In a perfect world, what would be the best possible support we could offer our calling teams?

What information would the ideal interface show, how would it help, and what would it look like?

Behold our Fantasy User Interface (FUI). Pulling and displaying data from multiple sources, applying artificial intelligence and sentiment monitoring, it will enable the business development rep of the future to use and gather the insight that enables more connected conversations: outbound and inbound, online and over the phone.

MarketOne’s Fantasy User Interface

Press play and view in full screen mode for the best experience.

Business development teams of the (very near) future will have everything they need to offer a superior buyer experience:

• Contact and account insight: all the key information about the individual, their role in the organization, and who else we know there.
• Behavioral insight: relevant data about recent interactions with the contact, arranged in chronological order, so they can be sensibly nurtured, rather than treated as a new contact every time.
• Social insight: comments and connections, giving the rep an opportunity to engage by bringing appropriate details from the prospect’s social footprint into the conversation.
• Sentiment analysis: smart algorithms that monitor the mood of the call, suggesting actions that the rep might take.
• Script assistance: intelligent suggestions of topics, questions and comments that might improve the quality of the interaction.
• Access to further expertise: access to relevant content that could be sent in real-time and subject matter experts, who could join the call or chat.
• Post-call management: the ability to quickly and easily log information gathered in a way that will benefit later interactions with the buyer.

What would you add to your fantasy user interface? Comment on LinkedIn or on twitter using the hashtag #connectedconversations

The thinking behind the FUI

The interface has three screens to help the rep before, during and after an interaction with a prospective buyer. The first screen aggregates all the background information a rep might need to prepare for a successful outbound call. The second screen presents the most useful insight and instruction in real-time during a conversation or live chat. This would help reps dealing with inbound inquiries too. The third screen is where the rep can edit and complete call notes, check and submit data, and get immediate feedback on their performance with tips to improve next time.

For the UX purists out there, we appreciate this may not be the most usable interface. We simply wanted to brainstorm all the information we’d like to display, and then get it all on the page to spark some ideas and stimulate some discussion.

Of course, with the rapid advance of augmented reality and artificial intelligence, there may be no need for an interface at all – a VR headset may place the rep face-to-face with the buyer, with prompts delivered by Samantha or Sven: a virtual sales engineer bot, whispering through an unobtrusive earbud!