How technology can improve sales productivity by Robert D. Bowling

How technology can improve sales productivity

Long before I was in marketing operations and now responsible for sales, I started my career as a software engineer. Over the years, I have seen technology evolve these functions as efficiency and innovative software tools took shape. It is fairly easy to say that IT and engineering have gained immensely with the advancements in technology and the speed of adoption.

What seemed unrealistic and impossible a couple of decades ago are now a reality. In fact, when former Apple CEO John Sculley released a video on technology of the future back in 1987, people were furious. Check out the video and read commentary for an idea of why change causes fear and uncertainty — here

In the enterprise marketing space technology has also gained a lot of traction. From the unaccountable days of direct mail, radio and print media publishing, we are now into a digital age that is changing the game. Marketing communications are extremely targeted, often based on an individual’s preference and activity history today. If you, combine this with closed loop reporting on marketing expenditure it’s enables an open discussion on marketing’s contribution.

The likes of Google and Facebook have opened the door to universal outreach. Various marketing automation solutions such as Eloqua, Marketo, and HubSpot are now available to automate operational tasks. It’s no longer feasible to guess about individual marketing campaigns value. You only get one chance to reach someone in many cases.

What is true for engineering and marketing is not necessarily true for Sales. There are numerous platforms such as Salesforce CRM, Oracle Fusion, and SAP that help simplify sales processes and improving organizational productivity. But, there are extremely limited or a lack of tools available for the individual Salesperson.

As I started my journey as a salesperson. What I’ve found is that I am putting in long hours to research a company and locate appropriate contacts. Even though the information required for initial research is available in the public domain, it is widely scattered and unorganized.

I spend more than 70% of my time on collecting information, organizing and analyzing and then actually talking to potential customers. I have realized that sales people are one of the most productive people, however they have very little help available that helps them increase their productivity when it comes to new customer acquisition.

They are pretty much on their own. In my opinion, it‘s time to consumerize Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to help sales productivity. So far, it has only been a delicacy that only a few can afford. I remain committed to do my part. Vyakar applies benefits of advanced technology help marketing and Sales organization. Vyakar Lead Router opens door to intelligent route and manage lead to sales team. Anyone can participate in a b2b lead routing survey by click here: http://vyakar.com/survey

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