The Evolution of Sales Enablement Technologies

I have been in the Sales Enablement space since the beginning – CRM Magazine even called me the “Father of CRM” and Brock Control Systems was the first CRM company to go public. I share this background with you so you can appreciate my glowing recommendation of this new report from Forrester:

 The Forrester Tech Tide: Sales Technologies – Q1 2021 – 15 Technologies That Underpin Sales

By Mary Shea, PhD

February 16, 2020

 I have quoted some of the points that especially resonated with me in my comments below. Forrester has an incredibly unique insight into to the entire suite of products that are helping sales teams adapt to the New Normal in Sales. Mary Shea does a great job of explaining the technologies that have the “ability to help B2B selling organizations respond to buyer behavioral trends, many of which COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated”.

 This report really validates the five patent pending features we have developed at SalesTalk over the last few years. For example, Forrester recommends investments in:

 1.      Conversation Intelligence – (our TalkTagging Call Maps feature) “In a business environment where sales coaching must take place remotely, it’s no surprise that conversation intelligence is a sought-after tool”.

2.     Revenue Intelligence – (our Interaction Insights Management tool) “All Eyes Focus On Revenue Intelligence – Sales leaders better understand the potential paybacks from investments in automatic data write-back and insights derived from buyer and seller activity data”.

3.     Sales Engagement – (our AI powered What2Say Planned Dialogue generator) “As automatic data capture and CRM upload of buyer and seller activity data become commonplace, AI-generated insights from a range of revenue-cycle activities offer significant potential.”

4.     Sales Training and Services – (our UseFul2Me and 2KnowWho Feedback and Intent Visibility features) “In difficult economic environments, Sales Training and Services are often some of the first budget items to be cut. But with B2B buying and selling primarily taking place remotely and in digital formats, sales leaders must invest in helping their sellers and extended revenue team members gain the new skills they need to adapt and the Fifty-eight percent of user survey respondents say their organization received high or extremely high returns on their Sales Training and Services investment but expect higher returns with providers that have tuned their offerings to help sellers tailor their engagement strategies to resonate in a remote but connected world.”

5.     Sales content (our Know-It-All-Navigator and Say2SellSales Content offerings) “Sales Content solutions help sellers’ access, personalize, and share content efficiently and effectively with buyers across the lifecycle. With rich analytics, dynamic content, comprehensive workflow, and real-time guidance, these solutions increase marketing and sales collaboration and enable better buyer experiences”.

 Prediction for the 2022 Report – Two new product categories will be added: 

1.  AI Assisted Call Preparation (like our What2Say Planned Dialogue Generator)

2.  AI Assisted Call Follow Up (like What2Send Communication Follow Up Generator). 

 A few years ago, the market exploded with the demand for Cadence products which created an efficient, disciplined, and measurable tool for the sales process. I predict that Pre-Call and Post-Call tools that enable sales reps to immediately establish and maintain their Relevancy to the prospects are going to grow even faster. Products like What2Say and What2Send allow the reps to demonstrate Competence and Confidence in all prospect interactions and give reps a clear and competitive advantage over reps who are still just “winging it”.  

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