Your Best Strategy for Increasing Sales From Your Laptop Entrepreneurs must turn to AI to give remote sales teams a helping hand.
By Farhana Rahman Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If there is one silver lining that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's definitely the widespread adoption of remote work. This cost-effective solution allows tech entrepreneurs to attract the best talents without the restrictions of geography.
That shift was followed with the need to make video conferencing the norm, whereas before it used to be considered a backup. It turns out that video conferencing has shown to foster better teamwork while improving relationships.
Then there are other tools that are also needed, for project management and collaborative purposes. These include the likes of Monday, Trello, Asana, and Slack.
Related: Grace Under Fire: How to Prepare Your Sales Pipeline for 2021
But what about sales teams? What's out there for them in these post-pandemic remote-working days?
Sales teams need to be equipped with more than a company cell phone, good Internet, enterprise Zoom account, and ergonomic furniture to mimic the success they would have normally achieved in the traditional office setup. So what else is left? Thankfully, there are plenty of solutions out there that can help alleviate the woes of remote sales teams, thanks to the power of AI.
It is up to the entrepreneurs themselves to gain a better understanding of how to equip their sales teams, to ensure a more productive (yet satisfying) working experience.
Simplify the product demo experience with the proper tools
When it comes time for sales teams to give demos, especially live demos, it often becomes a collaborative cross-departmental effort in the office environment. Other teams end up stepping in to help create or personalize the perfect sales demo for prospects. These efforts typically go unnoticed. R&D teams provide insight, product teams do some last-minute adjustments before stepping away from the backend during demo time, design teams create customized mockups… it takes a lot of effort.
This collaborative effort is difficult to replicate in the remote work setting, leading to lackluster demos that are about as bad as "death by Powerpoint."
Related: What Do Successful Sales Look Like for the Rest of 2020?
Then there are platforms such as Walnut, which enables customer-facing teams to easily create, personalize and manage the product demo experience, with no reliance on back-end teams.
Drive sales effectiveness by always fine-tuning
In the traditional office setting, sales teams can spontaneously meet up, and discuss how they went about with calls, what worked, what didn't work, and accept constructive criticism. While it is theoretically possible to continue doing so remotely, it is also a hassle. This is where revenue intelligence platforms such as Gong come in. Gong records, transcribes, and analyzes all sales calls. It then uses analytics technology to analyze each call, and act as somewhat of a call coach.
Using such a service would solve problems that are tied to inconsistencies between reps, and anyone experiencing onboarding difficulties. It also eliminates general guesswork in terms of who needs coaching, and in which areas.
If possible, consider knocking many birds with one stone
If there's room in the budget, one may want to consider a multipurpose solution that serves as a one-stop-shop that benefits multiple teams. In the long run, it can end up being more cost-effective.
SalesLoft is one such solution, which benefits numerous teams thanks to a recent acquisition. Their user base now includes revenue professionals at all levels, including sales development representatives, account executives, and sales leaders. In February 2020, they unveiled a solution that helps sales professionals generate pipeline, manage deals and forecasts, and engage customers from first contact through closing, onboarding, expansion, and renewal.
Related: How to Make Remote Sales Work for You
With remote work becoming the norm, there is no time like the present for entrepreneurs to combine machine intelligence with human intelligence, by letting sales teams turn to AI for assistance. As the machine component combs through the nitty-gritty, the human counterparts can focus on more meaningful tasks that require more of the human touch. Sales teams would ultimately be less stressed, and more receptive to learn how they can improve their performance as recommended by their sales tools.
