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AI sales tools are software that uses AI to do a sales job, from finding prospects to forecasting. RevHeat wrote this page. We are not one of the tools on it, and where we fit is marked as ours.
Somebody told you to do something with AI in sales. Maybe it was your board. Maybe it was you. So you bought AI sales tools, or you are about to. The calls get recorded now. The emails write themselves. There is a new dashboard. And when someone asks whether any of it helped your reps sell more, you don’t have an answer.
Key Takeaway: AI sales tools come in 7 kinds: prospecting, outreach, call recording, call scoring, practice, CRM assistants and forecasting. In Salesforce’s 2024 survey, 81% of sales teams were using or testing AI, and 67% of reps expected to miss quota. So put one test to any tool: did a rep do something different on a live call because of it, and how many reps did?
TL;DR
- AI sales tools come in 7 kinds. Pick the kind first.
- 83% of sales teams with AI grew revenue. So did 66% without it (Salesforce, 2024).
- More tools will not move your win rate.
- The test: did a rep sell differently on a live call, and how many did?
Why most AI sales tools don’t change the number
You are not behind. According to Salesforce’s 2024 State of Sales report, “81% of sales teams are either experimenting with or have fully implemented AI.” The same report, a survey of 5,500 sales professionals, says 67% of sales reps did not expect to meet their quota.
Salesforce reports that 83% of sales teams with AI grew revenue, against 66% without it.
In our view, most AI sales tools were bought as an initiative. In most teams we meet, the number the tool was supposed to move was never written down. So “are we using it?” replaces “are we selling more?”
Then the tools pile up. One records. One writes the emails. One scores the calls. One runs role-play. One guards the forecast. In the stacks we see, no single piece is on the hook for whether a rep sells differently on the next call. Five disconnected tools give you five dashboards and the same win rate.
At one company we watched, the COO led the AI charge. Every week the COO brought the SVP of sales the AI’s read on the pipeline. Nobody had cleaned the data under it. Close dates were wrong. Deals still sat under reps who had been fired. They bought the sales chatbot from Zoom and were badly disappointed. They bought sales training, then realized they had no way to make sure anyone used it.
And the sales team felt every bit of it was being done to them, not for them.
Picture a sales manager with eight reps. She has forty hours. Thirty are already committed to deals, the forecast and her own boss. Every tool you buy hands her another screen to check. She can’t.
One client put four divisions, eight sellers each, through the same training from us. Two teams tripled their close rate on new customers. Two raised renewals by more than 20%. For two, it was like we had never existed.
Same training. A tool is no different. What you bought matters less than what happens on the calls after it.
The 7 kinds of AI sales tools, and what each can’t tell you
Most lists of the best AI sales tools cover one kind and call it the whole market. There are seven.
| Kind | What it does | What it can’t tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Prospecting | Finds who to contact | What your rep said when they answered |
| Outreach and email | Writes and sends the messages | Whether the meeting it booked was a real buyer |
| Call recording and notes | Records, transcribes, summarizes | Whether it was a good call |
| Call scoring | Grades each call | Who checks the next call |
| Practice and role-play | Reps rehearse on an AI buyer | What the rep does with a real one |
| CRM assistants | Fills in the CRM, drafts follow-ups | Whether the deal is real |
| Forecasting | Flags deals at risk | Why the deal is slipping |
The right-hand column is our view of the kind, not of any one vendor. Vendor limits below come from the vendor’s site.
1. Prospecting tools
They build the list: who to call, their email, what the company does. Apollo describes itself as “the AI sales platform rebuilt as one connected AI GTM system.” Clay leads its home page with “Build systems to grow revenue.” We read only their home pages, so we name no limit for either.
What this kind can’t tell you: a better list gets your rep more conversations. If the rep runs them the same way, you get more of the same result.
2. Outreach and email writing
They write the sequence, send it and book the meeting. Outreach calls itself an “Agentic AI Platform for Revenue Teams.” We read only its home page. Salesloft is an outreach platform first that also records calls. In its words, “coachable moments become tasks in rep workflows.” Ask whether you can buy the parts separately.
What this kind can’t tell you: whether the meeting was worth having, or what happened in it.
3. Call recording and notes
This is the AI sales tool most teams buy first, and it is worth having. Fathom is free for individuals and quick to set up. Its limit: call scorecards are on the Business plan, and your team builds them. Avoma gives you recording, notes and call scoring from one vendor. Its limit: scoring is a paid add-on.
Check what you already own first. Zoom Revenue Accelerator records across Zoom, Teams and Google Meet, and HubSpot transcribes calls on its higher Sales Hub plans.
What this kind can’t tell you: a summary says what was said. It does not say what should have been said. For that you need something to read the call against. Our Gong alternatives comparison covers this kind in full.
4. Call scoring, sold as conversation intelligence
These grade every call so your manager does not have to listen to each one. Gong is the broadest. It records, scores and sells a forecast product. Its limit, in Gong’s words: “your admin needs to create scorecards.” Chorus fits if you already pay for ZoomInfo. ZoomInfo says it will “reduce new hire ramp time.” Attention grades calls against a named method such as MEDDIC or BANT and gives the rep a recommendation after each call. Its own guide puts the follow-up in your manager’s weekly one-on-one.
What this kind can’t tell you: on Tuesday your rep never asks about budget. On Wednesday the score says so. The score was right. On Thursday the same rep is on a call with the next buyer. Somebody still has to check that call. Gong’s own guide for managers asks for it: “Listen to one call per direct report once a week.” That is the hour your manager does not have.
5. Practice and role-play
Reps rehearse against an AI buyer before a real one. Hyperbound does this and also scores real calls. It goes after the next call too. Its blog says it will “measure the improvement on the next live call.” That check runs against a scorecard you build. Second Nature builds role-plays from your own scripts and material. On the two pages we read, we did not find a product that scores every real customer call.
What this kind can’t tell you: a rep can pass every role-play and still skip the question with a real buyer. Our comparison of sales coaching software covers kinds 4 and 5 in full.
6. CRM assistants
They update the CRM, draft the follow-up and answer questions about a deal. Salesforce sells its AI coaching inside Agentforce for Sales, a paid add-on. Its page also says “Conversation Insights does not record calls.” Microsoft describes its Sales agent as “an AI assistant for sales teams” that works in Outlook and Teams. We did not find call scoring on that page. Sybill offers to “handle your follow-ups, CRM updates, and to-dos.” Its coaching page shows questions a rep or manager asks it.
What this kind can’t tell you: hours back are not a higher win rate unless the rep sells better in them.
7. Forecasting and pipeline
They flag the deals at risk. Gong sells a forecast product. Clari’s web address now forwards to Salesloft, which still sells Clari Forecast and calls itself “The Leading Predictive Revenue System.” We name no limit for either.
What this kind can’t tell you: your rep says “they really want to buy,” and the deal pushes another month. A flag tells you it is slipping. Why it slipped is in the call. Start with how to build a forecast you can check.
What works: tie your AI sales tools to one playbook
You do not need fewer tools. You need one thing they all answer to.
- Name the number before the tool. Write down what should change, such as how many reps get to the person who signs before a proposal goes out.
- Write down what a good call is for your sale. Until you do, a score is somebody else’s opinion of your call.
- Give each rep one next move. A manager can coach one thing a week. A rep can change one thing on the next call.
- Check the next call. It gets skipped, because it takes the hour nobody has.
- Count reps, every week. How many did it on a live call? That is the number to take to your board.
We have always worked on one move a week. One rep, Matt, worked on nothing but getting his prospecting hours in, every week, for five months. He went from underperformer to 120% of quota. Another, CJ, worked only on getting better at discovery, using our process. He doubled his win rate on new opportunities.
Where RevHeat fits (this part is ours)
We work with the call recorder you already have, and we set that up.
We build the sales strategy with you. You approve it, and it becomes the playbook your reps run.
AI reads every call against the playbook you approved. After each call the rep gets one next move. Each week your manager gets the one thing to coach.
Then we read the rep’s next call to see if the rep did it. Every week we count how many reps do what the playbook says on a live call. The steps are on how we work with a sales team.
Justin Emond, CEO of Third and Grove, tripled his win rate in six months.
Same reps. Same leads. Same market.
This is for an owner or sales leader with five or more reps. We work with you every week.
The sales method you trained on is fine, whichever sales training company it came from.
Want to see it on your own calls? Book a 20-minute call.
The one test for any AI sales tool
Ask every vendor, us included, two questions.
Show me a rep who did something different on a live call because of this. Now show me how many of my reps did.
If the answer is a login count, a number of calls scored or hours saved, that is use. You were asked about selling.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Sales Tools
What are the best AI sales tools?
It depends on the kind. For recording and notes, Fathom or Avoma. For call scoring, Gong, Chorus or Attention. For practice, Hyperbound or Second Nature. Pick the kind first, then ask each vendor the test above.
What can AI be used for in sales?
Seven jobs today: finding prospects, writing outreach, recording and summarizing calls, scoring calls, rep practice, CRM updates and forecasting.
What is the best AI sales software for B2B?
For a B2B team with five or more reps, start with a call recorder. Then decide what each call gets read against, and who checks the next one.
How do I know if an AI sales tool is working?
Pick one thing your reps should do on a call. Count how many do it now. Count again in 30 days. If the count did not move, the tool is being used. It is not working.
Do I need to replace the AI tools for sales I already have?
Usually not. In our experience the gap is rarely the tool. It is that nothing connects the tool to what a rep does on the next call.
How do my calls get to you?
Straight from the call recorder you already use. We set that up.
Keep the call recorder you have. If you don’t have one, we’ll recommend one.
Bottom Line
AI sales tools come in seven kinds, and most do their piece well. Buying more will not move your win rate. Ask of each: did a rep do something different on a live call, and how many reps did?
We count that every week.