Despite the intense transformation that sales and marketing have gone through over the years, at the end of the day, organizations still want the same thing: to radically increase revenue efficiency. Our Mad Men years are far gone, but look at the bright side: We now have way more Peggy Olsons in the workplace (go lady bosses!) and we also have a landscape filled with innovations that are meant to optimize our sales cycles so we can bring it home, every time -well, most times, anyway – by leveraging on real and meaningful connections with prospects.
Here are three of the most exciting initiatives we see in the market that continue to lead to a sales engagement plan that is agile, thoughtful, and promises consistent and successful results.
Build a powerful sales stack for your teams
Any organization looking to grow is probably also in an ongoing process of building the best tech stack possible to provide teams with optimal resources to have a successful sales engagement workflow.
Salesforce, DiscoverOrg, and Outreach are examples of sales development tools that can help to boost engagement and connect user data with the right team. If you are in the market and looking to add new resources to you stack, make sure the integrate well with your existing platforms so you can maximize conversions.
Invest in AI
According to Salesforce, high-performance sales teams are 4.9 times more likely to use AI, although a recent article in Forbes argues not enough companies are adopting it despite all the innovation in the tech field.
Implementing smart technologies like AI can be a great boost for building competitive advantages. Smart technologies can improve productivity and providing optimized features that can guide sales teams to better analyze consumer data and make more accurate predictions, recommendations, and decisions.
Switch your focus to intent-driven sales
Intent-driven marketing is a strategy that really takes data-driven tactics to a new level. It allows teams to look at buying behavior to determine which potential opportunities are more likely to fit the lead-to-revenue sales cycle. It’s a focused approach that can lead to more targeted campaigns and make overall marketing spending more efficient.
[Bonus!] The customer journey still matters
As marketers, we want to design a seamless experience that keeps customers connected with our brand’s story and our product offerings. But what do customers want? They want us to remember who they are. Now more than ever, it’s important to map out every touchpoint along the customer journey. The more insight you gain about your prospect, the higher the chance to build a relationship that -even if it takes more touchpoints than expected- will turn into a purchase.
We are in an age where the way to growth is paved by capturing and understanding customer experience so we can continuously optimize the journey. By choosing the right technologies, we enable our sales and marketing teams to create efficiencies that can, in the end, bring it home.