What is Sales Acceleration?
Sales Acceleration is not some fantastical buzzword (Although, to us salespeople, it kind of sounds that way). It is a tested strategy that emerged from existing ideas and evolved from existing technologies already widely used by various industries including healthcare sales and marketing. (Sound confusing? It does to me. Think of it this way: Basically, people have used all kinds of different tools to try and help you guys and gals do your sales job over the years, but instead of giving you a 3-ring binder, they actually made software tools designed to help you sell more and sell faster. Your sales manager’s dream right? I know. Easy enough right?)
You might have heard of one of the major tools in almost every business’ arsenal: Customer Relationship Management Software (ie. Salesforce, Zoho, Insightly, etc)
“Salesforce.com pioneered the concept of renting customer relationship management (CRM) software instead of selling it. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), or software in the cloud as it is so lovingly called now, has become the de facto standard that is disrupting the traditional software companies who still sell software in a box.” – Ken Krogue, co-founder of Insidesales.com
Customer Relationship Management tools like Salesforce and Insightly are useful in terms of organization. They’re very valuable when it comes to organization, however, when was the last healthcare sales rep you met that said, “I just love having a CRM to enter where I’ve been and what I’ve done all day! -OR- This just helps me sell SO much more!!!! I don’t know what I’d do without it!” Never, right? Of course, this doesn’t mean that CRMs are useless. They are 100% necessary to your operations, but the next logical step was to find a way to accelerate sales rather than just be more organized or efficient. Cue the development of the concept: Sales Acceleration.
The Next Big Thing
Sales Acceleration tools are increasing in use everyday, but many people still wonder just what these tools do or what information they deal with. Listed below is a sampling of some of the cloud-based categories sales acceleration tools enhance:
- Contract Technology
- Data Visualization
- Business Intelligence
- Gamification
- Presentation Technology, including Slide and Screen Share
- Predictive Analytic Tools and Technology
- Sales Intelligence Tools
- Email (designed specifically for the sales function)
- Sales Communication tools
- Video technology
- Social selling technology
The Proliferation of Sales Acceleration
You might know from our previous blogs that change isn’t just inevitable, it’s natural to adapt over time. As James W. Phillips of Insidesales.com said, “Over the last 10 years, the sales industry has witnessed a disruption. Due to the innovation of Internet cloud-based business transactions and an upsurge in sales technology development, the sales profession is in a state of rapid modernization.” The chart above shows the overall expenditures on sales acceleration technologies. That will only continue to grow.
Now is a good time to hop on the train or risk getting left at the station. We’ve mentioned it several times in posts prior to this one; ALL ABOARD…the train is leaving. Don’t get left behind…
If you want to take to better understand sales acceleration technologies, email me at scottwalle@prosellus.com. Let’s start your ProSellus journey to increased revenue and more peace of mind.