If you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen the pitch: “AI-powered conversation insights will transform your sales team!” That’s great, but here’s the truth—out-of-the-box insights rarely fit the way your team actually sells. If you want something useful (not just shiny dashboards for your boss), you’ll need to customize.
This guide is for sales managers, ops folks, or anyone stuck between “just use the defaults” and “let’s build a spaceship.” We’ll walk through how to tailor conversation insights in Salesken so they’re actually helpful for your sales process—not just another thing to ignore in your inbox.
1. Get Clear On What You Actually Need
Before you even open Salesken, step back. What are you trying to solve? Most teams skip this, then wonder why their insights don’t help.
Ask yourself: - What does a successful call look like for us? (Not what the textbook says—what actually moves deals forward in your world?) - Where do our reps get stuck? (Is it qualifying, objection handling, closing, or something else?) - Which metrics or behaviors do we already track, and which ones are just noise?
Pro tip: Your reps will only care about insights that make their lives easier or help them hit quota. If it’s just “interesting,” skip it.
2. Map Your Sales Process to Salesken’s Conversation Topics
Salesken comes with a default set of conversation topics (think: discovery, pricing, next steps). These are fine for a basic B2B sale, but most teams need tweaks.
How to do it: - List out the key stages or moments in your sales process. Be specific. For example: - Introduction & rapport - Problem discovery - Solution pitch - Objection handling - Pricing & negotiation - Next steps / closing - Compare your list to Salesken’s default topics. - Decide: Which ones match? Which need renaming? Which are missing? - In Salesken, go to the Conversation Topics settings and edit, remove, or add as needed.
What works: Renaming topics to match your team’s language (“Budget” vs. “Pricing”) makes training and coaching way easier.
What doesn’t: Don’t add dozens of topics “just in case.” You’ll end up with clutter no one looks at.
3. Set Up Custom Keywords and Phrases
Salesken tracks topics using keywords—words or phrases it listens for during calls. The defaults are generic (“budget,” “timeline,” etc.), so you’ll want to add your own.
How to do it: - For each conversation topic, brainstorm the actual language your team and your buyers use. Pull from call transcripts or ask your top reps. - Example: For “Objection Handling,” keywords might include “too expensive,” “already using a competitor,” or “need to check with my boss.” - In Salesken, find the section for managing keywords under each topic. - Add your custom keywords and delete ones that don’t fit.
Honest take: Resist the urge to add every possible synonym. Focus on what really comes up. More isn’t better—relevance is.
4. Customize Scoring and Metrics
Salesken will give you scores for things like talk-to-listen ratio, topic coverage, and more. But the default weighting may not reflect what matters to your team.
How to do it: - Decide which behaviors are most important. For example: - Is it more important that reps ask good questions, or that they stick to the script? - Do you care about call length, or just quality? - Adjust scoring weights in Salesken’s analytics settings. This might mean giving more points for time spent on “Discovery” and less for “Small Talk.” - Set thresholds for what counts as “good.” (E.g., 60%–70% listen ratio is ideal, but over 80% means reps aren’t talking enough.)
What works: Keep scoring simple and transparent. If reps can’t understand the score, they’ll just ignore it (or try to game it).
What doesn’t: Avoid “mystery metrics” like “Engagement Index” unless you can explain exactly what it means. If you can’t, skip it.
5. Build Playbooks and Real-World Examples
Insights are useless if reps don’t know what to do with them. This is where playbooks come in.
How to do it: - For each conversation topic, write a short guide or checklist. Example for “Discovery”: - Ask at least 3 open-ended questions about the prospect’s pain points. - Use phrases like “Tell me more about…” or “How does this impact your team?” - Upload these playbooks or attach them to topics in Salesken (if your plan allows). - Use real call snippets from your team—actual examples have way more impact than generic scripts.
Pro tip: Reps hate fake examples. Use real calls (with permission). If someone nailed objection handling, share the clip. It’s way more convincing.
6. Set Up Alerts and Notifications (But Don’t Overdo It)
Salesken can ping you or your reps when something important happens—like if a rep misses a key topic or talks over a customer.
How to do it: - Decide what’s truly worth an alert. (Missing “Next Steps” is probably critical. Skipping “Small Talk”? Not so much.) - Set up notifications for a few, high-impact events. Don’t turn on everything—no one wants another flood of meaningless emails. - Test alerts with a small group first. Get feedback: Are they helpful, or just annoying?
What works: Use alerts for coaching moments, not for micromanaging. “You missed pricing on 3 calls this week” is actionable; “Your call was 2 minutes shorter than average” is not.
What doesn’t: Don’t turn every metric into a notification. Alert fatigue is real, and people will just tune out.
7. Review, Coach, and Iterate
Customization isn’t a one-and-done deal. Your process will change, your team will change, and what’s useful today might be noise tomorrow.
How to do it: - Schedule regular reviews. (Monthly is plenty.) What insights are reps using? What’s being ignored? - Sit down with a few reps and managers. Ask what’s actually helpful—and what’s a waste of time. - Adjust topics, keywords, and playbooks as you learn. Don’t be afraid to drop things that aren’t working.
Honest take: Most teams set this up once, then forget it. Make it a habit to tweak as you go. It’s less work than you think, and your team will thank you.
Keep It Simple, Get Feedback, and Don’t Chase Perfection
Customizing conversation insights isn’t about building the most complex system possible. It’s about making Salesken fit your sales process, not someone else’s idea of “best practice.” Start simple. Get your team’s feedback. Tweak as you go. The goal is to help your reps have better conversations—not to drown everyone in data.
If you keep things practical and focus on what actually helps your team sell, you’ll get way more value out of Salesken (and your reps might even stop rolling their eyes at “AI insights”).