If you manage a sales team, you’ve probably heard the pitch: “AI-powered feedback will transform your coaching.” Sounds great. But between the hype and real-world results, there’s usually a gap. This guide is for sales leaders, enablement folks, and frontline managers who want to use Convin to actually help reps improve—not just to check a box or chase shiny features.
Here’s what works, what doesn’t, and how to coach with AI feedback without losing the human touch.
1. Start With a Clear Coaching Goal
Before you even log into Convin, get specific about what you’re trying to improve. AI can churn out feedback all day, but if you’re not clear on what matters, it just creates noise.
- Pick one or two skills you want to focus on: objection handling, discovery, closing, etc. Don’t try to fix everything at once.
- Make it measurable. “Have better calls” is useless. “Ask at least three open-ended questions per call” is something you can track.
- Talk to your reps about these goals. If they don’t buy in, the best AI in the world won’t move the needle.
Pro tip: Don’t use AI feedback as a replacement for real coaching. It’s a supplement, not a substitute.
2. Set Up Convin for Your Team (and Keep It Simple)
Convin offers a lot of bells and whistles—topic trackers, sentiment analysis, keyword alerts. Start small.
How to get the basics right:
- Integrate your call recordings (Zoom, Teams, Dialer, etc.). If this is a hassle, get your IT person to help. Don’t waste time wrestling with integrations.
- Configure feedback templates to match your goals. If the default settings are generic, customize them. You want feedback that matches your coaching focus, not a wall of AI-generated text.
- Test with a few calls before rolling out to the whole team. Make sure the feedback actually lines up with what you’d say as a coach.
What to ignore (for now): - Don’t stress about every metric or dashboard. Stick to the ones that relate to your goals. - Skip advanced automations until you’re comfortable with the basics.
3. Make AI Feedback Actionable (Not Overwhelming)
AI loves to spit out long lists of what went “wrong.” That’s not helpful. Your reps need clear, bite-sized takeaways.
- Pick 1-2 things per call to work on. If the AI flags 10, ignore most of them.
- Translate generic AI feedback into concrete action. Instead of “Improve rapport,” try: “Spend the first 2 minutes asking about the customer’s context.”
- Don’t let reps get buried in scores and sentiment charts. Focus on behaviors, not vanity metrics.
Pro tip: If the feedback feels off or robotic, edit it before sharing. The AI gets better as you correct it.
4. Use AI as a Starting Point, Not the Final Word
Here’s the truth: AI feedback is only as good as the data it’s trained on—and it doesn’t understand nuance.
- Watch for false positives. The AI might ding a rep for “interruption” when they’re actually clarifying a point. Don’t just trust the output—listen to the call, too.
- Don’t outsource your judgment. Use the AI to spot patterns or surface issues, but apply your knowledge to decide what matters.
- Share examples. If the AI flags something, pull a 30-second clip to show what “good” or “bad” sounds like.
What to skip: Arguing about AI scores. Use them as a guide, not gospel.
5. Coach in Context—Don’t Just Send Reports
No one gets better from reading automated feedback alone. The best reps improve when you turn feedback into a conversation.
- Schedule short, regular coaching sessions. Use Convin’s feedback as a jumping-off point, not the entire agenda.
- Ask reps what they think. “Did you notice the AI flagged your talk time? What’s your take?” This keeps it collaborative.
- Spotlight wins and progress. If a rep fixes an issue the AI flagged last week, call it out.
Pro tip: Avoid “gotcha” moments. Frame AI feedback as a tool to help, not a way to catch mistakes.
6. Don’t Let AI Become a Crutch
It’s easy to get lazy and let the AI do all the work. That’s how you end up with disengaged reps and “coaching” no one cares about.
- Mix AI with human feedback. The AI can spot trends, but only you know your reps and deals.
- Encourage peer review. Let reps listen to each other’s calls and compare notes with the AI.
- Review the AI’s output regularly. Check if it’s improving or just repeating the same advice. If it’s stale, update your templates or retrain it.
What to ignore: The urge to automate every part of coaching. Some things (like motivation and context) need a human touch.
7. Measure What Matters, Not What’s Easy
AI tools love to show you dashboards full of numbers. Most of them don’t matter.
- Track behavior change, not just scores. Are reps actually changing how they run calls?
- Look for business impact. Are better calls leading to more deals, bigger deals, or faster sales cycles?
- Get feedback from your reps. Do they find the AI-generated advice useful, or do they tune it out?
If your coaching isn’t moving the needle, don’t be afraid to tweak your approach or ditch features that aren’t helping.
8. Keep Privacy and Trust in Mind
Recording and analyzing calls can make reps nervous. If you want them to buy in, be upfront.
- Explain how the AI works and what it tracks. No one likes surprises.
- Respect privacy settings. Not every call needs to be analyzed or shared.
- Give reps some control. Let them choose which calls to review, or allow them to flag feedback they disagree with.
Pro tip: Transparency builds trust. Secretly monitoring reps kills morale.
9. Iterate—Don’t Wait for Perfect
AI coaching will never be “set it and forget it.” The tech will improve, and so will your process.
- Run experiments: Try new templates, tweak your feedback, and see what sticks.
- Share what works: If you find something that helps your team, stick with it. If not, try something else.
- Stay skeptical: If a feature sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The Bottom Line
If you want to use Convin’s AI feedback to actually help your sales reps, keep it simple: set clear goals, use the AI as a helper (not a boss), and focus on conversations, not just dashboards. Don’t get distracted by every shiny metric or automation. Start small, listen to your team, and keep adjusting as you go. That’s how you turn AI-powered feedback into real coaching that works.