At a time like this when technology is being rapidly adopted by organizations, enabling sales teams with the right kind of tools that empower them on the field is more important than it ever was. Various sales enablement tools are promising to do just that.

We got in touch with Arvind Saxena, Group Marketing Head of data hosting and cloud services company Sify Technologies, to talk about sales enablement tools. He talked about their viability and discussed how technology adoption has changed various facets of the sales process.

Interviewed by Avanish Tiwary

/ / How has the sales pitch process changed over the years?

Over the last decade or so, the sales pitch, from being a lengthy script, has evolved into a sharp elevator pitch. With competition getting fiercer and buyers becoming smarter and more aware, it is inevitable for this evolution to take place. Never before has there been such a deep alignment with the client’s overall organizational goals.

Earlier, while selling to a single stakeholder, a sales pitch used to be “direct” and “unidimensional” while the decision-making cycle was short. However, with multiple decision makers involved in the buying process in organizations today, the sales pitch needs to have a consultative approach with a multidimensional structure to cater to the needs of the organization at large and not one single function. An alignment with the core business objectives of the organization is key. The sales pitch needs to touch the right cords with the needs of the stakeholders (be it the CFO, CTO, CIO, CMO, or the end-user), and all have varied aspirations and one common goal of performing their tasks better. All functions today are under immense pressure to contribute to the top-line of the company and are equally responsible for maximizing the ROI of every buying decision they make. The sales pitch has evolved to help this audience see clear benefits and ROI for their business, while keeping the end user in mind.

/ / How has technology affected sales cycle?

Today, technology is disrupting every industry and transforming organizations. Typically, selling high-tech products in a B2B environment is complex and the sales cycle can be significantly longer. Organisations are constantly on the lookout for tools that can help improve productivity, profitability and provide a competitive advantage. Use of SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) technologies can help get more visibility into the sales process and accelerate the funnel.

Big data analytics allows organizations to make sense of terabytes of data in real-time. Automation tools allow sales teams to carry out mundane, time-consuming day-to-day activities faster, with increased precision. Access to real-time data and reports allow managers to have complete transparency in projections. CRM technology

integrates inputs from all three functions – sales, marketing and customer service, to provide a holistic view of the customer relationship and opportunities therein.

Access to this information in real-time, on-the-go (thanks to cloud technology) allows sales teams to be more agile and effective with respect to identifying opportunities and making informed prospecting efforts. An extension of cloud-CRM to mobile devices offers a significant competitive advantage to the sales-force, enabling instant, easy access to critical data and documentation. They hugely benefit from unified communication and collaboration technology with a view of current and future opportunities in any account. Sales teams can update the status of their meetings in real-time, remotely, using mobile devices for managers to track.

The proliferation of social technologies today empowers buyers right from the stage they begin exploring solutions to their business problems, through a comparative study of various competing products, to what their peers are recommending. Influencers and perception-based decision-making, play an important role in the buying cycle. So, businesses need to understand that no matter what they promise or aim to achieve, the value will always lie in customer experiences which will be validated by new-age digital peer-networks over which companies have no control. Social media is also helping the sales function target the most relevant prospects across industries.

/ / How are the sales representatives trained in terms of using technology and content?

For us, classroom learning, PC learning and mobile learning are three important components of the learning process. Game-based or experiential classroom learning sessions complemented by instructional step-by-step videos make for hands-on capability building. Complete training modules are made available online, as well as on mobile apps for the sales team on-the-go to access anytime, anywhere and learn at their own pace.

It is crucial to not complicate the learning process so as to ensure the effectiveness and adoption of technology.

/ / What would you look for in a sales enablement tool?

For a fast-growing organization like ours, the tools need to help make teams more productive and the sales cycle easy, while demonstrating readiness and flexibility for future loads. Such a tool needs to be mobile-enabled for a workforce which is always on-the-go. Therefore, ease of use, scalability and mobility will be primary to adoption. Integration capabilities with existing CRM and sales automation systems will ensure that the tool provides a holistic view, rather than an isolated one.

/ / Does your company use any sales enablement tool?

We use multiple in-house and proprietary tools for enhancing the productivity of the sales force, accelerating the funnel progress and mapping customer journey – to get deeper visibility into the buying patterns of our audience for a more accurate sales forecast and funnel.

/ / How effective or ineffective are these tools?

Multiple tools makes it very complex for the sales team to keep up with technology and adoption thus becomes a constant challenge. A lot of these tools need to focus on becoming more user friendly and work on the User Experience (UX), keeping the end-user – a sales person on the field, in mind. These tools need to sync functionally across sales, marketing, product development and also through the complete customer journey to provide a holistic view of the customer lifecycle.