If you run a B2B sales team, you know the drill: endless calls, lots of CRM notes, and somehow everyone’s got a slightly different story about what’s really happening in the pipeline. “Revenue intelligence” sounds great, but most tools just drown you in dashboards and data you never use. If you want to actually do something with your sales conversations—spot what works, coach people up, and stop guessing—this guide’s for you.
Let’s dig into how Gong actually helps sales teams get actionable insights (and what’s just hype).
What Is Gong, Really?
Gong calls itself a “revenue intelligence platform.” Translation: it records your sales calls, emails, and meetings, then uses AI to analyze what’s said and done. The goal? Show you what’s working, what’s not, and where deals get stuck—without relying on gut feel or reps’ patchy CRM notes.
It’s not just for big sales orgs, either. Teams of 10 or 1000 can use Gong to get a read on real conversations, coach reps with actual examples, and spot pipeline risks before they become “closed lost.”
But here’s the truth: Gong doesn’t magically close deals for you. It’s a tool, not a silver bullet. If you’re just looking to spy on your reps or tick a “data-driven” box, you’ll get frustrated fast. But if you want real visibility and are willing to change how you coach and run pipeline reviews, it’s powerful.
Step 1: Capture Every Real Sales Conversation
Gong plugs into your calendar, email, dialer, and videoconferencing tools (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, etc.). It auto-records and transcribes every sales call, demo, and meeting—no more “Did you remember to hit record?”
What this actually gets you: - No more missing context. You can replay what was really said, not what someone remembers. - Automatic transcription. Gong’s transcripts are pretty good, but not perfect. Accents and tech jargon can trip it up. - Searchable library of calls. Find any mention of a competitor, objection, or product feature—across every call.
What to skip: Don’t bother recording every internal meeting. Just stick to customer-facing stuff, or you’ll waste time sifting through junk.
Step 2: Turn Conversation Data Into Actionable Insights
Here’s where Gong claims to shine: smart analysis of all those calls and emails.
What works: - Deal warnings. Gong flags deals that go quiet, lose champions, or stall after pricing comes up. It doesn’t always catch nuance, but it’s way better than hunches. - Activity tracking. See how often reps follow up, how many contacts are engaged, and if critical stakeholders actually show up to calls. - Topic detection. Gong highlights when people mention competitors, pricing, or key objections. You get a timeline, not a wall of text.
But don’t get sucked into: - “Sentiment” analysis. Gong tries to guess if a call was “positive” or “negative.” Take this with a grain of salt—AI doesn’t know your customer’s mood as well as you do. - Leaderboard anxiety. Gong ranks reps by activity and “talk time.” Don’t read too much into this. A top talker isn’t always your best seller.
Pro tip: Use Gong’s filters to zero in on the stuff you care about, like late-stage deals or big accounts. Otherwise, you’ll drown in noise.
Step 3: Coach Reps With Real Examples (Not Just Gut Feel)
Traditional sales coaching is usually based on whatever your manager remembers from shadowing a call or reading CRM notes. With Gong, you can coach on actual calls—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
How to make this work: - Share call snippets. Clip out just the key moment—handling an objection, nailing the pitch, or missing a buy signal—and review it in team meetings. - Pattern spotting. If top reps handle pricing a certain way, or always bring in technical stakeholders, show those patterns to everyone. - Self-coaching. Reps can listen to their own calls (cringey but effective) and see stats like talk/listen ratio.
What not to do: Don’t use Gong to just call people out or micromanage. Coaching works best when it’s about learning, not surveillance.
Step 4: Run Deal Reviews and Forecasts With What’s Actually Happening
Remember the old “pipeline review” where everyone’s justifying their deals with vague optimism? Gong gives you something firmer to stand on.
Key features: - Deal boards. Visualize every deal, and dig into the actual call history, emails, and stakeholder engagement. - Risk alerts. Gong flags deals at risk—like no activity for two weeks, or the champion ghosting you. - Forecast confidence. Use engagement data (not just “gut feel”) to call your number.
Limitations: - Gong can tell you what happened, but not why a deal really died. It’s still up to you to interpret context. - If reps don’t update CRM or keep contacts straight, you’ll still have blind spots.
Pro tip: Use Gong to challenge “happy ears”—when a rep claims a deal is on track, but Gong shows silence from the buyer, it’s time for a reality check.
Step 5: Spot Team-Wide Patterns and Make Real Changes
The real magic isn’t just in looking at one call or one deal. It’s seeing the patterns across your whole team or org.
What you can do: - See what top reps do differently. Are they asking more questions? Bringing in exec sponsors earlier? Use data, not just hunches. - Track new messaging. If marketing rolls out a new pitch, Gong shows how often (and how well) it’s actually used. - Identify training gaps. If competitors or pricing come up and reps flail, you’ll see it in the call data.
What to ignore: Don’t get obsessed with “talk ratio” or other vanity metrics. Focus on what actually moves deals forward.
What Doesn’t Work (And What To Watch Out For)
Gong is powerful, but it’s not magic. Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
- It’s not a CRM replacement. Gong augments your CRM; it doesn’t replace it. You still need reps to do the basics.
- AI isn’t perfect. Transcripts can be messy, and “topic detection” sometimes misses nuance. Always double-check key calls.
- Change management is real. If your team isn’t bought in, Gong becomes a surveillance tool—resentment city. Get reps involved early.
- Info overload. All that data is only helpful if you focus. Decide up front which insights matter and ignore the rest.
Real-World Pro Tips
- Start small. Pick one or two use cases—like coaching or deal risk—and nail them before rolling out all the bells and whistles.
- Use call snippets in onboarding. Show new hires what “good” looks like, using real customer calls.
- Set alerts for real risks. Don’t sweat every AI notification, but set up custom alerts for things that actually kill deals in your world.
- Respect privacy. Make sure everyone knows what’s being recorded and why. Be transparent with both your team and your customers.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Ignore the Hype
Gong can absolutely transform how B2B sales teams work—if you use it to surface real insights and coach for real change, not just stare at dashboards. Don’t get lost in the weeds. Start with the basics: capture the right calls, coach with specifics, and use data to challenge your assumptions. Everything else is just noise.
The best teams keep things simple, experiment, and adapt. That’s how you get real value from revenue intelligence—no magic required.