This article provides an overview of topics, topic models, and topic naming. The article also guides you through the topic naming setup. Part of the setup is carried out by Gong business admins with their CSMs.
Here’s your topic creation checklist.
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Learn what topics, topic models, and topic filters are.
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Work with your CSM to set up topic models and filters.
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Assign unique names to topics discovered in your topic models.
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Activate your topic models.
Topics are subjects that Gong identifies in calls. Gong goes through your organization's calls and identifies key words and phrases. For example, Gong may identify that participants are talking about pricing, support issues, or competition. You can use this information to create a label with relevant topic names. Topics are then surfaced in key locations in Gong, including,
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On call pages
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In call filters
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In team stats
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In Whispers
Viewing topics that Gong surfaces helps you quickly find and analyze business-critical discussions, and coach your teams.
Gong can detect topics in any language for which there is transcript support. This gives you the opportunity to create topics that suit various countries and cultures your organization works with. Scroll down to Custom topic models and filters for more information about naming in languages other than English.
Topics are seen on call pages and can be used to let team members see what subjects were covered during a discussion. Team members can click directly into the recording where the topic was covered. Topics are named and color-coded. The subject discussed the most is referred to as the main topic.
Team members can choose call topics when searching for calls. For example, members can instruct Gong to show calls when topics on pricing were or were not found.
Team leads can help their teams learn and grow by working with topic statistics. For example:
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Review the time spent by each team member on promoting a new value proposition
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Verify that team members are not spending too much time on small-talk
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See what topics are being discussed more by A-level reps
Topics are generated by topic models, which apply proprietary Gong AI and machine learning to calls generated by your organization. Using this technology, Gong identifies the subjects mentioned in your calls based on the number of times the subject was discussed, and the duration of the discussion. Topic models can be created for each workspace in your organization.
Two kinds of topic models can be used:
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An out-of-the-box base topic model
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Custom topic models
These models are shown in the Topic models page after you set them up with your CSM.
Gong automatically creates an out-of-the-box base model.
The model generates base topics that cover generic phrases discovered in your workspace, including:
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Call Setup: for example “zoom links” or “start the recording”
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Small Talk: for example “it's raining” or “where are you based?”
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Next Steps: for example “next week” or “let’s set up another call”
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Pricing: for example “that’s too expensive” or ”we need a discount”
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Wrap-up: for example “thank you very much guys” or “ have a great day”
When found, these topic names appear in Gong. The base topics are displayed in English. Base models are enabled by default for new Gong users.
Custom topic models apply proprietary Gong AI and machine learning to calls generated by your organization in the same way they are applied to base models. Custom models, however, can be used to generate topics that reflect the unique subjects being discussed in your company - beyond the generic subjects covered in the base model.
Creating custom topic models segments the information analyzed by Gong according to your business needs and gives you insight into conversations that are unique to your business.
For example, a custom topic model may help you learn about various team discussions for a specific product line. To help Gong find the most relevant calls for each topic model, you and your CSM will associate call filters with each model. Calls that meet the filter requirements are analyzed by Gong. Other calls won't be analyzed. For example, add a filter that instructs Gong to listen to calls for specific teams in specific languages.
You can activate and deactivate models as needed from the Topic modes page.
You need approximately 1000 hours of recorded calls in each workspace before working with custom models.
It’s worth thinking about how you want to leverage Gong topics ahead of time. For example, if the topic models you create are too broad, or too narrow, Gong may not surface the information you need.
Don’t worry though. You’ll be working with your Gong CSM when creating models and assigning filters. In the meantime, here are some basic guidelines to think about.
For larger enterprises consider:
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Using a department-based approach to create separate models for SDRs, upmarket AEs, marketing strategists, and sales enablement teams.
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Using a business-based approach to create separate models that cover lost deals, new upmarket opportunities, mid-market sales wins, and conversations you want to avoid or repeat.
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Segmenting models for teams that support different product lines
For smaller and medium businesses consider:
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Creating models for pre-sales and post-sales teams
Many of the topics that are generated from your custom topic models will be unnamed. Unnamed topics include common phrases in calls that are particular to your organization but have not been labeled yet. For example, you may find phrases in a model that reflect Salesforce integrations. When you add this topic name, the label will appear in Gong.
You can navigate through the unnamed topics and review related call segments and transcripts to get more insight into the subject to being discussed. Once you understand the essence of each topic, you can name it.
You can assign topic names in languages other than English. Learn more about supported languages.
You’ll need to reach out to your Gong representative to collaborate for the initial topic setup. During setup, You’ll work with a CSM to define model segmentation and related call filters. The CSM will run topic models and contact you when the topics are ready. It takes 10 minutes on average to name 10-15 topics.
Once ready, access your models and start naming topics.
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Select your Company settings. In the OPTIMIZE ANALYSIS section, click Topics.
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The Topic models page opens with your base model, as well as any custom models you created with your CSM.
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Select a model from the page. A topic naming page opens with the topics created for this model. A wizard explains topic naming concepts.
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Navigate through the unnamed topics by selecting a topic name from the list or using the scroll bar at the top of the page. If you chose the base model, topic names are shown at the top of the page. You can change these names to other names in English.
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For each topic, listen to key call snippets, and review transcripts and common phrases. This will give you more insight into the essence of the call.
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The core topic is automatically shown in the transcript. Select the play button to hear the conversation from that point. If you want to see the entire transcript, select the SHOW ENTIRE TRANSCRIPT button.
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Once you understand the essence the topic, assign it a name in the top scroll bar.
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Click out of the bar to save the name. You may see call suggestions for unnamed topics. Name suggestions are generated from similar topic names assigned in models across your organization.
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Assign a color to the topic. The topic name will appear in Gong with the color and label when detected.
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Enable the Display topic toggle if you want the topic to be used.
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Review all unnamed topics and name them. You may find that some topics are similar. You can merge topics by assigning them the same name.
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When you finish, go back to the Topic model page and select Activate. It may take up to a few hours/days to activate the topics in Gong.
You can update topic names at any time, and there is no need to reactivate the model afterwards. Here's how to do it:
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Go to Company Settings and select Topics in the OPTIMIZE ANALYSIS section.
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Choose the topic model in which you want to update topic names.
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On the left panel, you'll see all the topics in this topic model. Click on the name you want to change to open a panel on the right that shows the title of this topic, as well as the common phrases it contains, and relevant call examples.
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Enter the new name in the field at the top. The new name will automatically be saved, and displayed when this topic is identified in your calls.