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Gartner's report estimates that due to sales representative sales automation work, there should be roughly 30% additional bandwidth compared to today's activities performed by the same individual. I agree with the other statement in the report, which says that most of the time, salespeople will continue spending time in sales conversation with the prospect and push negotiations toward a closed, won deal.
We know the common enemy here: the threat of losing or replacing a job. Yes, we are unlikely to see a surge in hiring sales as before, but we still need sellers until humans are the buyers. My previous post elaborated on strategically balancing automation without losing the human touch, explaining why this part is essential for the buyers.
The two major areas where most future sellers will spend are not accidental. Sales interactions and negotiations are the parts where most human-to-human activities occur in the entire sales process. The main reasons behind this case are validation affirmation and motivation trigger. In the future, both these components will become increased importance elements of the GTM strategy. Effective sales enablement programs must focus on the traditional combination of motivation ability and action triggers. Lack of guided and predictive automation might become a single point of failure in many organizations, unable to convert that extra bandwidth into extra bookings, revenue, quota retirement, CAC/ LTV targets, and pipeline coverage.
To predict how sales work will look, we need to imagine the structure of the future sales environment first. While we don't know precisely the end game on that front, we are aware of the trends that are happening now that will likely impact a new sales org model. Most of our RevTech podcast guests indicate similar expectations while discussing the direction of their product development. Let's focus on a few trends before we try to conclude what we should be doing in order to prepare for the future sales model.
The first change is with the data. The sales teams are pressured to absorb more data during the sales planning process or customer meeting preparation. The simple reason is that more tools capture and import data to the CRM. For the same reason, sales can consume less time spent on prospecting as this process becomes more automated. Automation in this area started a long time ago and will accelerate significantly in the following years, reducing seller engagement. However, going back to the data point, adopting data-driven decision-making will be added as meeting availability with the customers and prospects will become a scarce commodity. For every 30 minutes you get today, you must prepare very well to understand the prospect's pain points, previous conversations, and the other critical data behind the account or previous opportunities. These will be imperatives of the new conversation quality expectations. Based on that, the sales teams must adopt more data-driven decision-making in selling. By leveraging big data, analytics, and AI for predictive insights, sales teams can more accurately identify and target potential sales opportunities while tailoring their strategies to meet their customers' evolving needs. The sales enablement team will need to enable sellers who often are not accustomed to this approach or don't have a natural inclination toward these preparations. This also means that the sales enablement agenda will change significantly regarding data and analytics, especially around the behavioral element of sales.
Another aspect that will put sales enablement under additional pressure will come from the significant reliance on technological integrations. As technology, especially AI, plays a critical role in enhancing productivity, sales teams will increasingly integrate advanced digital tools and automation into their processes. Yes, the data flow or process streamlining is the most significant benefit, but you will still need to enable your sellers to use more of these tools to understand how things are done before they can take action. Another underestimated part of that dynamic process is the pace of replacing tools, requiring more enablement effort. I don't know how much teams currently are spending on that on average but what I do know is that more tools equals more enablement for sales teams. That area can't be neglected if your goal is to ensure that sellers are taking action on what you are teaching them to do.
The data and system integration will drive the Automated Value Affirmation process. That's when your customer or prospect takes the time to understand the product fit and use cases that ultimately help select your solution as preferred. These interactions help buyers validate that a purchase is right for them and feel confident about the decision. A well-defined Value Affirmation process leads to a roughly 30% lift in high-quality deals. This is not the end of the story that puts the PLG sale on the back foot (sorry, PLG). Buyers are 2.3x more likely to experience Value Affirmation when interacting with a sales rep than digital self-service interactions. To get a full benefit from that effort, you must involve highly motivated reps in the conversation who know how to listen and actively provide help to their prospects or customers. Motivation is part of sales adaptation to new market circumstances and is not optional; it's mandatory. Have you ever seen a successful seller without being motivated? I thought so.
Next is the emergence of so-called (my term) "micro-nudges for sales excellence," which are often referred to as "behavioral nudges." These efforts are based on noncoercive tweaks in how decision-makers present choices, leading them to anticipated outcomes. These would consistently provide information about the benefits of the product or service and about the teams working on building the product or its components. Using an easy consumer product example like yogurt, the sellers would start receiving information about organically produced milk, references to health impact, and known for its pristine location, production location, etc. In that sense, the B2B is learning from the B2C and consumer market, where many of these nudging techniques have worked for some time in the commercial space. The research suggests that organizations using the nudging approach sell 2x more than those relying only on manager-led coaching (this doesn't mean that coaching is unnecessary). So, what do we mean by the type of behavioral nudges, and what are their examples? First is the process of micro nudges in the form of auto-suggestion about follow-ups triggered by the systems put in place. This could be an account intent, follow-up on the existing or prior conversations with the account, product usage on the freemium account, reported metric changes from the investor relations report, or anything the prospect/ customer cares about or matters to them.
The nudge should include a suggestion about the tone and content of the message (AI shouldn't write it as I don't believe this shit will work if you try to build the relationship; sellers must learn how to write personalized messages). You want to solve a "blank page" problem so that it's easier to write them. Another category would be a nudge of visualization that points sellers to the more critical or resonating content in the sales process. Many tools can provide information, so why not use this more prescriptively? Please ping me if you don't know them, as we interviewed a few companies. The examples vary, but it could be as simple as listing a new GDPR policy that customers often look for that isn't available for sellers while they work on follow-up emails. The tools can tell you that prospects search for it on your list of collateral materials, on the webpage, or in the help function of your app. These things visually help you select the right content that works better and tell your enablement team what to improve. The next example would be an infamous comparison of sales results.
On the one hand, we don't like that, especially if we are not at the top of the list of performers. However, we must acknowledge that sales are competitive and can also be part of the motivation. It doesn't mean we can't use competitiveness more humanely; connecting with existing results your ops or finance team is tracking anyway. Suppose your regional teams use different tactics, and one is significantly better at using their approach. In that case, your sales enablement can suggest adopting the playbook because they are increasing their pipeline generation by 50%. If you compare the results during the same conversation, showing black and white that one way works better, it will be a more compelling argument than just telling them to do it. Before you slam me with that, it doesn't always work, or what if they still don't do it? Nothing in sales is guaranteed or has a 100% bulletproof approach. As we said earlier, this is a set of nudges that create perception and add up over time, which is our goal. We need to set the list and track their effectiveness over time.
Sales enablement is not the same function as it was before. As the coaching training content matters, it must evolve towards new areas with foreign but synergistic characteristics. The rise of AI and its pervasive nature, the necessity to decide between automation and personalization, and data-driven expectations augment this function, bringing closer to the bigger picture that is less of the sole sales domain rooted in prospecting but looking at the different connections across the GTM functions. Think about that while trying to hire your new head of sales enablement, as this must be a much more versatile operator than just a former sales or a part-time job done by one of your sales managers. It's not that they can't do that, but it requires broader skills and focus to take your organization to the next performance level. A few things that I think we should keep in mind on our journey with sales enablement.
Invest in sales enablement & analytics education. Nothing is guaranteed, but to tap the 30% bandwidth, you must direct your organization and prepare the ground for the change. Sellers and their managers can't do that themselves. You need sales enablement working with operations to create that foundation before benefiting from the future predicted by automation and digital tools; sales teams must become proficient in data-driven decision-making. Sales enablement programs should prioritize analytics education, ensuring sales representatives can integrate data insights into their sales planning and customer interactions. They won't use them if they don't understand their nature and impact. Tailoring enablement efforts to equip less analytically inclined sales personnel with the necessary skills will be crucial for maximizing the potential of this newfound time.
Integrate tools thoughtfully. We have all heard that before, but it's different now. You need to plan your systems and tightly integrate the core architecture. You need a platform that helps you to integrate and replace software easily without hours spent waiting for someone from IT to come and fix it for you. That agility is not with the number of people on your team but with the architecture teams need to have and the for-purpose approach while selecting the solutions. It's a proactive approach that brings quality to the solution instead of reactive. Adopting that solution goes beyond mere implementation; it requires a strategic approach to training and enabling sales representatives to use these tools effectively. The goal is to optimize the processes, enhance customer interaction quality, and facilitate the Automated Value Affirmation process, which has been shown to lift high-quality deal closures significantly.
Leverage behavioral nudges for sales excellence. Adopting "micro nudges" as a non-intrusive way to guide sales representatives towards more effective sales practices can lead to significant performance improvements. Sales organizations should develop a framework for implementing these nudges, focusing on suggestions for follow-ups, content personalization, competitive insights, and best practices sharing. This approach should be data-driven, leveraging insights from sales analytics to inform the nudges and ensure they are aligned with what resonates most with prospects and customers.
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