My first sales job was scary. The hardest part was feeling brave enough to talk to prospects.
What if I mess up my pitch? Did I understand what they need?
What if they give me a total nightmare with the hardest objections? What if they know more than me?
Br-r-r... Remember this frustration from your first sales job?
The best way to get over it? Role-playing. Practicing sales calls helps reps feel confident, ramp up skills, and be ready for the real thing.
Do sales leaders have time to practice role-plays with everybody on the team? Our agenda is packed, so no.
Today's cool new technology lets your reps practice sales conversations on autopilot with AI and special recording tools.
To help fellow salespeople and coaches find the perfect fit, I reviewed the 8 best sales role-play software below.
💡 I'll admit: I might be a tiny 👌 biased as we designed PitchMonster for AI sales role-playing. But I promise to give you a balanced view so you can compare the pros and cons of each solution.
Ready to take some notes?
What is sales role-play software?
Role-play software allows you to try real-life sales conversations: cold calls, qualification calls, showing off your product, sales pitches, handling tough objections, inviting to events, you name it.
Today, your sales team can practice with an AI customer or record themselves easily.
Then, AI will turn to a virtual coach to give instant feedback on how to get better.
Your team can practice as many repetitions as they want, even when you are a busy manager.
Sales leaders consider role-play tools the perfect way to onboard newcomers, ensure reps know the product well, and reinforce new skills quickly.
Why should you consider sales role-play software?
When you compare manual 1:1 role-playing with software for your reps, you should consider a couple of facts:
- Your time availability
- How many role-play repetitions your reps need
- The feedback they get
Couple of words about each:
YOUR TIME
In-person role-play is a time-sucker. Let's say you've got 10 salespeople.
You spend 10 minutes for one role-play session, and 5 minutes to give feedback. Another 15 minutes to revisit the session and assess how the new information is being retained. And we have half an hour for one rep. It takes five hours for the whole team.
Having a team of 20 reps? Your whole day is gone!
If you have 2-3 reps in the team maybe you can squeeze this in a few times a month. As your team grows, you have too much on the plate.
You need to find a way to automate things.
REPETITIONS FOR REPS
Mike Tyson would spar around 300 rounds to prepare for a single fight. A couple of random role-plays are not going to breed us sales champions.
That’s why many repetitions matter. With good software, your team can practice five, ten, or even more times until they nail your sales standards.
FEEDBACK FACTOR
Giving role-play feedback to the rep requires some work: robust scorecards, comments on how to be better, speech delivery, giving suggestions on wording/phrasing, etc.
You need to take notes, all while remembering what they said in role-play. So it’s not the best place to multitask.
Some recording software will document each attempt and can perform simple breakdowns like transcription and pace analysis. But the best tools will give a full breakdown with AI, tailoring to your best practices.
On top of that, your coaching team can give additional comments at a convenient time and focus on other activities.
How to choose the best sales role-play software for your needs?
Here's what to look for when picking the best-fit solution:
The review below outlines the pros and cons of each tool, along with scores on a scale of 1 to 5, to help you answer the questions above.
CRITERIA WE USED TO ASSESS THE BEST TOOLS
- Realistic practice: Does it feel like a real sales call? Can you handle different situations, not just the same boring script over and over?
- Easy setup: Salespeople have a lot of tools. No one likes another complicated tech. Can you set up a role-play quickly, or does it take forever?
- AI Coach: Does the software give good feedback, like a real coach? Does it understand the special way your company sells?
- Self-explanatory app: Is the platform easy to figure out, or will your team get frustrated?
- Onboarding & training: If you have questions or problems, is there someone to help you out?
What are the best 8 sales role-play tools?
1. PitchMonster
2. SecondNature
3. Quantified
4. Hyperbound
5. Zenarate
6. Nytro.ai
7. Brevity
8. Replay
Let's break down top 5 tools in detail below.
Are you a role-play tool interested in being added to comparison table? If so, email me at oleg@gradual.io and we will review your software.
PitchMonster
PITCHMONSTER PROS:
✅ Practice with AI Сustomers Who Act Like Your Real Ones
A lot of sales practice software is way too easy. Your AI customer always says "yes" at the end, even if you mess up.
Sure, encouraging newcomers or people who need upskilling is good, but you shouldn't give them the false impression that it will be this easy with actual customers.
PitchMonster settings are flexible, so you can create both easy and tough practice sessions.Imagine you sell analytics software for marketers.
Let's take your cold call for example:
You're cold-calling the VP of Marketing at an e-commerce company that might have trouble tracking revenue from returning customers. This person gets tons of sales calls like yours. They're busy, and honestly, they're probably tired of hearing about 'magical' new software. You can recreate this exact scenario in PitchMonster.
You might say, 'Listen, if our sales reps don't grab a prospect's attention right away on a cold call, the whole opportunity is gone.'
Fair.
You can set it up in PitchMonster so the rep has to start the call with a specific phrase. Like this:
"Hi, this is [rep's name] from [company]. I'll be honest, this is a cold call about [product]. You can hang up right now, or give me 30 seconds to explain how we can help you with [customer challenge]."
If your salesperson skips that step and tries to hit the prospect with a salesy pitch about 'magical software' right away, the AI will shut them down with 'Thanks, not interested' in seconds. Just like a real prospect would.
✅ AI Coach Tailored to Your Sales Standards:
Right now, it's tough to trust AI fully because it can be too generic. How can it give your team useful feedback if it doesn't understand your specific sales approach
With PitchMonster, you can upload sales standards, methodology, essential keywords and phrases – basically, teach the AI how you want your team to sell. Think of it like an extension of yourself, giving reps personalized feedback on their practice sessions even when you're short on time.
This kind of targeted coaching can potentially deliver a massive ROI – studies show up to 353%.
✅ Enable Customer-facing People
Sure, we know salespeople need to master the conversation skills to bring more business. But what about your other customer-facing teams?
They're the key to upsells, reducing churn, and turning customers into loyal fans Attracting new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer. Anyone focused only on training their sales team, but ignoring the rest, is leaving serious money on the table.
Good news: PitchMonster isn't just for closers and prospectors. You can set up AI-powered practice for support, customer success, even accounting teams.
💡Grab these role-play examples for customer-facing teams:
Scenario for support agents: Context: A critical feature isn't working, the customer is losing time and money, and they're beyond frustrated.
Objective: Your support team needs to quickly de-escalate the situation, show empathy for the customer's problem, and offer immediate solutions.
Upsell scenario for customer success team:Context: The customer consistently hits 80-90% of their plan's limits.
Objective: Proactively reach out to prevent service disruptions. Emphasize the benefits of upgrading and handle any objections the customer might have.
Want more examples? Check out these 12 role-plays to sharpen your team's skills.
PITCHMONSTER CONS:
⛔️ Limited Avatar and Voice Diversity:
Sales reps like variety.Finding the right approach for each unique customer that makes the job challenging...exactly this diversity makes us stay in this job longer.
The UK's Most Hated Sales Trainer says in one of his great YouTube Shorts that the best reps adapt to their audience.
While PitchMonster lets you set personality traits and backgrounds for its AI customers, it still lacks the ability to fully customize their appearance and voice.
⛔️ Limited Team-level Insights:
PitchMonster tracks individual rep progress, which is great. But sales leaders also need a bigger-picture view of how the whole team is doing. This helps them make those critical decisions – where to focus training, how to adjust strategy, etc.
Right now, there's no easy way to see team-wide trends in PitchMonster. Unless you want to spend time reviewing recordings one by one, you might feel missing those key insights.
⛔️ No Script Training
Lots of companies, especially call centers, rely on scripts to ensure a consistent conversation with clients.
While PitchMonster lets you track keywords so reps can see if they're hitting the right points, it doesn't help them actually learn the script.Interactive exercises, memorization tools – those thighs are missing.
PITCHMONSTER PRICING:
You start with a free trial to build your own custom AI role-plays to test them with team. Once you're ready to start the project, pricing scales based on your needs:
The more users, the better the price per person. You need more than 200 seats? PitchMonster offer a per-practice pricing model.
Choose monthly or annual subscriptions – no long-term contracts. Cancel anytime.
What's included: custom setup, unlimited role-plays support (live chat, email, Zoom calls) Enterprise plans get dedicated support hours, guaranteed uptime, and training materials.
SecondNature
SECONDNATURE PROS:
✅ In-built LMS
Combining AI role-play with an LMS is a smart move, especially for large teams. Teach the concepts in your LMS, then immediately let your team put them into practice with realistic AI scenarios.
SecondNature has an LMS built right in, saving you the cost of a separate tool. If you're browsing the market for learning management apps, this is a major time-saver.
✅ Record Role-play Golden Standard
SecondNature keeps it easy: record your best reps handling tough AI scenarios, then have your team practice until they match that standard.
This saves time and is especially valuable for teams with strict conversational guidelines, where being overly creative isn't ideal.
✅ Market Pioneer
Let's give SecondNature props – they were the first to bring realistic AI role-plays to the sales world.
For PitchMonster and others, they're the ones who paved the way. It's like the IBM to Apple and HP – they started a new generation of sales coaching tools.
Of course, it's up to you to decide if being the "original" is the most important factor when choosing your software.
SECONDNATURE CONS:
⛔️ Easy-to-win Role-plays
SecondNature gives reps a confidence booster to win every role-play with AI customer. But is that really preparing them for the “big fights”? Mike Tyson wouldn't waste his time with sparring partners who go down in the first round.
It’s okay to let your reps hear "No" in practice so they can learn to overcome it. As they say, the harder you train, the better you'll fight.
⛔️ Learning Curve
Like a lot of enterprise software, SecondNature focuses on “process-efficiency” features like integrations over a simple interface.
If you don't have time for extensive setup and training your team on using the tool, this might not be the best fit.
⛔️ Long-term Contracts, Big Team Size Needed
Your goal is to boost win rates, streamline onboarding, all that good stuff – right? So, it's no surprise when you say, "We need this ASAP!" looking for a new coaching tool.
But SecondNature won't work with you unless you have a team of 30+ and agree to an annual contract. For fast-moving teams, that's a dealbreaker.
Bonus: Bonus: Check out the PitchMonster vs. SecondNature comparison
Quantified
QUANTIFIED PROS:
✅ Photorealistic Avatars
Quantified immediately grabs attention with lifelike avatars right as you open their website. Role-playing with these avatars acclimates reps to the feeling of eye contact with customers.
This is especially good for teams relying on face-to-face interactions, like field or door-to-door representatives.
✅ Integrations
Quantified seamlessly integrates with Zoom, MS Teams, and Google for live video capture and feedback.
It’s a significant advantage for teams looking to scale coaching without needing to manually analyze every conversation.
✅ Reporting
While other tools prioritize aligning feedback and analysis with organization norms, folks from Quantified have developed their own robust methodology.
It provides a breakdown of both individual and team performance, with overview of reps’ strengths and opportunities in areas like vocal delivery, credibility building, and articulation.
QUANTIFIED CONS:
⛔️ Limited AI Settings
Want to create scenarios where you set up a framework on how to handle specific objections? That's not possible with Quantified. This means the AI might accept responses that wouldn't fly with real customers.
Just like with SecondNature, it can be okay to boost confidence among newcomers. But be prepared that is could leave reps to be disarmed by “NOs” in real conversation. For example, when rep fails to uncover the reason of an objection and failed to ask certain provoking questions/giving the value to handle it.
⛔️ No Tailored Feedback
While Quantified's reporting is strong, you can't set up the AI to mirror the type of feedback you provide as a coach.
(Yes, it might be both the strong side for your org and the weakness)
So companies with established enablement programs, quality standards, or specific script elements may find it difficult to integrate their best practices or track key topics in practice.
Hyperbound
HYPERBOUND PROS:
✅ Voice Customizations
Hyperbound goes beyond just offering different voices for practice. You can fine-tune the persona's emotional state – clarity, speed, background noise, even how difficult they are to persuade.
This type of realistic practice is crucial for salespeople, who need to adapt and manage stress when dealing with challenging buyers. Hyperbound does a great job in this area.
✅ AI Response Speed
Remember the last time you interacted with an AI assistant like calling your bank's customer support line? One thing that makes or breaks the experience is how quickly the AI generates a response – that's called latency.
Fast response times are just as important in sales coaching; customers won't wait around in real-world conversations. Hyperbound's AI personas are among the quickest on the market, and crucially, this speed doesn't compromise the accuracy of AI replies.
✅ SOC 2 Compliant
If you're a large team that wants to avoid lengthy security checks and endless email chains with tech or security teams, look for a vendor with certifications like SOC 2.
Having this in place is a time-saver.
HYPERBOUND CONS:
⛔️ No Avatars
While phone calls are key to prospecting and follow-ups, many industries (like FMCG, home services, automotive, telecom) also rely heavily on in-person interactions.
Hyperbound's lack of avatars limits its use for teams who need to train reps for those face-to-face conversations.
⛔️ Focus on Cold Calls Only
Cold calling is important, but it's just one piece of the sales process.
Hyperbound's focus on cold-calling practice means it won't help reps with other crucial touchpoints along the customer journey, and won't be suitable for training customer support or success teams.
⛔️ Limited AI Feedback
While the ability to customize scorecards is a plus, suggestions on how to progress falls short.
Let's say it points out a rep didn't ask enough discovery questions. But it might be helpful if the AI then suggested a few open-ended questions to use in the future conversations.
Zenarate
ZENARATE PROS:
✅ Conversation brief on screen:
If your reps are used to seeing detailed customer info on your screen (history, billing, etc.), Zenarate gets it right.
Their simulations let you include the same type of dashboard for a true-to-life experience, especially good for contact center agents.
✅ Call analyzer
Zenarate doesn't just focus on practice – their call analyzer module helps you track and learn from live recordings. This is great for spotting certain trends and agents gaps in real conversations.
Notice an area where reps could improve? The system can create a personalized practice plan to help them level up.
ZENARATE CONS:
⛔️ Outdated user interface
Design can be subjective, so it's up to you whether Zenarate's interface feels clunky.
But remember, purchasing a self-explanatory app with a quick learning curve is a fair trade-off to getting team “approval” on introducing a new tool, especially when it comes to training.
(Yeah-yeah, we know there’s still a stereotype that sales training tools are boring and un-sexy).
⛔️ Limited AI settings
Zenarate's role-play simulations might be too basic for teams who need to practice unpredictable, off-script conversations.
It lacks variety in AI buyer behavior, difficulty settings, and offers mostly half-chat, half-voice conversations
⛔️ Time-consuming setup
Customizations are great, but with Zenarate, it sounds like there are many required fields to manage when setting up scenarios, KPIs, and reports.
If you're already short on time, be sure this extra admin work fits into your schedule.
What is the best AI role-play software for mid-size enterprises?
When choosing the best AI role-play software for mid-size enterprises, here's what to prioritize: ease of use and scale, time to set up, and pricing structure.
You want a tool that delivers a fast return on investment, without lengthy implementation timelines or complicated budget approvals.
The best software to check out for growing teams are:
- PitchMonster
- Hyperbound
- Replay
What is the best AI role-play software for large enterprises?
For large enterprises with dedicated sales enablement or L&D teams and flexibility for long-term contracts, there's room for a deeper dive into the best AI role-play solutions.
Here's what to prioritize:
- Customizations:
Look for software with extensive AI scenario options and the ability to integrate your existing sales methodology, ensuring AI feedback aligns with your standards.
- Integrations:
Choose a tool that integrates with your existing LMS, CRM, and conversation intelligence platforms for a seamless training experience.
- Security & support:
Prioritize vendors that meet your enterprise's security standards and offer dedicated customer support.
Your shortlist for demos should include:
- PitchMonster
- SecondNature
- Quantified
What is the best AI role-play software for sales coaches?
Coaching teams within your client companies presents unique challenges. How do you find the right AI role-play tool for this situation?
Let's break down your needs. Typically, sales coaches use AI role-play software for two key purposes:
- Skills reinforcement:
You need to create custom role-plays for your learners (your clients' reps) to practice the skills they've gained in your workshops.
- E-learning:
Link role-plays directly to your LMS. Learners complete a module, immediately put their knowledge into practice, and track their progress.
Here's what to prioritize:
- Customization:
The ability to embed your specific coaching methodology, ensuring the AI assesses the skills you prioritize.
- LMS Integration:
Smooth integration for embedding role-plays and exporting results to your training platform.
- Easy Reporting:
Simple ways to share results with learners, their managers, or stakeholders evaluating your training.
Top solutions for sales coaches:
- PitchMonster
- SecondNature
- Hyperbound
Other Tools for Sales Role-Plays to Consider
There are a few different ways to get your team practicing, even if you can’t get AI role-play tool.
Keep in mind, these might be good workarounds but they won’t offer level of functionality of players I reviewed above.
Let's look at their pros and cons:
LMS / Sales Enablement Tools
PROS:
✅ Easy to merge lessons and practice.
✅ Keeps track of rep progress in one place.
CONS:
⛔️ These are not true AI practice – there’s no option to generate virtual customer to speak with.
⛔️ Role-play feedback is basic (like transcripts, filler words). You'll still need to give coaching yourself.
⛔️ Expensive if you don't already have one of these platforms.
Tools to check out:
- Showpad
- Mindtickle
- Lessonly
Video Recording Apps
Simple and straightforward: Give reps a challenge, for example, "Handle the 'Send me an email' objection," and ask them to record their response.
PROS:
✅ Low-cost option: Subscriptions with unlimited video recordings could be found for less than $15. These tools could be used for other purposes, like recording videos for customers or creating a library of training resources
CONS:
⛔️ Can't branch the conversation to different scenarios in one video. If you ask to practice "Handle the 'Send me an email' objection," then it's just that, with no interactive derivatives in one recording.
⛔️ Zero AI feedback for the rep.
⛔️ Can get messy to manage all recordings if you recording tool for other purposes.
Tools to explore:
- Loom
- Vidyard
LLMs (ChatGPT, etc.)
Who don’t use AI assistants today! Use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and others to generate role-play scenarios.
PROS:
✅ Fast to set up. You don't need training on how to use GPT or AI bots; most likely, your team is familiar with them too.
The only thing to figure out is creating the right prompts for the practice. You'll find a link to an article on how to create prompts for AI role-playing later in this review.
CONS:
⛔️You have to pay $20 for everybody to access your custom GPTs.
⛔️No scoring, coaching feedback, or improvement suggestions.
⛔️Text-based only, not ideal for video practice.
Sales Role-Play Software FAQ
Let's tackle common questions sales leaders have questions about AI role-play tools:
How do you implement AI sales role-play software?
Treat it like any other training initiative – it makes sense to start only if you will measure the impact.
The good news?
AI role-play offers one of the fastest returns on investment among other training activities. Here's a two-phase rollout approach you can use:
Phase 1: Pilot
- Start with a group that has a specific challenge – your newest reps, or those struggling with a particular customer objections
- Create role-plays based on the conversations where you see the most lost opportunities (tough objections, cold call reluctance, etc.)
- Track the Change: Let the group practice for a week, then compare their conversion rates before and after AI role-play. High-velocity sales teams should see results within days.
Phase 2: Scale
If the pilot pays off, it's time to expand:
- Build role-plays into your onboarding to get new hires up to speed faster. It's also good to have additional role-plays to reinforce onboarding materials during the first 60 and 90 days.
- Support your regular training and coaching sessions with AI role-play practice. This will make reps comfortable using fresh techniques and help new product knowledge stick.
How much time does setup take for AI role-play software?
The whole point of AI tools is to save time and boost results, right?
So, how long does it take to get your role-play software up and running? The answer depends on how complex your sales process is. Let's break it down:
Say your team is cold-calling, offering 2 products to 2 different customer profiles, and might face 3 different personalities (quick decision-makers, hesitant ones, and the super-curious). 2 products x 2 ICPs x 3 personalities = 12 role-play scenarios
To set up each scenario, let's say it takes about 15 minutes. 12 x 15 = 180 minutes = 3 hours.
What you get in return of couple of hours doing the setup, are dozens of hours saved compared to doing traditional 1-on-1 role-plays. Especially with large teams.
But realistically... you've got other things to do too. So, figure a couple of days to build that initial cold calling library, spending an hour or so each day. Then use the same approach to create scenarios for other stages of your sales process.
Can role-play tools replace human coaches?
Nope.
*Hear sighs of relief from coaches*
Here are three reasons why:
- Humans Get the Nuance:
Coaches understand the specifics of product or service and can read between the lines in a conversation. These expertise is essential for tailoring the AI to your exact business needs in role-plays and any training activities.
- The Personal Touch Matters:
AI scales practice amazingly, but salespeople needs human connection for leadership and expertise to truly perform.
- AI Is Best for a Specific Stage:
AI role-plays are fantastic for newcomers and salespeople of 1st and 2nd year. Also, AI coaching is great for product or services with quick sales cycles.
But for seasoned account executives selling to Fortune 500 companies high-ticket deals AI role-plays won’t bring much value.
Why?
Only a skilled human mentor can provide the strategic guidance and in-depth preparation needed for enterprise sales level.
How to create AI role-plays?
The key to create AI role-plays is understanding a few elements: buyer persona, role-play goal, conversation context, ideal steps for reps, and potential objections.
Need a detailed breakdown? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to create AI role-plays.
Conclusion
Finding the perfect role-play tool for your sales and customer-facing teams can feel tedious. The last thing you need is another lengthy buying and implementation process.
Start smart: write down your exact needs, key company facts, share them on demos with potential vendors.
Don't be shy about asking for free trials and running small pilots with your reps.
Focus on these questions:
- How realistic is the AI practice?
- Is it easy to setup?
- Does the AI provide helpful feedback after each role-play?
- Most importantly, do your reps actually enjoy using the tool?
Once you've got your answers, pick the best fit and watch those sales numbers rock-n-rock!
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