Everyone’s talking about Augmented Intelligence (AI). It’s not just trending in content creation, tech and AI are making waves in the sales industry. Does it have a productive place in a seller’s world? What about other sales tech, like sales planning software? Out with the spreadsheets, in with the AI? Sales organizations, and sellers specifically, need support. Especially when just under half of sellers reached quota in 2022. And only 27% are expected to meet or exceed targets in 2023.
You can’t blame sellers for being hesitant of adopting more technology. On average, a sales organization has 10 sales tech tools in their stack. Yet a Korn Ferry research study found that only 20% of sellers have adopted the solutions deployed. This helps answer why 94% of sales organizations have plans to consolidate their tech stack.
Does Technology Make Sellers More Productive? Or is it Just One More Password to Remember?
Consider this. A Salesforce study revealed the top reasons sellers leave: unrealistic sales targets, inadequate tech, and too much admin work. Setting sales targets and automating admin work are two areas where sales technology is growing and thriving. Look at sales forecasting. One study found less than one quarter of sales organizations have 75% or better accuracy. But with effective, tech-enabled territory management, sales can lift by 2-7%.
Sales Planning is seeing major gains in insights and efficiency thanks to innovative technology. Sales leaders can perform sales planning tasks that took weeks, even months, in a matter of hours. A purpose-built sales planning solution empowers leadership with more streamlined and data-driven strategies for focusing sellers’ efforts, identifying gaps, and highlighting opportunities. And it can deliver a connected, comprehensive go-to-market strategy from start to finish. Check out the e-book Helping Revenue Leaders Drive Growth for more in-depth detail. The substantial benefits extend to the sellers too. With more productive territories, sellers are confident they can achieve their sales goals. This confidence translates into three key benefits.
3 Ways Sellers Benefit from an Innovative Approach
Improved use of time
It’s reported that sellers only spend 28% of their week actually selling. The rest is spent on mundane but necessary admin and data updating tasks. Automation of these tasks can be career-changing. Including the much talked about generative AI. With its ability to “interpret, learn, link, and customize”, an article in Harvard Business Review positions generative AI as a salesperson’s digital assistant. It can recommend personalized content to customers, and even help write emails. You see the benefit of AI in the numbers. 80% of leaders and sales ops professionals have reported an at least moderate improvement in the use of reps’ time with an AI solution. And to further support this, high performing sales organizations are nearly 2 times more likely to adopt AI over underperformers.
Deeper client engagement
With the automation of tasks like updating data, the seller has more time to take a personalized approach to their customer. With a productive territory, there is more motivation to grow existing client relationships and develop new ones. AI and other advanced analytics can also give sellers a view into which relationships need nurturing. Sellers also benefit from leaders who have more time and to mentor. Which brings us to the third advantage.
Increased skill that drives increased productivity.
Upskilling is key for helping sellers keep pace with changing demands. Sales leaders have more time and resources to invest time in mentorship. AI-driven technologies can deliver insights that improve the quality of coaching and feedback. The automation of certain tasks also allows sellers more time to work towards their own career goals and interests.
Don’t Add to Your Tech Stack. Optimize It.
The key to taking an innovative approach is to optimize your tech stack. Are your tech tools just another system a salesperson has to login to? Or is the solution providing real value in the way it motivates and drives sustainable revenue? Take a systematic approach when choosing the right tech software for your business.
Get Innovative with How You Build Sustainable Revenue
Technology is no longer limited to improving execution, especially when it comes to sales planning. Technology makes a sales organization more agile to change, increases productivity, and introduces better collaboration. And it frees up time for the team to focus on building and growing customer relationships. Taking an innovative approach gives sales leaders an advantage for growing profitable and repeatable revenue. Download Helping Leaders Drive Growth to learn 5 actions you can take to ensure sales leadership success.
