How does an AI-powered sales assistant work?
Take a live cold call. Della plays your prospect and coaches you on screen. Free, 3 minutes.Try it live →An AI-powered sales assistant works in a loop. It listens to the call, turns speech into text as people talk, recognizes moments like an objection or an unanswered question, finds your team's best answer in your own script, and shows it on the rep's screen while the prospect is still talking. After the call it scores what happened, and those scores tell the manager, and the rep's next practice session, what to fix. The prospect hears only the rep. Della Live is an AI-powered sales assistant that works this way on phone calls.
What happens in the seconds after a prospect objects
Here is the loop, step by step, as it runs in Della Live. Other live-call assistants follow a similar pattern.
| Step | What the AI does | What the rep sees |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Listen | Hears both sides of the call: the rep and the prospect. | Nothing yet. The rep just talks. |
| 2. Transcribe | Turns speech into text as it's spoken, so the assistant can read the conversation in real time. | A running transcript of the call. |
| 3. Recognize the moment | Spots the moments that decide a call: an objection, a question left unanswered, a long stretch with no question, interest with no ask for the meeting. | A short label, like the objection the prospect just raised. |
| 4. Find your answer | Pulls the best answer from your team's script and saved answers, not from generic sales advice. | The line to say, on screen, while the prospect is still talking. |
| 5. Stay quiet | Never speaks on the call. The rep decides what to say and how to say it. | The prospect only ever hears the rep. |
| 6. Score the call | When the call ends, grades it from the transcript. | A grade, what worked, what to fix, and the line that would have changed the call. |
| 7. Learn | A manager edits an answer once and every rep has it on the next call. The objections a rep misses can feed their practice. | Better answers next time, and practice on the exact objections they missed. |
A call, moment by moment
- Rep: "...so I'm calling to see if it's worth a quick look."
- Prospect: "We've got a guy for that."
- On the rep's screen, before the prospect finishes: "Totally fair. What would make a second option worth a look?"
- Rep says it in their own words and keeps the call going.
- After the call: the scorecard notes the rep handled the pushback but never asked for a day and time, with the tip: ask for a day and time before you hang up.
The answer on screen is only as good as the answer in your script. That's why the "learn" step matters: when a line doesn't land, the manager fixes it once and the whole team has the better line on the next call.
What "AI-powered" adds over a script or battle cards
| Tool | During the call | After the call |
|---|---|---|
| Printed script | The rep has to find the right page while the prospect talks. | Nothing. Nobody knows which lines worked. |
| Battle cards | Cards pop up on keywords a manager set up, if the rep reads the right one. | Usually nothing, unless a manager listens to the recording. |
| AI-powered sales assistant | Recognizes the moment and shows the matching line from your script while the prospect is still talking. | Every call scored, with one clear fix, and the misses can feed practice. |
What it needs from you
- Your script and best answers. Upload your script in the Della dashboard. A few recorded calls help Della learn your objections and how your best reps answer them.
- A way to call. Della includes a built-in dialer with live objection answers, call scoring and practice in every seat. Already have a dialer? Tell us which one and we'll confirm it works. For video calls, Della Live Plus runs in Chrome and no bot joins the meeting.
- Consent where the law requires it. Some states require everyone on a call to agree to recording or transcription. Tell prospects the call is recorded where that applies.
What it can't do
- Fix a weak answer. If the line in your script doesn't work, the assistant will show a line that doesn't work. Fix it once and it's fixed for everyone.
- Make a rep sound natural on day one. Reading a line word for word can sound stiff. Reps who practice the answers first use the screen as a reminder, not a script. That's what Della Practice is for.
- Fix a bad list or an offer nobody wants. It helps once someone picks up and is talking.
- Hear perfectly. Speech-to-text can mishear a word on a noisy line. The rep is always the one deciding what to say.
Where your call data goes
Only your team and Della see your calls, and Della stores data in the US. Details, including how long transcripts are kept and how deletion works, are on our security and call recording page.
How to test one in a 7-day trial
- Upload your real script, not a sample, and the five objections your team hears most.
- Put two reps on it for a full call block each day: one strong rep and one newer rep.
- Check the screen against the call. Did the right answer show up while the prospect was still talking? Did the rep use it?
- Read the scores. Do the grades match what you'd have said listening to the call?
- Edit one answer mid-week and check that every rep has it on the next call.
A week shows you whether the tool works on your calls. It's too short to judge your conversion rate; compare a full month of conversations before and after for that.
How Della fits
Della AI is an AI sales coach. Della Live is the AI-powered sales assistant for phone calls described above: your team's best answer on the rep's screen when the prospect objects, coaching cards, and a score on every call. Della Practice lets reps rehearse the objections they missed against an AI voice prospect. Della is AI and says so; your reps run every call. Looking at other kinds of AI sales assistant (AI callers, AI SDRs, inbound responders)? See the 5 types of AI sales assistant.
We built Della for our own sales floor first; the case study explains what changed when our reps started using Della Live.
Pricing (from dellasales.ai/pricing, November 10, 2026): Della Live is $199 per seat per month on a 12-month agreement ($239 month-to-month) plus $0.08 per live minute (ringing and voicemail free), with a 5-seat minimum and a 7-day free trial. Della Practice is $24.99 per rep per month (5-rep minimum, $124.95/mo) plus $0.68 per practice minute, and the first practice call is free.
Try Della Live free for 7 days.
Della listens to your rep's call and puts your team's best answer on screen when the prospect objects, from your own script. Every call is scored. Della is AI; your reps run the call.
Start my 7-day free trialSee pricing →FAQ
How does an AI-powered sales assistant know what to say?
It recognizes the moment on the call, like an objection, and pulls the matching answer from your team's own script and saved answers. Managers can edit any answer, and the change applies on the next call.
Does an AI-powered sales assistant talk to the prospect?
A live-call assistant like Della Live doesn't. It shows text on the rep's screen only, and the prospect hears only the rep. AI callers are a different tool: they talk to prospects in an AI voice and must say they're an AI.
How fast does the answer show up?
Della Live is built to show the answer while the prospect is still talking, so the rep has it before they need to respond.
What does an AI-powered sales assistant need to work?
Your sales script and best answers, a few recorded calls to learn from, and a way to call. Della includes a built-in dialer, and Della Live Plus covers video calls in Chrome.
Is it legal to use an AI assistant on sales calls?
Yes, but recording and transcription laws apply. Some states require everyone on the call to consent. Tell prospects the call is recorded where the law requires it. This isn't legal advice; check the rules where you call.
How much does an AI-powered sales assistant cost?
Della Live is $199 per seat per month on a 12-month agreement or $239 month-to-month, plus $0.08 per live minute, with a 5-seat minimum and a 7-day free trial.
