3 Tech Innovations Revolutionizing Modern Sales Processes

Being in sales isn’t as simple as having a good product or service and bringing it to the right customer or client. The world today is saturated with exceptional goods and services, meaning it’s much harder to stand out among the crowd. Even more so, the constantly evolving landscape requires sellers to be adaptable and keep an eye on market trends, research, and data to stay ahead of their competitors. Consumers are also more demanding, wanting the very best product for exceptional value and outstanding customer service.

Sales has always been a high-pressure job, but the demands placed on sellers today are leading to more intensity and unpredictability. However, technological innovations and advancements are helping sellers focus on their most important tasks so they can win more deals instead of being caught up in the mundane day-to-day tasks. Here are three tech innovations for sales processes that all sellers should know about.

1. AI-Driven Customer Lifecycle Management

Customer lifecycle management systems are assisting sellers in how they can reach and nurture leads. Lead nurturing is a time-consuming process. You have to understand the buyer, truly getting to know their needs through research and data insights. Then, based on your findings, you need to create personalized and relevant content that aligns with their needs and goals. From there, you need to conduct the outreach in an approachable, non-salesy way while still promoting your product or service.

While lead nurturing is vital for customer success and satisfaction, that doesn’t mean it can’t be a burden to sellers trying to close quick deals. Thankfully, AI-driven software can help sellers by automating many of these mundane tasks for them. For instance, AI for car dealerships can answer questions on behalf of sellers while they’re in the showroom with live customers. The tools can schedule appointments, suggest different car models based on user preferences, and even help a consumer sell or trade in their vehicle.

By adopting these types of AI-driven customer lifecycle management tools, businesses can expand the number of leads they reach daily. By automating and streamlining communications, the software can improve a customer’s experience, resulting in increased satisfaction and loyalty. This can result in happier customers, better word-of-mouth marketing, and increased sales.

2. Data Analytics Tools

Data is king in today’s sales world. The more insights you’re able to collect, the better sense you’ll have of what is working in your sales process and what could be improved. Rather than assuming that your marketing campaign is working, you’ll know exactly the types of people who are responding positively to it. These tools take the guesswork out of the process, ensuring that your efforts are indeed productive and not a waste of your time.

Depending on your specific business and goals, there are a variety of different types of data analytics tools that you can leverage. Innovative AI-powered tools, such as HubSpot Sales Hub and Salesforce Sales Cloud, allow sellers to forecast better and provide personalized recommendations and strategies for closing more deals. Predictive tools such as Alteryx and IBM SPSS leverage machine learning for predicting customer segmentation and help with data visualization, too. Lastly, tools such as Velaris and Contentsquare can further assist with customer segmentation to help categorize customer information based on shared characteristics and preferences.

Through understanding customer behaviors and habits, optimizing product descriptions and listings, and managing inventory, these tools can lead to better customer experiences. For sellers, the tools can help with improved decision-making and optimized campaigns. These tools will only improve over time as the capabilities evolve and more insights are gathered across different sales touchpoints.

3. Cross-Platform Prospecting Tools

For those in a sales role, prospecting is a tried-and-true, sometimes daily task. Fortunately, finding reputable leads isn’t as hard as it once was, thanks to new advancements and tech innovations. At their core, sales prospecting tools provide valuable insights about potential leads. Before you even reach out to a potential customer, you can glean information about them and determine if it’s worth the effort to reach out. After all, reaching the right person at the right time is what makes for a great sale!

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful prospecting tool that leverages LinkedIn for finding potential clients. With advanced search filters, you can find granular results based on your specific industry. Similarly, ZoomInfo provides databases of company and key decision-maker information, ensuring you’re contacting the right person who can say “yes” to your sale. Leadfeeder identifies which companies are visiting your website, even if they don’t fill out a form or complete any sort of data entry. Knowing who is on your site is a great point of entry for reaching out and making a connection.

Many of these tools work across platforms, meaning they can be integrated into many of your existing systems and tools. This gives sellers the opportunity to create a well-rounded, powerful prospecting system. While they won’t do the task of prospecting for you, they will significantly help in terms of finding and sourcing viable leads. Some will even help automate how you conduct outreach, saving you time and making the process more efficient.

Final Considerations

Innovations in sales processes are constantly changing. A new, cutting-edge technology one day is old news the next. That’s why, when it comes to selecting a tool, it’s important to do your research before making any selections. Many software companies will offer a free demo or trial period so you can see if their user interface will work with your sales role. That way, you can ensure that you’re getting exactly what you need to move the business forward.