If you work in B2B sales or marketing, you know the drill: endless meetings, scattered notes, and tools that promise to “revolutionize your workflow” but mostly just add new tabs to your browser. If you’re wondering whether there’s actually a better way to run go-to-market (GTM) strategies—or if “AI meeting platforms” are just hype—this is for you.
Let’s break down what changes when you use Sembly in a real B2B context, how it stacks up against the usual suspects (think: CRMs, note apps, and recording tools), and where it actually moves the needle.
Why B2B GTM Teams Struggle With Traditional Tools
Before diving into what Sembly does differently, it’s worth being brutally honest: most B2B GTM teams are drowning in tools, but starving for actual insight. Here’s what usually goes wrong:
- Meeting overload, memory underload: You have 5 discovery calls a day, but your notes are patchy and no one else can find them.
- CRM garbage in, garbage out: Sales reps hate updating CRMs, so the data is always stale or incomplete.
- Lost context: Handovers between sales, marketing, and product are clunky because the full story gets lost in translation.
- Manual follow-ups: Action items slip through the cracks, and “next steps” are buried in someone’s inbox.
Old-school tools—think Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Docs, and Zoom recordings—weren’t built for how GTM teams actually work today. They’re fine for storage, but not for capturing what really matters in fast-moving conversations.
What Sembly Actually Does (and Doesn’t)
Sembly sells itself as an AI meeting assistant. But there’s more to it (and a few things it can’t do):
What It Does Well
- Records and transcribes meetings automatically: No more “who’s taking notes?” debates, and you get a transcript you can actually search.
- Summarizes key points and action items: It spits out digestible summaries, so you don’t have to rewatch or reread everything.
- Integrates with your workflow: Sembly hooks into calendars, CRMs, and collaboration tools, sending notes and action items where you actually need them.
- Searchable meeting history: Find every mention of “pricing objection” or “integration timeline” in seconds.
- Shares context across teams: Everyone can see what was really said—not what someone thought they remembered.
What It Doesn’t (Yet)
- Doesn’t read minds: If you don’t say it in the meeting, Sembly can’t record it. Side chats and context outside the call are still on you.
- Not a CRM replacement: It helps you capture meetings, but you still need somewhere to manage deals and customer data.
- Doesn’t fix a broken process: If your team never follows up, Sembly won’t magically make them care.
Comparing Sembly to Traditional Tools
Here’s where things get interesting. Let’s pit Sembly against the usual tools most GTM teams use:
1. Meeting Notes Apps (Evernote, OneNote, Google Docs)
Old Way:
Someone takes notes—maybe. They get lost in a folder, or no one updates them.
With Sembly:
Every meeting’s automatically transcribed and summarized. You’re not relying on the intern’s typing skills or hoping someone remembered the follow-ups. Plus, Sembly’s summaries are usually good enough that you can actually act on them.
Caveat:
AI summaries still miss nuance—double-check for anything sensitive or especially technical.
2. CRM Meeting Logs
Old Way:
Reps manually enter call notes into Salesforce or HubSpot. No one likes doing this, so it’s half-baked at best.
With Sembly:
You can sync meeting summaries and transcripts directly to contact records. Less manual work, more consistent data. Your pipeline is less of a guessing game.
Caveat:
Don’t expect perfect CRM hygiene overnight. Someone still needs to review and clean up entries. Garbage in, garbage out still applies.
3. Zoom / Teams Recordings
Old Way:
Meetings get recorded, but who has time to rewatch an hour-long video? Action items get missed.
With Sembly:
You get a searchable transcript and a highlights reel. Need to recall what a prospect said about pricing last month? Just search and jump to the right moment.
Caveat:
If you’re in a highly regulated industry, double-check compliance—auto transcription isn’t always kosher everywhere.
4. Slack, Email, and “Watercooler Updates”
Old Way:
Updates get lost in endless Slack threads or email chains. Context is scattered.
With Sembly:
You can push key meeting takeaways directly to team channels, so everyone gets the same story (and no one’s left out because they missed a call).
Caveat:
Don’t flood channels with every meeting—curate what actually matters.
How Sembly Changes the GTM Game (For Real)
Let’s get practical. Here’s how Sembly can actually reshape your go-to-market workflow—if you use it right.
1. Faster (and Smarter) Onboarding
New reps or marketers used to have to shadow calls for weeks to “pick up the language.” With Sembly, they can search past meetings for real-world examples—what works, what doesn’t, how objections get handled. It beats reading a dusty playbook.
Pro Tip:
Set up a “best calls” library, tagged by topic or objection. Newbies can get up to speed fast, and veterans can learn from each other.
2. No More “He Said, She Said”
When sales, marketing, and product teams argue about what a customer wanted, Sembly provides the receipts. The exact quote, in context, is there for anyone to see. It cuts down on disagreements and helps you build products and campaigns people actually want.
What Not To Do:
Don’t use transcripts to play “gotcha.” The goal is clarity, not finger-pointing.
3. Consistent Follow-up and Accountability
Because Sembly highlights action items and next steps, it’s a lot harder for tasks to vanish. You can send these directly to project management tools or Slack, and keep everyone honest.
Reality Check:
People will still drop balls if no one owns the process. Use Sembly as a safety net, not a replacement for basic accountability.
4. Real Insights Into What Customers Are Saying
With a mountain of transcribed meetings, you can actually run searches and spot patterns: recurring objections, feature requests, or pain points. This can inform messaging, product tweaks, or even pricing.
Don’t Overcomplicate:
You don’t need to “analyze at scale.” Just searching for keywords or themes can get you 90% of the value.
5. Less Meeting Fatigue
Knowing that Sembly is recording and summarizing lets people focus on the conversation, not frantic note-taking. It also means fewer “recap” meetings because the info is already captured and shared.
But:
Don’t let this be an excuse to invite everyone to every call. Meeting discipline still matters.
The Hype vs. Reality Checklist
Here’s where Sembly delivers—and where you should keep your expectations in check:
| Promise | Reality Check | |-------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------| | “Never miss an action item!” | Helps a lot, but only if people actually review them. | | “Instant meeting summaries!” | True, but always scan for errors or confusion. | | “Integrates with everything!” | Most big tools, yes. But check your stack for gaps. | | “Eliminates manual work!” | Reduces it, but doesn’t erase it—review is still key. | | “Replaces your CRM!” | No. Think of it as an add-on, not a replacement. |
What to Ignore (and What to Double Down On)
- Ignore:
- Fancy AI “insights” that sound vague or magical. If you can’t use it in the next week, skip it.
-
Overly granular analytics (“how many times did someone say ‘synergy’?”). Focus on what matters: objections, next steps, decisions.
-
Double Down:
- Sharing real meeting takeaways with your team.
- Building a searchable history of conversations—this is gold when deals drag on for months.
- Using action item exports to keep projects moving.
Keep It Simple, Ship, and Iterate
There’s no silver bullet for B2B GTM. Tools like Sembly can genuinely make life easier—if you keep things simple and actually use what they give you. Don’t try to automate everything at once. Start with recording and summarizing your most important calls, share the key takeaways, and see what sticks. If something feels clunky, tweak it or drop it.
In short: use Sembly to make your GTM process a little saner, not to chase the latest buzzword. The best teams aren’t the ones with the most tools—they’re the ones who actually use them, learn, and move forward.