Which technology trends will transform distributed sales organizations?

Have you ever looked into mining bitcoin? Does your fridge talk to your phone? Is your Bluetooth pairing list longer than your arm? Then you know that technology is quickly transforming the way we live and making repetitive and complicated tasks easier.

This is especially true for large organizations. New technologies have the potential of saving them millions of dollars every year and increasing their productivity. As a result, 57% of businesses plan to adopt new technology to keep up with business growth. Additionally, 8 out of 10 companies introduced a new product or service in the last 12 months.

Technology adoption is picking up the pace and shows no signs of slowing.

If you’re a sales organization, then what technology trends will affect the way you do business? Let’s look at a few.

Tech trends that are poised to transform sales

Jessica Dunn, Jason Wright, and Mark Stecker from the Triptych team met to discuss the trends that they felt would have the biggest impact on sales. Here are the four that they identified:

1. Interpreting data with artificial intelligence. Organizations are amassing massive quantities of data regarding customers and their habits. Through the use of artificial intelligence, this volume of data will become easier to interpret and tie to business results. By the same token, this can then trigger relevant marketing automation (a trend that’s already swept many organizations).
2. Account-based marketing will use analytics to support the buyer’s journey. As artificial intelligence reviews data, it will begin to identify trends which will be directly tied to stages in the buyer’s journey. This will allow companies to make more relevant marketing and sales pushes. In fact, 41 percent of IT decision makers predict IT automation technologies will have the biggest impact on their business.
3. Event-driven approach to sales. The concept of using a set of events to trigger a specific business action is common across many industries, especially for internal marketing teams. In the future, distributed sales organizations will also adopt this more fully, with the main owner and driver being the marketing department. However, these organizations will need to be cautious that they don’t allow their messaging or event triggers to be fractured across multiple dealers.
4. Data science and business intelligence will be used to drive marketing decisions and feed sales. By making careful use of their data warehouses, large brands will continue taking a nimble approach to sales and marketing. For example, a take-out restaurant could send regionally-targeted notifications during a local sporting event to encourage more orders. This approach will allow companies to provide the right message at the right time with minimal issues.

Knowing which trends could help your organization won’t matter if you don’t act. How do you know it’s time to adopt a new technology?

When is the right time to adopt a new technology within your organization?

Companies that delay AI innovation will constantly be lagging behind the competition in realizing the benefits and gaining a return on their investment.

Carlos M. Mendez, COO and Co-founder of Wolvenware

Waiting for a polished technology solution may seem safer and more appealing, but it can greatly reduce the total amount of benefit that you receive. Early-adopters may pay more upfront in cost and legwork, but this puts them ahead of the curve and allows them to differentiate themselves from the competitors. So, if you have a clear use case for adopting a new technology, then you should at least explore its feasibility.

What are some hurdles that your organization will need to overcome to become an early adopter?

1. Secure funding for your new technology investment. In many cases, your ability to adopt new technology will directly correlate to your company’s appetite for risk. However, this can be alleviated through strategic adoption. For instance, you could apply a data solution to select marketing channels first to begin understanding how it will work. From there, the transformation could be applied to additional channels after the initial learning curve is overcome.
2. Achieve buy-in and adoption. If a solution isn’t used, then it will be of no value to your organization. Thus, your first step should be ensuring that your stakeholders support the decision to adopt a new technology. Once the technology is implemented, then you will need to continue training team members who are involved in the use of this technology.
3. Interpret the data. New technology may shed new light on your customers and prospects. One challenge your organization will face is learning how to scrutinize and apply this data in conjunction with what you already know.

If you’re planning to adopt a new technology, then make sure to take the following steps:

• Clearly define and articulate the goal and objectives of the new technology.
• Make sure the technology is structured and configured to support those goals and provide relevant KPIs.
• Communicate your expectations for technology use and adoption to the sales team, so that they’re able to do their part.

Interested in learning more about a truly transformative platform?

Finding the right technology to adopt doesn’t have to be difficult. Triptych offers a unique solution to one of the biggest problems in modern businesses: supporting a distributed sales force. Set up a conversation to learn how we help you empower your sales force and eliminate waste.