~ by Amanda Peterson ~
The sales field is a competitive landscape where seizing just one opportunity to be a step ahead can make or break a business. Much like the sales industry, the technology industry is always changing and new efficiencies are being created every day. These tech advancements have bled into the sales field and new forms of technology are being incorporated to help businesses achieve the advantage they are always on the hunt for.
A new way to email 
It sounds simple, but changing up your email process can make a big difference. There are new strategies being implemented every day to streamline the process and make it more efficient. Remember, time you save by doing things like this means there’s more time to sell!
An easy place to start is automating your email follow up process. There are numerous programs on the market that can help you by setting reminders or creating a calendar of when you want the emails to be sent. You can collect data from these emails as well in order to get a better understanding on who’s responding and what kind of wording gets the best results. Gmail has plug ins for this too, like a tool called Boomerang which helps remind you to follow up with the hope of boosting your conversion ratio.
The social media influence
This might seem crazy, but social media is a type of tech that shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to sales. It’s an important way to find prospects, connect, and understand the people you’re trying to reach. In fact 62% of top salespeople, defined as individuals who exceeded their projected target revenue by more than 25%, give credit to adding social networks to their strategy, according to LinkedIn. This is also known by some as “social selling”. Social media platforms also have their own analytics where you can measure people who are following you, how much they interact, and more. This can be useful information to know when you are trying to gain new prospects and reach new demographics.
Look into creating a social media strategy for your team. The strategy can be as simple as what information you want to share, who you want to follow, and who your ideal audience is. The younger generations are starting to grow up and join the workforce, and a major way they interact is via social media. If you want to reach this new target market, then you want to give social media a chance.
Know your target
Targeted prospecting strategies are helping sales teams grow and be more efficient with their time and where they spend it. We know it’s important to build a targeted prospect list, but there’s tech tools now too that can help you do this better. Programs like Mattermark and Crunchbase can make the search easier by letting you categorize by “established” dates of companies, geography, company size, and more. There’s other tools like the Google Chrome extension Datanyze Insider which can help you build lists, gather information from social networking sites, and gather contact info. The information collected can be exported to LinkedIn and Salesforce to make it a smoother process overall. LinkedIn even has a sales prospecting tool that can let you create lists, do advanced lead searches, and can even generate lead suggestions.
Although these tools might not seem that advanced, the purpose of them is to help make the process of establishing leads simpler and quicker. There becomes a uniform way of doing it, with the same information consistently being gathered which saves you time and money in the long run.
Artificial intelligence
AI is the one of the most talked about softwares at the moment, and a very influential one. It’s making strides in all areas of life, and continues to impact the work we do, including sales. The data AI can provide will make a major impact on sales numbers moving forward. It will impact every section of the pipeline from prospecting to closing deals.. Thanks to this data, when sales professionals use certain phrases or techniques, it won’t be based off a hunch or experience but fact. It can help them seem more trustworthy and reliable. When making sales you can use AI to research a company based on these statistics and data, rather than a guess or hope that it’s a good fit. It’s also changing the role of being a sales professional. Those in this field need to understand how to use AI and where it’s appropriate, which means understanding analytics and data is more important than ever. A study from Harvard Business Review showed that companies who used AI increased leads by fifty percent. Not to mention, it’s going to save time doing research, and provide more time to interact with the client.
Predictive scoring within AI is a unique feature as well. Simply put, predictive scoring will help a sales team know if a business is even worth pursuing based off an algorithm. According to Hubspot this can include “property information your leads fill out on your website, behavioral data, social information, demographics, and media written about your company.” It provides a consistent formula for sales to use and ensures the customers and deals you’re closing are on par with all the work too.
Experiment
Don’t forget to try out small tools that can make a big difference. Livescribe is an electronic pen that copies your notes as your writing them and can sync them with your ipad or phone. It’s a cool new technology to try out, while ensuring you’ll always know where your notes are. It’s easy to lose a piece of paper, but with this tool your words are being transferred to your tech of choice as you write. Utilize SlideShare to make sure your presentation is easily shareable and anyone who is interested in it can take a look. Try out a new way to present by switching up your regular powerpoint to a Prezi, or search Canva, a design tool that can turn you into your very own graphic designer. Whatever you do, try to stand out. Technology is a great tool to help you do this, and there are tons of sites and programs to make the simplest presentation look like you put more effort and time into it than ever before.
Technology is changing everything from how we live our everyday lives to how we do our work, and it’s important to take advantage of it any way we can. Remember not to rely on technology too much though, it’s important to find a balance. Although tech can help you advance and find more leads, nothing can fully replace human interaction and the attention you can give to a potential client.
About the Author: Amanda Peterson
Contributor to Enlightened Digital and software engineer from the one, the only New York City. When I’m not trying to find the best record store in the city, you can find me curling up to watch some Netflix with my Puggle, Hendrix.
