"We hate wasting time. Monty doesn't waste our time."
Efficiency is the name of the game for one G2 customer in the freight forwarding space in 2024. Like most SaaS companies, maximizing spend and efficiently using tools to educate, qualify, and convert prospects across all acquisition channels is crucial for effective growth.
This G2 customer offers a simple and intuitive Freight Management Software. With over 1,000+ freight forwarding customers serving over 6,000 daily users, their platform simplifies the complexities of running all aspects of a freight forwarding business into a single platform — including quotation, shipment booking, forwarding operations, security filings, real-time visibility, customer-facing tracking portal, accounting, and payment processing. Their software has helped numerous freight forwarders increase their revenue by 98% and profit by 178% while reducing fines by an average of 34%.
Their customers are SMB Freight Forwarders from all over the world who import/export into the US/Canada, and their team is about 100 strong.
The Challenge: Efficiently Sourcing Leads & Driving Pipeline
With a small, scrappy marketing team and finite resources, this company is constantly looking for innovative ways to efficiently source leads and drive pipeline while minimizing customer acquisition cost (CAC).
“Data and being able to track every part of what we’re doing is vital. The numbers we’re tracking and the efficiency of them are extremely important,” says their Demand Generation Manager.
After the recent rollout of a new website, they were on the lookout for a chatbot sidekick that both met their high standard for quality and sophistication, and went beyond conventional chatbot functionality. They were also hoping for one powered by Generative AI, as it allowed for granular customization and easy implementation.
As a product built in a specialized category with a specific target persona, they knew that finding a fully customizable chatbot that could learn quickly and communicate effectively would be difficult (and expensive). That was until they met G2’s AI-powered Monty. Asked what initially stood out when comparing Monty for Sales and other Generative AI chatbots:
“We were quickly impressed by Monty’s conversation and sales abilities. We love how Monty was able to read all of our content, deeply understand what we do, and sell our software faster than some people could,” their Demand Generation Manager explained.
They signed up for G2’s early access Monty for Sales program in January 2024 and went live soon after on both their G2 profile and website.
The Solution: G2’s Monty for Sales Joins as an AI-Powered SDR
Monty for Sales from G2 is a powerful AI-powered Sales Development Representative (SDR) chatbot. Designed with personalization and customization in mind, Monty was built to educate, prequalify, and convert software buyers through tailored 1:1 conversations. He learns quickly based on a vendor’s internal and external training content — including sales call transcripts, objection handling and battle cards, case studies, testimonials, pricing and packaging information, and much more.
“Within the first week, when we saw that chatbot talk [to a high value prospect] and work so well, we were ecstatic... An out-of-the-park difference."
Demand Generation Manager, Freight Forwarding Software
With Monty, it’s typically as simple as upload, test, and activate. This combination of power and simplicity was a perfect match for their needs.
“One of the easiest things I've ever had to implement. It would have taken me at least three weeks to set up a different chatbot. I was dreading it. I didn't have to do a lot to get Monty up and firing on all cylinders,” said their Demand Generation Manager.
Even after seeing Monty’s conversation prowess, their Demand Generation Manager remained cautious of the impact that a bad chatbot would have on website visitors.
“I hate chatbots that don’t work. Most people do,” he said. “ I didn’t want to put a chatbot on our site that people were going to be frustrated with. But within the first week, when we saw that chatbot talk to [a high value prospect] and work so well, we were ecstatic. Chills just saying that… An out-of-the-park difference.”
The Impact: $350K Pipeline Influenced in Just 2 Months (And More!)
100+
Monty chats per month
30%
Chat-to-conversion rate from Monty
$350k
Pipeline influenced in 2 months, on pace for $2.1M this year
70x
Increase in annual pipeline generated from G2
In the two months since Monty's introduction on their website, he’s had nearly 300 conversations with prospects. From these chats, they’ve seen a nearly 30% chat-to-conversion rate – which is unheard of from a traditional website chatbot.
Additionally, they have generated 15+ qualified leads. Eight of these have already converted further down the funnel and make up over $350k in pipeline, putting them on pace for $2.1 million in pipeline from Monty in 2024.
“This includes potentially the biggest deal ever brought into our company — 20 times our company’s average deal size,” the Demand Generation Manager said with a smile. “During a call, this customer said ‘Wow, your chatbot was great. I loved it. It really answered all of my questions,’ and I immediately shared their conversation with our sales team to ensure they focused on the right things and understood the prospect’s needs.”
But the benefits of Monty go way beyond chats, leads, and pipeline, as Monty also saves valuable time for their sales team.
Their Demand Generation Manager continued, “We’re receiving fewer demo submissions from unqualified folks who are now able to get their questions answered by Monty before taking an SDR’s time. The fact that Monty can do that for us 100 times a month saves us an average of an hour per conversation with Monty. That’s 100 hours back every month.”
“Monty saves us 100 hours of sales prospecting time every month."
Demand Generation Manager, Freight Forwarding Software
Monty’s Secret Sauce: Differentiating From the Pack (of Chatbots)
When asked to reflect on what was meant by the “out-of-the-park difference” between Monty and other Generative AI chatbots on the market, their Demand Generation Manager had this to say: “Link them to the pricing page of your competitors. For what you’re getting in quality from Monty, you won’t find a better value from a product. Again, we were all surprised at how easy it was to set up and how well Monty knows how to pitch our software.”
They also called out these features as key differentiators for Monty:
- Multilingual communication abilities, particularly beneficial as an international company. “An inbound request in a language we don't speak could take days of back and forth,” said the Demand Generation Manager.
- 24/7 “live chat” functionality, enhancing the user experience by providing prompt answers to inquiries.
- Chat prequalification capabilities, aiding them to narrow in on their ideal customer profile (ICP) and filter out unsuitable leads.
- Equipping their sales team with chat history and prospect information, enabling them to prepare for sales calls, tailor pitches, and speed up deals.
- Exceptional support provided for Monty by the G2 team.
Looking Ahead: How Their AI SDR Will Become Even More Effective
The team shared their exciting plans for Monty's future. In addition to refining Monty’s current role as an AI SDR on their website, they plan to empower Monty with additional responsibilities. These include:
- Further integrating Monty into their sales team’s workflows.
- Educating Monty as an industry expert for the Freight Forwarding industry.
- Leveraging Monty through other marketing channels, and more.
It’s evident that this G2 customer views Monty as a valuable asset to their team.
“When you say 7,000% [increase in G2 pipeline] out loud, it’s hard to argue against that value,” concluded their Demand Generation Manager.
Interested in hiring Monty for Sales on your G2 Profile and website? Sign up today and claim your 100 free chats.
by Gina Carr
by Erin Boyd
by Jordan Wahl