Streamline Your Sales Process With AI Note-Takers

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Salespeople, we know the struggle is real. 

When you’re typing away on your keyboard trying to catch every important detail your prospect shares during your call, your focus is anywhere but the person in front of you. So, not only are you distracted, but you may also be missing an opportunity to build a meaningful connection. 

And, oh yes, even once you have those notes, you still have to upload them to the CRM so everyone can access them.

But, this is 2023. AI note-takers can automate these tedious tasks and make every sales rep’s workday much more efficient and productive.

In this article, you’ll learn why you should use AI for note-taking, how to prompt ChatGPT to get the best results possible, and what other AI note-takers you should definitely try. 

Ready to take your note-taking from annoying to fully automated?

Let’s dive in.

Challenges of traditional note-taking methods:

When you’re busy writing notes, you are more likely to miss important information. A prospect could be telling you about problems your product can solve or hinting at how ready they are to buy. But, these important clues could get lost if you’re too focused on your keyboard.

Also, taking notes can distract you, making it hard to connect with the person in front of you. As a salesperson, one of your strongest tools is empathy. This means echoing your prospect’s tone, answering their concerns, and showing you understand their pain. 

But can you really connect when you’re busy jotting down everything they say?

After the conversation, you’re probably left with a handful of bullet points that may or may not make sense later. Did you note down the correct numbers? Did you remember to ask them what software they were using? What about their timeline? The chance for mistakes is high, and these mistakes could cost you a lot down the line.

How AI-powered note-taking can solve these problems

We’ve laid out the battlefield, detailing the challenges traditional note-taking brings. The lack of eye contact, the risk of missing vital information, the delays, and distractions–we’ve all been there.

But thankfully, AI can solve all of those issues.

Below, you’ll find quick fixes for those pesky “in-the-moment” situations and strategic AI-powered tactics for the long game. This table gives you a glimpse into how AI can help you conquer your sales process and make max productivity your new normal.

Current challengeQuick tipAI hack
Maintaining eye contact during a callPlace your note-taking app/document near the cameraUse voice-to-text tools for transcriptions, so you can completely focus on the prospect
Missing crucial information while taking notesUse shorthand or symbols for key pointsRecord the session (with permission) for detailed review later
Distraction from multitasking (e.g., taking notes)Focus on active listening, jot down only key pointsUse an AI-driven note-taking tool that generates a summary of the meeting and key action items
Delay in transferring notes to CRMWrite in one digital format for easy copy-paste to CRMIntegrate your CRM with your note-taking tool for automated updates

Now, let’s break all of that down further.

Advantages of using AI note-takers during sales meetings

This is why AI for note-taking is a game-changer for sales reps.

  1. Save time: Let AI take care of writing things down, so you’re free to engage fully. And later? No need to decipher your own handwriting, sift through fragmented notes, or upload them to the CRM. Everything is there, neatly transcribed.
  2. Improve accuracy: AI note-takers help you minimize mistakes so you get the details right the first time.
  3. Increase productivity: When you can offload note-taking to AI, you’ll have the time and energy to take on more leads and finally get to all of those tasks you’ve been putting off. 
  4. Invest more in your follow-up game: When you can automate note-taking, you’ll have more time to follow up with warm leads. You can even feed your notes into an AI tool and have it write the emails for you. That way, you’ll keep your product top-of-mind, prevent them from turning to competitors, and increase the chances they’ll purchase.
  5. Ensure data is not lost: AI can capture vital details about your deal, including the lead’s unique requirements, budget constraints, timelines, key decision-makers, and any specific promises made. That way, you can build a personalized, relevant pitch and maintain continuity throughout the sales cycle.
  6. Focus on customers:  With AI note-takers, you’ll have no distractions and no glancing away to jot something down. Just you and your lead building the kind of rapport that could turn into a successful deal and a meaningful long-term relationship.
  7. Respond more effectively: In a conversation, timing is everything. A quick, relevant response can make all the difference. AI note-takers give you that edge. With accurate information at your fingertips, your responses are not just quick; they’re on point.
  8. Access information easily: AI helps you organize your notes so you can find important information easily either in your AI tool or directly in your CRM.
  9. Perfect hand-offs within the sales team: Organized notes facilitate easier hand-offs between BDRs, SDRs, AEs, and CS. So, any team member in your organization will be able to pick up the conversation without wasting time watching recordings or meetings to catch up on client history. 
  10. Align your note-taking with your sales methodology: Some AI-powered note-takers can structure your notes by sales methodologies like MEDDICC, SPICED, BANT, etc. So, you’ll be able to capture all of the data you need to qualify leads accurately. 
  11. Boost your win rate: The enhanced efficiency and precision offered by AI note-takers will not only streamline your workflow but also give you the boost you need to close more deals. These subtle but powerful enhancements make all the difference, turning potential leads into successful transactions and maximizing your win rate.

How to use AI for note taking:

Okay, so we’ve established that AI is a great solution for note-taking. 

Now, it’s time to get to business. 
How should salespeople actually make that happen?
One way to use AI for note-taking is to use ChatGPT to analyze call transcripts and extract meaningful insights.
Start with a Zoom call; discovery, demo, follow-up–it doesn’t matter. Press the record button, let the conversation flow and capture all the details. 
Once the call is over, use transcription software like Descript to turn the file into text. 

Finally, give this written text to ChatGPT. Give clear demands, and it’ll give you a helpful summary and extract crucial insights.

Best ChatGPT prompts for salespeople

ChatGPT can be an incredibly powerful tool for automating your note-taking process, but the key is in the prompt. 

Here are some of our tried-and-true winners:

PromptGoal
“Summarize the main points of this meeting.”Sift through the chatter and zero in on the real gems of the meeting.
“Highlight the customer’s pain points from this conversation.”Sniff out the issues that are giving the customer a headache.
“Identify the key action items and deadlines from this meeting.”Grab the tasks and deadlines that need immediate attention.
“Outline the objections raised and the solutions provided.”Map out the potential deal-breakers and how we navigated them.
“Describe the customer’s reactions to the proposed solution/product demo.”Paint a picture of how the customer felt when we showed our product.
“Generate possible follow-up questions from this discussion.”Craft insightful questions that could lead us to more engaging future conversations.
“Translate these technical points into layman’s terms.”Let’s transform the tech babble into language that everyone can understand.
“Identify potential obstacles from these notes.”Uncover potential roadblocks lurking in this transcript that you may have missed.
“List competitor mentions and their offerings”Scan the conversation for any talk of competitors.
“Spot key decision makers and influencers”Put a spotlight on the power players in the conversation so you know who to focus on.

Try an AI note-taker

You don’t have to put together your own solution. The digital world is full of ready-to-use tools.

Here are the capabilities that you want to keep an eye out for when considering AI note-takers.

  1. Transcription: With real-time speech-to-text conversion, you can stay immersed in the conversation knowing that your tool is recording every single word.
  2. Smart summaries: Let AI sift through long conversations and deliver brief, focused summaries so you can easily revisit the vital points of a meeting. 
  3. Generating tasks: Intelligent tools recognize and list action items for you. So you won’t miss any critical tasks. Even better, some tools can generate tasks directly to your CRM.
  4. Note structuring: AI can organize your notes according to the sales methodology of your choice (including MEDDICC, BANT, and more) so you don’t miss any important detail you need to qualify the lead.
  5. Spotting key information: Let AI highlight essential insights so you don’t overlook opportunities or objections buried in heaps of information. 
  6. Syncing with your CRM: Your AI note-taker should integrate with your CRM system so you can easily sync all notes and maintain a single source of truth for every contact.

By investing in a solution with these features, you’ll be able to capture all of the important information from your meeting without ever having to touch your keyboard. So, you can focus on something AI will never be able to do–building meaningful relationships.

Best AI note-takers

Best AI note-taker for sales: WINN.AI

WINN.AI is the perfect platform for salespeople who want to automatically capture important information during their sales meetings and easily import it into their CRM. 

The best part? WINN.AI can structure your AI meeting notes to align with any sales methodology. So you can track which points you’ve hit in real time.

Best AI note-taker for transcription: Otter

Otter provides real-time transcription services that enable users to chat during meetings, automate note-taking, summarize content, and capture key slides from the presentation. So, you remember every detail from your call.

Best AI note-taker for team meetings: Fellow.app

Fellow is an all-in-one AI meeting transcription and management software for remote and hybrid teams. It’s best for collaborating on agendas, sharing meeting notes, and documenting action items.

Best AI note-taker for personal use: Reflect

Reflect transcribes voice notes, syncs information across devices, and generates article ideas from your notes. So you can improve the way you organize your thoughts whether you’re at your desk or on the go.

Best AI note-taker for interviews: Metaview

Metaview automatically writes interview notes and then generates candidate summaries to pull out the most relevant takeaways. It even works for mobile calls. So you can improve your recruiting process and focus on finding exceptional talent. 

Some final thoughts:

It’s 2023, but many sales reps are still manually taking notes during calls, struggling to make sense of scattered information, trying to recover forgotten details, and copy-pasting over and over again into their CRM.

Salespeople, it’s time to embrace the future and let technology work for you. 

The world of sales today is all about efficiency, productivity, and impact. Why spend precious hours on administrative tasks when AI meeting notes can take it off your hands?

Focus on what truly matters – connecting with people, understanding their needs, and closing those deals. It’s time to say goodbye to the old ways of note-taking. Leave that task to the machines. They’ve got it handled. 

You’ve got sales to make. 

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