Take advantage of three major trends in the RevTech stack

Faced with inflation, persistent corporate talent challenges, and ongoing supply chain challenges, Chief Sales Officers (CSOs) seek to optimize selling, general, and administrative expenses while driving revenue growth. under pressure to become

The spontaneous reaction is to dive into cost optimization mode, but Gartner research shows that 65% of CFOs plan to increase their spending on digital technology in the next 12 months. The data shows that the leader of Sales is being encouraged by his fellow CFOs to adopt progressive strategies to invest in the future growth of the business.

CSOs recognize that it becomes harder to keep input costs passed on to customers in the form of higher prices, ultimately leading to lower profit margins. To meet this challenge, they employ productivity engineering methodologies in building their revenue technology (RevTech) strategy. Investments in productivity engineering target operational efficiencies within the core and net performance of each sales channel, seizing the opportunity to introduce breakthrough innovations across the end-to-end revenue process.

To help sales leaders rationalize their accumulated RevTech investments and technical debt, Gartner asks sales leaders to assess their current ROI, future significance, and future profitability across 46 revenue technologies within their ecosystem. I researched hiring. To identify engineering productivity and cost optimization opportunities, the organization applied his RevTech for components of engagement, core applications, operations (revenue and sales), enablement, infrastructure, and revenue data solutions. You should evaluate your stack. Gartner also identified three trends in her that CSOs should leverage to get the most out of their RevTech stack.

Trend 1: Sales leaders are driving game-changing digital buyer engagement

With 83% of B2B buyers preferring to pay or purchase via digital commerce, sales leaders are increasing their investments to focus on supporting digital purchases (see Figure 1). This means that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur through digital channels.

Figure 1 shows the technologies sales leaders believe will matter in 2023. The survey results show a strong focus on optimizing the performance of the company’s website as a primary sales channel. This optimized performance relies on the technology that connects digital marketing and hybrid sales/marketing automation.

These technologies improve pipeline and channel productivity by using B2B websites to address key customer challenges. Buyers want better information, more control over the evaluation process, and a more organized experience to get support from sellers throughout the process.

Figure 1.

Source: Gartner

Trend 2: Sales leaders are beginning to power RevOps and enablement with AI and automation

Gartner predicts that by 2026, 65% of B2B sales organizations will move from intuition-based to data-driven decision making using technology that integrates workflow, data and analytics. This forecast is based on the rise of purpose-built technology that integrates sales workflows, data and analytics, and business technologists in revenue operations and enablement teams. Over the next 18 months, pressure to improve internal operational efficiency will translate into pressure on non-quota-driven roles within the sales organization, such as operations and enablement, to do more with less. I guess.

Early signs of this data-driven shift include increased investment by sales leaders in technology that empowers revenue enablement and operations teams with automation and AI (see Figure 2).

• Revenue-enabling platform combines sales content management and sales training technology in one source to access all revenue role-based content built into seller tools like CRM, inbox, and collaboration tools .
• Conversation Intelligence helps enablement teams design self-input playlists of customer calls analyzed by AI to proactively share insights from Voice of the Customer (VoC) data.When
• The Revenue Intelligence Platform enables operations teams to collect more accurate data on deals to deliver more accurate analytics that significantly improve deal management, pipeline management, and forecasting processes.

Figure 2.

Source: Gartner

Trend 3: Sales leaders are rethinking the workplace experience for digital sellers

In the era of hybrid work, most companies face the challenge of restructuring their employee value proposition. Organizations that invest in a quality digital employee user experience (UX) can reap commercial benefits such as improved customer experience, employee productivity, and employee engagement. However, sales leaders still face some challenges.

1. Organizations’ love of in-person work styles is causing digital fatigue and burnout among hybrid employees. According to a recent Gartner study, 59% of B2B sellers say technology adoption is getting in the way of their work.
2. High turnover, difficulty in recruiting, and lack of organizational readiness in recruiting are leading to talent shortages.Seller attrition exceeds target Fifty-four percent of surveyed organizations and 40 percent of CSOs report difficulty attracting quality candidates.
3. Poor technology seller UX, in part, leads to lower motivation for front-line sellers and managers. A study on the link between high-quality employee UX and key business outcomes found that 38% of salespeople report a high quality digital employee experience.

To improve the digital experience of their employees, sales leaders are beginning to invest in revenue technologies that combine AI with seller-centric user experience design in their products. In the current talent shortage, investing in AI enhancements is a cost-effective strategy to increase seller effectiveness. Here’s why.

• Advanced Scheduling Automation features help streamline the lead nurturing process by automatically routing qualified leads to sellers and scheduling meetings with buyers.When
• Both Revenue Intelligence and Conversation Intelligence applications use AI to identify behavioral trends of sellers and buyers, proactively present trends to sellers, and guide sellers to take actions that improve close rates. increase.

By investing in technology to improve employee productivity and take steps towards a more data-driven decision-making model, sales leaders leverage RevTech to drive revenue growth even in challenging economic times can.

Dan Gottlieb is a Senior Director Analyst for Gartner for Sales Leaders Practice.