{"id":1382,"date":"2019-02-15T10:32:07","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T10:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kusuaks7\/?p=987"},"modified":"2023-08-30T12:18:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T12:18:45","slug":"the-2018-sales-technology-landscape-your-go-to-sales-tech-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/consumer-tech\/the-2018-sales-technology-landscape-your-go-to-sales-tech-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2018 Sales Technology Landscape: Your Go-To Sales Tech Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ready to learn Marketing & Customer Analytics Training?\u00a0Browse courses<\/a>\u00a0like\u00a0 Increase Cross Selling and Upselling of Products and Services<\/a> developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot has happened in the sales tech\u00a0space since I introduced my\u00a0first\u00a0sales tech\u00a0landscape<\/strong>\u00a0last summer.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m now counting over 830 vendors, a 15% surge. The 38 categories illustrate the extreme fragmentation\u00a0of the market. Both\u00a0sales\u00a0and\u00a0sales\u00a0operations are sharing an increased frustration with the number of applications they have in their stack.<\/p>\n

We have seen signs of consolidation with, for example, SAP\u00a0acquiring\u00a0Callidus Software or the\u00a0exits of several Predictive Analytics providers<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong> But these moves remain\u00a0largely\u00a0offset by\u00a0new entrants. We are still in the\u00a0first\u00a0innings\u00a0of this market.\u00a0Innovations and\u00a0new\u00a0approaches continue to appear.\u200b<\/p>\n

There are many changes\u00a0to discuss\u00a0in this fifth edition. Account-based\u00a0approaches\u00a0and Artificial\u00a0Intelligence\u00a0(AI) are penetrating all categories. Many articles have\u00a0been written\u00a0about these two topics and today.\u00a0I would like\u00a0to discuss\u00a0three other trends:<\/p>\n

1) Sales Intelligence<\/strong>
\n2) Sales Engagement<\/strong>
\n3) Sales Analytics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turmoil in the Sales Intelligence\u00a0Space<\/h2>\n

The major change of this landscape iteration is\u00a0the restructuring of\u00a0the Sales Intelligence\u00a0layer. I\u00a0originally\u00a0tried to differentiate\u00a0providers\u00a0based how they collect\u00a0data, build lists or crawl the web.<\/p>\n

Today, all\u00a0vendors\u00a0are using both methods.\u00a0Furthermore, they\u00a0are buying\u00a0data\u00a0from each other. The two changes have democratized the assembly of datasets. Thus, the number of\u00a0providersjumped from 150 to 230!<\/p>\n

Preening the Sales Intelligence Layer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The new layer features list\u00a0providers\u00a0regardless of their\u00a0data\u00a0collection method.\u00a0I\u00a0further differentiated\u00a0vendors\u00a0offering\u00a0data\u00a0augmentation services for companies or people. Also,\u00a0I\u00a0tried to carve out original\u00a0providers\u00a0of financial information,\u00a0technographics, and contact\u00a0data. Eventually, I\u00a0added call and web intelligence solutions,\u00a0growingly\u00a0used in sales organizations.<\/p>\n

So, how to deal with this complexity?\u00a0Besides helping understand how the category shapes up, I can offer the following steps for your\u00a0vendor\u00a0selection. Keep in mind this explosion of\u00a0players\u00a0brought a lot of variability in data quality. Also, it\u2019s likely that you end up using several providers.<\/p>\n

Sales Intelligence: 4 Steps to Pick Vendors<\/h2>\n

1) Find matching target segments<\/h3>\n

Start by choosing a list provider \u201cof record\u201d for your target segments. Early-stage companies might find enough prospects with a web and\u00a0social prospecting<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0solution. This is usually cheaper. For most, you need to pick the best vendor(s) covering your target segment (s).<\/p>\n

Coverage and taxonomy are crucial. Many businesses need to sharpen their segmentation and depend on granular industry definitions.<\/p>\n

2) Drill down on data assessment<\/h3>\n

Then dig down into their data selection, aggregation, and cleansing methods.\u00a0You want to understand where\u00a0the data\u00a0is coming from and how it\u00a0is processed\u00a0and maintained. You can\u00a0assess the data\u00a0by\u00a0testing\u00a0two samples.\u00a0One matching data you already have and trust to evaluate its quality.<\/p>\n

The second for\u00a0data you\u00a0don\u2019t have to\u00a0assess the\u00a0potential addition. This evaluation will not prevent you from having to\u00a0try the solution\u00a0to\u00a0confirm its value.<\/p>\n

3) Evaluate data augmentation\/enrichment<\/h3>\n

Eventually, decide if you can or should enrich the\u00a0data. You\u00a0should select\u00a0data\u00a0augmentation\u00a0vendors\u00a0based on the specific\u00a0data\u00a0elements you\u00a0might\u00a0miss or want to\u00a0double-source. It should leverage\u00a0the understanding of\u00a0how your\u00a0vendors\u00a0of reference are building there datasets. Larger companies\u00a0might\u00a0consider\u00a0using a\u00a0data\u00a0consolidation and cleansing platform.<\/p>\n

4) Follow an iterative approach to optimize your sales stack<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m a proponent of managing your providers\u00a0using a\u00a0portfolio approach. Decide on many\u00a0vendors\u00a0you need and\u00a0can\u00a0manage.\u00a0Evaluate from time to time new options.\u00a0Replace incumbents, if you find a better alternative. The\u00a0General\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>Data<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Protection Regulation (GDPR)<\/strong><\/a>and the IDC prediction that, by 2019, the available\u00a0inventory in marketing databases will\u00a0shrink by 40%<\/strong>\u00a0have made\u00a0data\u00a0an issue no organization\u00a0can\u00a0ignore!<\/p>\n

The Rise of Sales Engagement<\/h2>\n

Sales Engagement\u00a0is emerging as a\u00a0category. Its definition remains fluid,\u00a0mostly\u00a0shaped up by the feature sets of\u00a0Salesloft<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Outreach<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s\u2014its two early leaders.<\/p>\n

While the\u00a0category\u00a0name suggests solutions able to manage all\u00a0sales\u00a0communications, they remain email-centric. Many vendors offer the ability to call prospects but dialers\u00a0are usually purchased independently. Also, inbound and outbound activities\u00a0are often handled separately.<\/p>\n

We need to simplify the sales rep working environment<\/h3>\n

The tools fragmentation across channels and the number\u2014120\u2014of email and dialer vendors puzzle me.\u00a0It can\u00a0be explained\u00a0by the specialization\u00a0of sales reps\u00a0and the desire to get best of breed\u00a0applications.<\/p>\n

However, it makes the workflow\u00a0of sales reps\u00a0challenging, sometimes offsetting the benefits of using technology. I\u2019m hearing\u00a0more complaints about the number of\u00a0tools\u00a0and\u00a0applications\u00a0to juggle.<\/p>\n

Moreover, companies\u00a0adopting an\u00a0account-based strategy<\/strong>\u00a0need to coordinate their prospecting effort\u00a0across\u00a0each\u00a0company. I will discuss orchestration gaps\u00a0across\u00a0touches, accounts, and activities in a future article.<\/p>\n

The category is\u00a0still in its early stages. New models\u00a0are appearing.\u00a0Cliently<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Growbots<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Growlabs,\u00a0ZenProspect<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and to some extent\u00a0Nudge Software<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0are now\u00a0combining\u00a0prospect sourcing and reach out.\u00a0Drift<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is reinventing proactive engagement by\u00a0combining\u00a0chat, visitor intelligence, appointment setting, and email follow up in a streamlined experience.<\/p>\n

A New Breed of Sales Analytics<\/h2>\n

The plethora of applications is making the instrumentation\u00a0of sales\u00a0stacks much more challenging. Each solution comes with its own set of\u00a0analytics. Many organizations are trying to log the sales activities into Salesforce or their CRM to\u00a0consolidate reporting<\/strong><\/a>. This approach has shortcomings though\u2014also paving the way for two\u00a0new\u00a0types of solutions.<\/p>\n

Tools for insights from sales conversations and activities<\/h3>\n

AI\u00a0is enabling call recording and transcription at\u00a0scale\u00a0and with precision. Additional analytics can\u00a0be layered\u00a0on top of these\u00a0conversation\u00a0details to give\u00a0unique feedback on sales interactions.\u00a0Chorus.ai<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Gong.io<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0are spearheading a\u00a0new\u00a0Conversation\u00a0Intelligence category.\u00a0Gong.io\u2019s\u00a0recent acquisition of\u00a0Ondigo<\/strong>\u00a0shows an appetite for broadening\u00a0data\u00a0sources\u00a0and provide\u00a0deeper insights.<\/p>\n

Companies such as\u00a0Clari<\/a>,\u00a0Collective[i]<\/a>,\u00a0People.ai<\/a>,\u00a0SalesDirector.ai<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0TopOPPS<\/strong>\u00a0are leveraging\u00a0AI differently. They use it to gather not only transactional\u00a0data from\u00a0systems but also unstructured\u00a0data from\u00a0emails and calendars. They can then build a holistic view of opportunities and account pursuits\u00a0and provide\u00a0enhanced forecasting and pipeline analytics.<\/p>\n

3 Ways to Use the Sales Technology Landscape<\/h2>\n

><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big believer in being able to visualize things to make sense of complexity.\u00a0I\u00a0enjoy discovering\u00a0Martech stacks<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0I\u00a0created a\u00a0blueprint<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0many years ago and kept on honing it to map players and apprehend new options.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to manage the\u00a0sales stack as a\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>portfolio<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of systems of record and systems of innovation.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Use the blueprint to build a global view of your applications.<\/li>\n
  2. Identify the functions that are foundational. Try to streamline these elements to simplify your reps\u2019 workflow and your pipeline instrumentation.<\/li>\n
  3. Explore innovations and additions based on your\u00a0sales process. Harness technology to either address remaining gaps or find new ways to optimize critical steps.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A lot has happened in the sales tech space. The major change of this landscape iteration is the restructuring of the Sales Intelligence layer. The new layer features list providers regardless of their data collection method. Differentiate between vendors offering data augmentation services. Eventually, add call and web intelligence solutions, growingly used in sales organizations. Besides understanding how the category shapes up, follow steps for your vendor selection. Keep in mind this explosion of players brought a lot of variability in data quality.<\/p>\n

    .<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":3207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196],"tags":[115],"ppma_author":[1636],"class_list":["post-1382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumer-tech","tag-marketing-and-customer-analytics"],"authors":[{"term_id":1636,"user_id":85,"is_guest":0,"slug":"nicolas-de-kouchkovsky","display_name":"Nicolas Kouchkovsky","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Kouchkovsky","first_name":"Nicolas","job_title":"","description":"Nicolas De Kouchkovsky is Fractional CMO, Advisor, and Consultant helping B2B Software companies grow He is also founder & principal at CaCube Consulting<\/a> that help startups and midsize businesses with all aspects of marketing and market development."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1382"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31943,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382\/revisions\/31943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1382"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}