Getting a B2B go-to-market motion to actually run smoothly is tough. Meetings pile up, follow-ups get lost, and deals slip through the cracks. There’s no shortage of tools that promise to fix all that—but most just add noise. If you’re looking for practical ways to make your sales and marketing teams sharper, not busier, this guide is for you.
Let’s get into how Otter—the meeting transcription and collaboration tool—can help real B2B teams cut the nonsense and focus on what moves the needle.
Why B2B Teams Get Stuck
Before we get into features, it’s worth calling out why B2B go-to-market (GTM) teams get bogged down in the first place:
- Meetings multiply, but action doesn’t. Notes are scattered, action items get missed, and nobody remembers who said what.
- Hand-offs are messy. Sales, marketing, and customer success all touch the same accounts, but info slips between the cracks.
- Follow-up is inconsistent. A great call happens—then everyone forgets what’s next.
Otter won’t fix broken processes or bad habits, but it does give teams the tools to avoid these classic pitfalls—if you use it right.
1. Automatic Meeting Transcription (So Nothing Gets Missed)
This is Otter’s bread and butter. It joins your calls (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, etc.) and creates a live transcript as people talk. Why does this matter for GTM teams?
- You get a single source of truth. No more arguing over who promised what. The transcript’s right there.
- Action items and follow-ups are easy to spot. Search for “next steps” or “follow up” and you’ll find what matters.
- Junior reps can focus on the conversation. They don’t have to take frantic notes and can be present in meetings.
What’s Good
- The transcription is usually accurate, especially if people speak clearly.
- You can tag teammates or highlight key points during or after the meeting.
What’s Not
- If your calls are heavy on technical jargon or strong accents, you’ll still need to clean up the transcript.
- For highly sensitive meetings, you’ll want to double-check company policy before recording.
Pro Tip: Always let people know Otter is recording. Not just for legal reasons, but because it’s the right thing to do.
2. Real-Time Collaboration: Notes and Highlights
This is where Otter is more than “just” a voice-to-text tool.
- Highlight key moments as you go. Hit a button when someone drops an action item or objection—no more scrubbing through hour-long recordings.
- Add comments and tag coworkers. You can nudge the right person to follow up or clarify a point right inside the transcript.
- Build living documents. Otter lets you export snippets, create summaries, or even share the whole call with stakeholders.
Why It Matters for B2B GTM
- Sales/marketing alignment. Marketing hears the exact language prospects use. Sales sees what marketing promised.
- Onboarding new reps. Instead of shadowing endless calls, new hires can review the best conversations, with highlights and context.
What’s Overhyped
- Don’t expect Otter to replace a CRM or a real project management tool. It’s great for capturing and sharing info, but you’ll still want to track deals elsewhere.
3. Searchable Meeting History
Here’s where the rubber meets the road: You remembered there was a key objection on a call three months ago, but can’t recall which one. With Otter, you can:
- Search across all your meetings. Look for keywords (like “budget” or “timeline”) and pull up the exact moment it was discussed.
- Filter by speaker, date, or topic. This makes prepping for follow-up meetings way less painful.
- Share context fast. Need to hand off an account? Forward the transcript, not a scribbled summary.
Real-World Use
- A sales manager reviews top-performing reps’ calls to spot patterns and coach the rest of the team.
- Customer success can pull up exactly what was promised during the sales process.
The Catch
- Search is only as good as your tagging and highlights. It’s worth taking 30 seconds after each call to mark what matters.
4. Automated Summaries (But Don’t Rely on Autopilot)
Otter’s AI tries to generate meeting summaries: main topics, key decisions, and next steps. In theory, this saves you time. In practice:
- It’s decent for basic recaps. You’ll get a passable summary most of the time.
- It’s not always nuanced. AI can miss sarcasm, subtle objections, or context. Don’t just copy-paste the summary into your CRM or send it to a client.
Pro Tip: Treat summaries as a starting point. Skim them, but check the transcript or highlights before taking action.
5. Integrations With Calendars and Video Tools
Otter plugs into Google and Outlook calendars. It can auto-join meetings, or you can invite it manually. Why bother?
- No more “did someone record this?” Otter can be set to join all sales calls automatically.
- Easy hand-off to other tools. Export notes to Slack, email, or your CRM (with some setup).
Limitations
- Integrations aren’t always seamless. Sometimes permissions or company IT rules get in the way.
- Don’t expect a deep CRM sync. You’ll likely still have to copy key details over, unless you build something custom.
6. Speaker Identification (When It Works)
Otter can identify who said what in meetings—if you train it a bit.
- Useful for multi-person calls. You can see which rep or stakeholder voiced concerns or agreed to next steps.
- Good for coaching. Sales leaders can spot whose calls go off the rails.
Honest Take
- It’s not perfect out of the box. You’ll need to label speakers for a few meetings before Otter gets it right.
- In big group calls, it still mixes people up sometimes.
7. Secure Sharing and Permissions
B2B teams are (rightly) paranoid about customer data. Otter lets you:
- Set who can view, comment, or edit transcripts.
- Share links with expiration dates or require authentication.
- Download and archive transcripts for compliance.
Don’t Get Complacent
- Security is as good as your team’s habits. Don’t give everyone blanket access. Be deliberate about who sees what.
What To Ignore (Honestly)
Otter packs in a lot of features, but some are more sizzle than steak:
- Voice commands and “smart” tags. These are hit-and-miss, and most teams ignore them after week one.
- Automated action items. The AI sometimes gets these right, but expect to edit.
- Mobile app for heavy lifting. Fine for quick reviews, but not great for real work. Use the desktop version for anything serious.
Focus on the basics: clean transcripts, fast search, and clear highlights.
Quick Start: How to Use Otter in a Real B2B GTM Workflow
- Connect Otter to your calendar and video meeting tool.
- Invite Otter to join your sales and customer calls. Make sure everyone’s cool with it.
- During meetings, highlight and comment on action items. Tag teammates as needed.
- Right after calls, skim the transcript and summary. Flag key moments for review.
- Search and share transcripts when handing off accounts or prepping for follow-ups.
- Regularly review and clean up shared access to transcripts.
The Bottom Line
Otter isn’t magic. If your team’s already drowning in meetings and bad habits, no tool will fix that overnight. But if you use Otter for what it’s good at—capturing conversations, making info searchable, and clearing up hand-offs—it can take a lot of friction out of your GTM process.
Don’t make it complicated: Start small, see what actually helps your team, and skip the features nobody touches after the first week. Iterate, simplify, and keep moving forward.