It’s no secret that inside sales have exploded over the last 5 years. Every day, more and more companies are moving away from the typical method of knocking on doors and playing golf to make connections, and more towards picking up the phone and doing it all via the internet with the help of sales technology and tools. New automated tech tools, CRM systems, smart assistants, and more are all helping to lead the way in this era of sales transformation.

Sales veterans probably didn’t imagine a world like this. You can work in Munich, Germany, and make sales in the U.S., Japan, Russia, South Africa, and more. Sales expanded to more than just your local neighborhood, even beyond your country of operation. It is now a global activity.

Many people have adopted this evolution and rolled with the punches. Even the introduction of the CRM system has made a huge impact in recent years. Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, for example, said in an article that “as a former salesperson who began in the profession before the internet or the idea of CRM came into being, I whole-heartedly welcomed the software announcement. The comparison of before and after is light-years apart. Most of all, the new efficiencies were almost startling.”

Can you even remember what life was like before the CRM in your sales tech stack existed?

An important driving factor in the explosion of inside sales is the connectivity of sales tools. A dialer wouldn’t work if it wasn’t connected to a CRM system and vice-versa. Then, there is a content management system, a sequencing tool, conversation guidance, and more. The ability of these tools to work together is key in helping grow the capabilities of inside sales teams.

Many sales teams have a plethora of tools. It’ll be the teams that can get these tools to work together that will succeed. Although many of these are connected or integrated, many don’t work or have inherent data discrepancies.

The ability to make everything work harmoniously will be the real test of the longevity and success of sales tools and teams everywhere. It also affects the productivity of a sales rep.

How inside sales will look in 5 years

Now that we reflected a bit on what sales looked like in the past, and into today’s day and age, and let’s look to the future. First, there was a shift from offline to online sales. Then, sales teams incorporated interconnected sales tools. So, what comes next? 

Better, smarter, efficient, and connected digital tools for inside sales teams. They will need to ensure that their sales tech stacks are efficient, lean, and do exactly what they need them to do – help them sell more and close more deals, faster.

It isn’t sufficient anymore to just have a CRM system and Google Drive. Sales teams can also no longer just throw new sales reps into the job unprepared and expect results. The stakes are higher now, and the game is harder.

Even with those known challenges, Ciara found in a recent survey that 54 percent of salespeople/respondents said they suffered from a lack of training, 57 percent said it was difficult to onboard a new employee, and 1 in 2 said they were overwhelmed with tools. 

The goal is sales technology today, and for the next 5 years, to continue to become smarter, more developed, and more helpful.

There are many reasons for this, but for us at Ciara, we see three main change agents  influencing inside sales that include:

1. More guidance on what to do and say next
2. The automatic capturing of data
3. Higher level of automation in sales processes

Let’s dive into these three areas more. 

More guidance on what to do and say next

Many companies are equipping their sales reps with tools and playbooks that guide them on what to say next. Sequences, for example, are one method of doing this. A sales rep can pre-define a list of tasks to complete and assign specific prospects to these lists. 

Another example is using digital playbooks to help structure sales calls. Historically, playbooks have been a large PowerPoint document or binder of papers with sales motions buried in them. Now, you can access playbooks interactively online, so sales reps can tailor their pitch in real-time on sales calls.

Imagine taking a sales call and not knowing what your product is capable of, or even how to start the conversation. Lack of product knowledge is the reality for many new sales representatives. A sales tool that can guide them on what to say and how to say it will be essential in the future of inside sales. Customers are more knowledgeable than ever before, and it’s the job of the sales rep to be one step ahead of them. Guidance will help them get there.

The automatic capturing of data

Before, it was entirely up to the sales rep to record notes and capture any information discussed during a sales call. The sales-call process is quickly changing. We now have functions like transcription, note-taking directly within a call, and historical call data directly recorded in a CRM system under a specific contact person.

With all this data handy, sales reps can easily analyze their calls, understanding better what leads to success. With transcripts, it’s easy to remember what step a particular contact is on or what they personally like to talk about (sports? coffee?). The automatic capturing of data allows sales reps to work more hands-off and save time. 

These kinds of tools (think Gong, Chorus, or Ciara) are becoming more and more available. It won’t be long before every sales rep has their information and data automatically captured and stored. The storage will make processes like onboarding and training sales reps much more comfortable, as they will be able to learn and practice based on real data from previous conversations.

Higher level of automation in sales processes

The last area that will influence inside sales in the coming years is automation. Sales reps have thousands of mundane tasks to complete and spend hours working on these tasks that don’t add value to their day. Adding value is where automation comes in.

Programs and software that can listen to understand and complete administrative tasks without manual input from the sales rep will soon become the norm. Some examples of tasks that can be automated are writing emails, scheduling appointments, and generating call summaries. All of this will be able to be done in real-time, giving sales reps more time actually to talk to prospects and close more deals.

The ability to close more deals is already starting to happen with some sales tools. For example, when you create an email in Gmail, Google can already suggest what you should start typing.  These kinds of automated recommendations will be the future of inside sales integrated within smart sales tools. The future is bright for inside sales reps! 

The world changes at a fast pace.

Inside sales are no different. These next five years will not look like the past 5, or for the next 10, 15, and 20 years. With every year comes innovation, new tools, and new ways. Remember that your tools work better when they are connected and work together. 

It’s important to stay on top of new technology and use it to your advantage. Always make the most of the opportunities available to you, they may disappear before you know it.

Image Credit: freestocks-org; Unsplash

The post What the Interconnected Inside Sales Landscape Will Look Like in 5 Years appeared first on ReadWrite.

My business partner Konstantin Krauss and I are both longtime SaaS entrepreneurs. In our careers so far, we founded, led, and sold technology companies, witnessing companies both thrive and fail. The one thing that rings true for most of these companies is that sales are the heartbeat of the company. Naturally, the entire company must be reliable for sales to be effective. Connected digital assistants will change the way we work and sell.

The sales team is responsible for ensuring that the bottom line is healthy.

Based on our sales experience and after talking with hundreds of seasoned professionals over the years, we noticed that smart, connected technology is missing from the workplace. Most sales and marketing teams use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) program.

While using this tool, they develop a love/hate relationship with it. However, the hole we are talking about goes much deeper than just implementing a smart CRM. Over the past couple of years, smart assistants take the consumer market by storm. You couldn’t visit a park without hearing five people say, “Hey, Siri.”

Now when you walk into a home, more likely than not, you’ll find more than one connected device. Whether it be a smart thermostat, a fitness tracker, wearables, a personal assistant, they’re everywhere. Amazon even gave away smart devices with the purchase of a select product on Prime Day.

It is this kind of technology that helps more and more people every day be increasingly productive. People across the globe are using connected, digital devices to simplify everyday tasks and to streamline their lives. But, why aren’t more businesses using digital assistants and connected devices the same way consumers are?

Our “A-Ha” Moment.

The business market ripe with opportunity for new SaaS products. Our computers understand us better, so they can help in real-time business situations. We created the digital, connected assistant, designed for the workplace and, more specifically, inside sales representatives.

These assistants and personal connected devices have the potential to make the everyday lives of millions of workers more comfortable. The adaptation rate will be fast, as a result of previous advancements in technology. Virtual assistant technology has already been developed and tested through consumer devices and supports this new business software category.

Sales and SaaS Teams are Booming, but Struggle With Support 

• SaaS sales teams are growing by the day. The SaaS market is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.20% from 2018 to 2023.
• Inside sales is also a massively growing field. Today, most B2B products and services are sold over the phone or via screen share.
• Sales tools have become overwhelmingly focused on sales control (e.g., CRM for the most part). As previously stated, most salespeople have a love/hate relationship with their CRM. They are ready for an all-encompassing solution.
• While most sales reps want and receive training (usually expensive training), few agree on its effectiveness.
• When in a conversation, most sales reps have no support at all besides their notes and scribbles. Scaling sales organizations, even in large corporations, is like a game of telephone with apparent shortcomings. Conversation support will be a game-changer for sales teams.

CRM Should Not be the Only Sales Tool

A well-managed CRM can be a gold mine. However, a correctly managed CRM is like a unicorn that no one can ever find. A CRM tool is typically full of “buried” information, which is hard to find and hard to manage. For example, salespeople spend just one-third of their day talking to prospects.

The salesperson then spends the rest of their day writing emails, prospecting, and researching leads, going to internal meetings. Between all of those tasks, it’s hard to manage and keep a CRM system up-to-date.

It’s time for the workplace to adopt a productivity tool that allows them to get more out of their days. This new software will save significant time for professionals, especially when synced with their CRM. It houses all necessary data, and assists with critical processes like on-boarding, training, playbook, and suggested language. Not to mention, it ensures consistency across all teams and locations.

The Next Addition to Your Team: “Digital Assistant” 

There is so much knowledge that needs to be shared: sales frameworks, training, FAQs, and product roadmaps. Not to mention all the advice on how to have the best and most productive conversations. Most of the time, this information is either floating around on a server or intranet site, or in someone’s head.

However, the most logical place to manage all that knowledge is in a connected device. It’s accessed instantly or brought up based on conversation tracking, providing it way faster than humans can search for it. The connected personal assistant is an entirely new way for humans to work with computers.

A personal digital assistant for business will support the following functions:

• Emerging Technology

  Previously developed voice technology allows real-time support; think of the talk-to-text and voice-search functions on cell phones. We believe that the role of a digital assistant for business has various advantages. For example, it can offer real-time support by listening to phone calls, providing advice, and transcribing call notes.

• IT Integration

  Existing siloed enterprise software tools commonly have open APIs. An open API allows for new business models, such as a digital assistant, to work on top of them.

• Share-ability
  

  Sales teams have sales frameworks, that is a fact. And with a digital assistant, sales teams can finally sync their daily operations with the company’s existing framworks. Then, sales conversations become a science rather than an art.

When you take all of this into consideration, the workplace is ready for digital, personal support. The assistant is a natural next addition to the “virtual team.”

What’s Next 

A new category of enterprise software is entering the marketplace. A digital, personal assistant that integrates all kinds of tools and provides collective experiences of various experts. With this rollout, we are combining two of the biggest markets – CRM a $193.6 billion global market with training an $87.6 billion global market. All fueled by intelligent software, augmenting human interaction in business.

People benefit from connected devices and virtual assistants, and the same trend stays true for businesses. Productivity leaps will take place, and the use of virtual assistants will become as normal as having a computer.

Although Ciara is the first dedicated digital sales assistant, we expect this category to grow as adoption happens within companies. If you’d like to learn more about Ciara, visit GetCiara.com to sign up for free and access your own personal assistant within minutes.

Try Out Productivity Tools We Are Using

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