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What is Sales Acceleration?

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.

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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

 

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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.

ProSellus / Sales Acceleration Tools / Thought Leadership - 01/16/2017
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The Holy Grail of Sales Acceleration – Part 2

In our last few blog posts, we talked a great deal about how the world is changing. Missing this train would leave you stranded while your competitors flourish exponentially. We also discussed up-and-coming software tools related to sales acceleration, actionable intelligence, and how companies were purchasing these tools for its salespeople to augment the sales cycle in the most important way:  speeding up sales and increasing sales altogether.

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Numbers You Can’t Ignore

Speaking directly to this point for sales reps in the field (especially in the healthcare industry), you may or may not be familiar with some of these sales acceleration tools, but the business of sales enhancement tools has exploded into a big business. The kind of “big” that makes you ask: “How much money are companies spending on these tools?!” The answer: almost $13 Billion. Yes, you read that right – $13 billion. That’s big with a capital “B”!

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Get In the Know

Insidesales.com, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and many other sources have taken notice of the rapidly growing usage of sales acceleration tools across various industries. In 2014, companies were already spending over $2,280 annually on sales acceleration tools per sales rep.  Folks… that was almost 3 years ago. Imagine where this is going.

“The sales acceleration technology category encompasses a large collection of innovative technologies that do not fit neatly under the umbrella of marketing automation or CRM. By definition, this emerging category is devoted to accelerating sales — enabling companies to turn their leads, prospects, and opportunities into paying customers faster than ever before.” – InsideSales.com Chief Marketing Officer Mick Hollison

The money spent by companies investing in sales acceleration technology directly correlated to bigger deals, increased revenue, faster sales cycles and higher close rates. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this information directly from the Insidesales.com report:

Bigger Deals:  Companies that close the biggest deals spend nearly twice as much on sales acceleration technology as the average company spends.

Faster Sales Cycles: Companies with the shortest sales cycles spend 28% more than the average sales communication and intelligence.

Higher Close Rates: Companies with the highest close rates spend 17% more than the average company on sales acceleration technology.

Increased Revenue: The top 50 percent of companies in terms of revenue spend almost twice as much as the average company on sales acceleration technology.

Become an Early Adopter

Earlier in this post, we said that companies spent an average of $2,280 per rep annually for sales acceleration technologies in 2014. Projected budgetary numbers for money dedicated to sales acceleration tools for 2017 are nearly three times that! If you want your sales team putting the competition in the dust, it’s time to start looking for the tool to REALLY help your field salespeople get ahead.

Check out the ProSellus Linx Software Solution here and email me at scottwalle@prosellus.com to incorporate the next tool to revolutionize your arsenal. After all, the more you invest in your field salespeople, the better the results they deliver.

 

ProSellus / Sales Acceleration Tools / Thought Leadership - 12/19/2016
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