Startup Wants to Bring Conversation Analytics to Real Life Sales Meetings

Israel-based conversation analytics startup Gong.io Ltd. wants to bring its smarts to real life sales meetings.

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The company plans to develop a recording gadget with built-in analytics capabilities that can be used in face-to-face meetings to help sales teams improve performance, CEO Amit Bendov said in an interview with the “30 Minutes or Less” podcast by Microsoft Accelerator TLV, which aired on Calcalist Sunday.

Gong’s online service gives sales representatives insights about their interactions with potential customers by analyzing phone calls. By tracking keywords, subjects mentioned and recurring conversation topics the service helps sales teams improve results.

Founded in 2015, Gong raised $26 million to date and has around 50 employees in offices in Palo Alto, California and in Herzliya, a town 10 miles north of Tel Aviv. It plans to double its workforce in the next 12 months, Mr. Bendov said. Backers include California-based venture capital firms Norwest Venture Partners and Wing Venture capital. Before co-founding Gong, Mr. Bendov was the CEO of Israel-based business intelligence startup Sisense Ltd., and chief marketing officer at Israel-based enterprise software firm Panaya Ltd. Based on his experience Mr. Bendov surmised companies spend a lot of resources on making as many sales calls as possible but do not have the necessary tools to assess and improve the sales process. “A lot of business opportunities are lost because salespeople say the wrong things,” he said. Without tailored solutions companies resort to analyzing random sales calls—a process Mr. Bendov says is both time-consuming and ineffective.

The 30 Minutes or Less podcast, which launched in March 2017, is hosted by Navot Volk, the managing director of Microsoft Accelerator TLV, and tech entrepreneur Aviv Frenkel. The two interview tech founders, investors, and other key members of the Israeli tech ecosystem.