics."
Zoom is offering a free demo for download on its official Zoom IQ for Sales site and an expert connect form for those that may still be on the fence or have varied questions about the software. The IQ for Sales software will be fully available by Apr. 19, in addition to Zoom's forthcoming Whiteboard feature, which will be a virtual whiteboard for consumers. Likewise, the company is dropping Session Branding, and Webinar Reactions features on Wednesday, Apr. 13, with a late April release still scheduled for its Zoom Events Backstage proponent.
