Report:
The Forrester Wave™: Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue, Q4 2023
How does Forrester define the Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue market in 2023?
Conversation intelligence (CI) tools are the most important AI investment for sales organizations. These platforms convert unstructured data from spoken, written, and video conversations between buyers and sellers into deal and coaching insights that improve seller performance. While the race to acquire CI companies or build CI capabilities is almost over, the competition to fully leverage the power of CI is just beginning. Few vendors have delivered innovative use cases such as trainable triggers or scorecard automation, and even fewer have capabilities that span across multiple use cases such as sales readiness and deal insights. The evaluation revealed that copycat products abound, but differentiation comes from track records of innovation, advanced coaching capabilities, and accurate trigger-based analysis.
Key Facts for The Forrester Wave™: Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue, Q4 2023 in 2023
- Publication Date: 24-Oct-2023
- Document ID: RES178528
- Summary: In our 25-criterion evaluation of conversation intelligence for B2B revenue providers, we identified the most significant ones and researched, analyzed, and scored them. This report shows how each provider measures up and helps conversation intelligence for B2B revenue professionals select the right one for their needs.
- Authors: Seth Marrs, Srividya Sridharan, Sara Sjoblom, Kate Pierpont
How did the Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue market evolve in 2023?
- GenAI will have an average annual growth rate of 36% up to 2030, capturing 55% of the AI software market
- Conversation intelligence (CI) tools will be the most important AI investment for sales organizations
- AI capabilities convert unstructured data from spoken, written, and video conversations into deal and coaching insights
- Sales technology vendors are building or acquiring CI platforms to enable AI insights within their solutions
- The race to acquire CI companies or build CI capabilities is almost over
- Few vendors have delivered innovative use cases such as trainable triggers or scorecard automation
- Even fewer have capabilities that span across multiple use cases such as sales readiness and deal insights
- Coaching is the most adopted CI capability by reference customers
- Coaching was rated the least valuable because most companies only use CI to record and listen to calls
- Most reference customers are using less than 20 triggers for analysis, with many not using any
- 12 providers were evaluated in this Forrester Wave
- Vendors are classified as Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, and Challengers
What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?
- Client saturation: At least one-third of the company's revenue intelligence or sales readiness seat holders have conversation intelligence included as a part of their license
- Company revenue: Each vendor has more than $20 million in annual revenue
- Significant interest from Forrester customers: We considered the level of interest and feedback from our clients based on our various interactions including inquiry, advisory, and consulting engagements
What are the common features of top products in the Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue space?
No common features specified.
Scope Exclusions
- Vendors with less than $20 million in annual revenue
- Vendors where less than one-third of revenue intelligence or sales readiness seat holders have conversation intelligence included
- Vendors without significant interest from Forrester customers based on inquiry, advisory, and consulting engagements
- Solutions focused solely on customer service or contact center use cases
- Solutions without B2B revenue team focus
Inclusion Criteria
Vendors must, among other requirements:
- Client saturation: At least one-third of the company's revenue intelligence or sales readiness seat holders have conversation intelligence included as a part of their license
- Company revenue: Each vendor has more than $20 million in annual revenue
- Significant interest from Forrester customers: Level of interest and feedback from clients based on inquiry, advisory, and consulting engagements
Offering Strengths — Relative Weighting
- Interaction capture and attribution capabilities — 10%
- Analyze and report on conversations — 25%
- Automate users' work — 10%
- Coaching and collaboration — 25%
- Deal health analysis and next best actions — 10%
- Customer perception of product/marketing — 10%
- Privacy and compliance — 10%
Strategy Strength — Relative Weighting
- Vision — 25%
- Innovation — 25%
- Roadmap — 10%
- Partner ecosystem — 10%
- Adoption — 20%
- Pricing flexibility and transparency — 10%
FAQs
Q: What does this research cover?
A: This research covers a 25-criterion evaluation of conversation intelligence providers for B2B revenue teams. It evaluates vendors across current offering capabilities (interaction capture, conversation analysis, automation, coaching), strategy (vision, innovation, roadmap, ecosystem), and market presence (revenue, customer base). The evaluation identifies how providers convert unstructured conversation data into actionable deal insights and coaching guidance that improve seller performance.
Q: Who should use this research?
A: B2B revenue professionals, sales leaders, and sales technology decision-makers should use this research to evaluate and select conversation intelligence solutions. It helps buyers identify vendors with innovative use cases, advanced coaching capabilities, and accurate trigger-based insights. The research is particularly valuable for organizations looking to leverage AI and genAI capabilities to improve sales performance, reduce seller administrative time, and drive better deal execution.
Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?
A: To be included in this evaluation, vendors must meet three mandatory criteria: 1) Client saturation - at least one-third of their revenue intelligence or sales readiness seat holders must have conversation intelligence included in their license, demonstrating significant market adoption; 2) Company revenue - vendors must generate more than $20 million in annual revenue, indicating financial stability and market presence; 3) Significant interest from Forrester customers - vendors must demonstrate notable interest and feedback from Forrester clients through inquiry, advisory, and consulting engagements, showing market relevance and demand.
Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?
A:
- Insufficient client saturation (less than one-third of revenue intelligence/sales readiness seat holders with CI licenses)
- Annual revenue below $20 million threshold
- Limited interest from Forrester customers based on inquiry, advisory, and consulting engagement feedback
- Declining to participate in the full Forrester Wave evaluation process
- Focus on non-B2B revenue use cases (e.g., customer service only, contact center only)
- Incomplete participation or contribution to the evaluation process
- Solutions that are primarily web conferencing or communication tools without dedicated CI capabilities for B2B revenue teams
Q: What should buyers consider when evaluating products in this market?
A:
- Look for providers with a track record of delivering innovative use cases for deal insights or sales readiness based on your company's priorities
- Evaluate advanced coaching capabilities including scorecards and triggers that reduce effort while increasing coaching results
- Test vendors' ability to create accurate triggers to ensure you receive insights needed to improve performance
- Determine whether you need deal execution focus (deal insights) or seller enablement focus (sales readiness)
- Assess trigger capabilities beyond basic keywords - look for trainable triggers and ability to filter on CRM fields
- Verify transcription accuracy and interaction attribution capabilities
- Consider integration requirements with existing CRM, sales engagement, and other revenue tools
- Evaluate pricing models including platform fees, license tiers, and bundling options
- Review mobile app availability and user experience across applications
- Assess sentiment analysis capabilities and whether they go beyond transcript analysis
Q: How has the Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue market evolved in 2023?
A:
- GenAI will have an average annual growth rate of 36% up to 2030, capturing 55% of the AI software market
- Sales technology vendors are building or acquiring CI platforms to better enable AI insights within their solutions
- The race to acquire CI companies or build CI capabilities is almost over, but competition to fully leverage CI power is just beginning
- Copycat products abound, but few vendors have delivered innovative use cases such as trainable triggers or scorecard automation
- Few vendors have capabilities that span across multiple use cases such as sales readiness and deal insights
- Coaching is the most adopted CI capability but rated least valuable because most companies only use CI to record and listen to calls
- Most reference customers are using less than 20 triggers for analysis, which is low compared to what companies need
- Sellers need accurate triggers to drive results as they will ignore consistently inaccurate ones
Q: What differentiates Strength of Offering vs. Strength of Strategy?
A: Current Offering (vertical axis) evaluates the strength of vendors' existing products and capabilities, focusing on technical features like interaction capture, conversation analysis, automation, coaching tools, deal health analysis, customer perception, and privacy/compliance. Strategy (horizontal axis) evaluates vendors' future direction and market approach, focusing on vision, innovation track record, product roadmap, partner ecosystem, customer adoption rates, and pricing flexibility.
Reference
- Forrester, The Forrester Wave™: Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue, Q4 2023, 24-Oct-2023, ID RES178528
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